On days like Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, the newspaper is all but ad-free, says New York Times media columnist David Carr, who writes today about the much-discussed news that The Times-Picayune is shifting to a three-days-weekly print schedule. Says Carr:
Many newspapers have gone away, including The Rocky Mountain News in Denver and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Others have been diminished to the point where it wouldn’t matter if they did go away. So why the freak-out over the Times-Pic?
Because it is a story about a town that loved its newspaper — its market penetration is among the highest in the land — but just not enough to keep it. It’s the kind of doomed romance that inspires tear-jerker movies and elegiac columns in, yes, newspapers, so bear with me. It is Memorial Day, after all.
Because it is a story about a town that loved its newspaper — its market penetration is among the highest in the land — but just not enough to keep it. It’s the kind of doomed romance that inspires tear-jerker movies and elegiac columns in, yes, newspapers, so bear with me. It is Memorial Day, after all.
I swatted a horsefly the other day with my Gannett community paper.
ReplyDeleteThe fly tore the pest control ad off 1A, looked back at me and laughed!
Yes, New Orleans loves its newspaper. And they loved it even more online after Katrina when a dispursed population couldn't get a print copy. And they continued to love it online. Where else does it make more sense to do this than New Orleans where readers learned the value of reading online. And most importantly, reporters also learned to focus online first. And didn't whine about it.
ReplyDeleteLots of readers in New Orleans cant afford Internet service.
DeleteIt's a mystery why creative, intelligent people continue to hold on to the idea that anyone under 50 cares about newspapers. I'm 54 and I understand that technology has changed and with a few exceptions the run for print will be over soon. There is no debate. The real issue revolves around the revenue model. We can debate leadership and strategies all we want but when we are all exhausted criticizing everyone and everything, no media company has figured it out. Let's discuss that for awhile.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in a Gannett executive office, is a Excel spreadsheet with your paper's name on it and the date you will start to publish 3 days a week.
ReplyDeleteIt's not if, it's when.
It's always been about the ads - never about informing the public.
ReplyDeleteWhat made the TP decision tough is that it was the only daily in town and showed during Katrina what a bonding agent a newspaper can be to a community. Newspapers used to be referred to as "institutions" - they aren't anymore.
I'd like to think the on-line product will still serve that purpose, but people interact differently on-line. They are much less likely to learn about something they didn't know they wanted to know about.
2:57 The truth is that no one has found a sustainable revenue model that will support more than a handful of freelancers or entry level staff with lousy benefits.
ReplyDeleteIt is the death of journalism as we knew it. Very few will get to practice strong reporting/editing and be paid a professional wage.
We're 17 years in and mixing models, etc. does not add up to enough. Forget even being just "good enough." There is not answer.
Many, many more layoffs to come. Wish I had the brains to have become a medical doctor or computer engineer instead of being a journalist.
To anonymous 2:45, oh, shut-up! First off, print advertising reaps more revenue, especially auto ads. Second, the death knell that keeps sounding is firmly in the hands of those who don't have a clue regarding the act of reading. I read news constantly -- online & print. Saddest thing about online news is that it almost always is the same story from one agency that gets regurgitated all around the globe. I work for Gannett and just keep wondering, aside from make sure the folks at the top get bonuses & pats on the back, what the heck are they thinking? Doe they really believe that workers don't need money, food, respect, etc.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks, Jim, for this blog. It has been valuable as a source of rumors that almost always turns out to be true.
5:53 "shut up?" what are you 12? Print still exists but it's the train in the jet age. Sure some people use it but Amtrak lost 100 million dollars last year. It's over Orville. It may be 2 yrs, 5 yrs, or even 10 but it's over.
DeleteTalk about too much coverage by the NYT and Carr. I guess Detroit isn't worthy of the crocodile tears? Today, as I do most days, I read the LA Times, NY Times and USAT online for free and will continue to do so. And if an effective paywall is ever put up (yes, NYT, I delete my cookies to get around your montly free view limits), I will just go elsewhere to read the news for free. The print model for news is dead, much like the iceman and the Pony Express, nostalgia be damned.
ReplyDelete6:38 I totally get what you're saying but answer this question. How will the NYT, LA Times and USAT pay their reporters unless you pay for it? You must like those sources of news or you wouldn't go. How do those companies stay in business if you don't pay? Apple doesn't give their products away for free.
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ReplyDeleteThank you in advance Jim for deleting @659, who apparently still needs another dose of Lomotil.
ReplyDelete6:38 I am one of those who does choose to pay for the NYT out of respect for the product. Unfortunately, the Sulzberger family has 27 cousins who all want their monthly payouts and won't put up with cousin Arthur for much longer.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, at the WaPo, third generation publisher KWeymouth is running the place into the ground.
And those are the companies in which class A stock is held by the families. Imagine the ruthless fools who run the publicly-traded companies like Gannett.
It's really over folks.
Newspapers filled with news instead of ads. What a concept! And when Katrina went through there wasn't any news for a while except for what could be gotten on the radio. I know for I caught a lot of it every night even here in Brevard. I'll guarantee you what people had the means searched for a paper in it's aftermath. I see it here. In 04 and 05 it's what people searched high and low for...the paper...after batteries and water. Some cell phones were out and even the beloved internet was slow at best. Yea digital is going to save the world...until everyone is on at the same time and it's overloaded.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those ad-free publications are a model of revenue! Those are certainly the future!
ReplyDeleteJust don't post, 12:19, if that's what you have to offer.
"Somewhere in a Gannett executive office, is a Excel spreadsheet with your paper's name on it and the date you will start to publish 3 days a week.
ReplyDeleteIt's not if, it's when."
Gannett's not that forward thinking.
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ReplyDeleteReally, 2:04?? Go egg a house or TP a neighbor's tree. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to Saturday - here in Phoenix we get a fair amount of ads - but Monday and Tuesday are DEATH. A Monday - Tuesday delivery makes as much sense as a Saturday mail delivery. People will bitch when it stops, and after a few months no one will much care or notice.
The only reason anyone reads the Monday paper is for sports, typically a maligned niche. If USA Sports has the entire Gannett empire reporting to it, why not kill local Monday and Tuesday in favor of a Monday USA Today with (much) expanded sports? Wouldn't be hard to put out regional editions featuring local reports.
Sports has always been about rivalries. As a Phoenix sports fan, I'd enjoy reading about LA and SF and Denver sports in addition to local stories. Think of it as a print version of the old Gannett Superchannel that never made it to cable. Heck, they could even do a local news page or two as they're doing in Honolulu.
BTW, I think robots can "read" those characters. Post Office scanners read hundreds of millions of poorly printed addresses a day.
12:21...of course there has to be ads, but does there have to be an overload EVERY day? A Monday edition should be a catch up of the weekend where sleeping reporters are know to miss a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnd once upon a time, newspapers actually were about the news. Maybe you were asleep during your history classes.
But taking a pot shot at me probably made your day so enjoy.
Tic Toc people........get your resumes ready..........the end of print is near..........very very near
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ReplyDeleteI'm sick of David Carr's ego popping up in every column he writes. He's not bad, but can be very annoying.
ReplyDeleteSorry 8:08. 20,000 newspaper employees and growing have already been flattened by the economic bus that is the fast decline of print.
ReplyDeleteIt's about the revenues and until this entire industry comes up with a business plan where digital delivers the same revenue as those cash drenched ads filing whole and double pages in the newspaper, we are all going the way of the TP.
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