What If There's No Local Daily Newspaper?
Yesterday's dire news about the New York Times' Co. first quarter earnings has me wondering about the future of Sonoma County's daily newspaper. The New York Times Co. owns the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, which has already undergone numerous lay-offs and section reductions.
New York Times' Revenues Plunge
In case you missed Wednesday's financial news, the NY Times lost $74.5 million for the first three months of the year. Advertising revenue fell 27% for the first quarter. Operating profit plummeted from $77.7 million in 2008 to just $6.5 million this year. The loss was far worse than analysts had expected. Reports predicted the NY Times Co. may close newspapers.
Trading Dollars for Dimes
This phrase has become a cliché in describing why newspapers are in trouble. Their web sites are still among the major sources people turn to for news. But everyone expects information on-line to be free. And advertisers won't pay much for ads on web sites.
My husband, Roy Tennant's, recent experience illustrates the problem for newspapers. He was the subject of a PD business feature. He tweeted the article to his 800 plus Twitter followers. Many re-tweeted it. He also sent an e-mail with a link to several friends, family members and colleagues. I estimate at least a couple hundred people, who don't have Press Democrat subscriptions, read the article free. For the record, we pay for a subscription. We both still prefer reading printed newspapers.
What Happens to News If There's No Local Daily Newspaper?
As McClatchy-Tribune News Service columnist, and Stanford University Journalism Professor, Joel Brinkley said in a column that recently ran in several California newspapers including the Press Democrat, "Several studies have shown that more than three-quarters of the news you see, hear or read anywhere is at least the derivative of something that originally appeared in a newspaper."
From personal experience, I believe it. When I was a news reporter at Santa Rosa's TV 50 in the 1980s, the assignment editor each morning would read the Press Democrat and decide which stories we should cover also. A secret broadcast news media don't want you to know is that they depend on local newspapers to guide them. If you listen to Santa Rosa NewsTalk Radio KSRO, you'll notice the newscasters often cite the Press Democrat. Radio newsrooms cut back staff years ago. So did local TV newsrooms, as cable grew and broadcast audiences shrunk.
What You Can Do
Buy a subscription to your local newspaper. True, it won't make up for the lost ad revenue. But if you're getting all your local news on-line and not paying for it, you're part of the problem.
New York Times' Revenues Plunge
In case you missed Wednesday's financial news, the NY Times lost $74.5 million for the first three months of the year. Advertising revenue fell 27% for the first quarter. Operating profit plummeted from $77.7 million in 2008 to just $6.5 million this year. The loss was far worse than analysts had expected. Reports predicted the NY Times Co. may close newspapers.
Trading Dollars for Dimes
This phrase has become a cliché in describing why newspapers are in trouble. Their web sites are still among the major sources people turn to for news. But everyone expects information on-line to be free. And advertisers won't pay much for ads on web sites.
My husband, Roy Tennant's, recent experience illustrates the problem for newspapers. He was the subject of a PD business feature. He tweeted the article to his 800 plus Twitter followers. Many re-tweeted it. He also sent an e-mail with a link to several friends, family members and colleagues. I estimate at least a couple hundred people, who don't have Press Democrat subscriptions, read the article free. For the record, we pay for a subscription. We both still prefer reading printed newspapers.
What Happens to News If There's No Local Daily Newspaper?
As McClatchy-Tribune News Service columnist, and Stanford University Journalism Professor, Joel Brinkley said in a column that recently ran in several California newspapers including the Press Democrat, "Several studies have shown that more than three-quarters of the news you see, hear or read anywhere is at least the derivative of something that originally appeared in a newspaper."
From personal experience, I believe it. When I was a news reporter at Santa Rosa's TV 50 in the 1980s, the assignment editor each morning would read the Press Democrat and decide which stories we should cover also. A secret broadcast news media don't want you to know is that they depend on local newspapers to guide them. If you listen to Santa Rosa NewsTalk Radio KSRO, you'll notice the newscasters often cite the Press Democrat. Radio newsrooms cut back staff years ago. So did local TV newsrooms, as cable grew and broadcast audiences shrunk.
What You Can Do
Buy a subscription to your local newspaper. True, it won't make up for the lost ad revenue. But if you're getting all your local news on-line and not paying for it, you're part of the problem.
Posted by Gina Cuclis at 4/22/2009 7:10 PM 
Categories: Newspapers, State of the Media
Tags: Twitter Roy Tennant KSRO newspapers Santa Rosa Press Democrat New York Times
Categories: Newspapers, State of the Media
Tags: Twitter Roy Tennant KSRO newspapers Santa Rosa Press Democrat New York Times
Trackbacks
-
7/22/2009 4:48 PM
BLOG.CUCLISPR.COM wrote:
By Gina CuclisA Senate bill that would allow newspapers to operate as tax exempt nonprofits has picked up only one co-sponsor since it was introduced in March, indicating little enthusiasm from the newspaper industry for the bill. The Newspaper Revitalization Act by Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland is co-sponsored by Cardin's Maryland colleague, Senator Barbara Mikulski. The bill is in the Senate Subcommittee on Communications,Technology and the Internet.Not For All NewspapersCardin's bill is intended to provide newspapers a tool as the industry struggles to survive. I've discussed in previous posts the declining newspaper industry and what this could mean to ... -
3/17/2010 5:33 PM
BLOG.CUCLISPR.COM wrote:
By Gina CuclisIf I worked at the San Francisco Chronicle or the Santa Rosa Press Democrat I would be very concerned about the results of a survey conducted in January by the PEW Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and its Internet
TV50 was a great example of "The Sky is Falling... How can we live without a local TV news?"
Guess what, the world is still going around!
The main point is now EVERYONE can publish (blog, tweet, etc.) for free without having to get it approved by the "GATEKEEPERS" --- Anyone can easily blog, email, or tweet my experience at a local meeting, and if important, my friends will forward it around as well.
Printing ink on to tons of trees each day, then driving it around in gas filled vehicles, to deliver 24-hour-old news is starting to look more and more ridiculous... as it should.
The internet (aka: the ability for everyone to communicate freely) will kill all paid subscriptions, unless you can ADD value.... I don't think daily adventures Garfield & Cathy adds enough value.
Reply to this
Look, the way that we get our information is changing rapidly. Twitter didn't even exist 2 years ago and is now one of CNN's primary ways to distribute information. With that being said, CNN deserves credit for readjusting their strategy for information distribution. Don't get me wrong, I am a journalist myself, but I have been using my twitter account and my blog to disseminate information. As journalist we have to reinvent ourselves with each new step in technology to keep up with our rapidly changing world.
Reply to this
This was tragic news for one of my favorite newspapers. I love the feel of then newspapers between my fingers as I browse through them each morning. I love the smell as I pull the paper out of its plastic sheath. Unfortunately more and more people are relying on digital sources of information. After all I AM reading and responding to this blog post rather than writing a column to my local paper. Newspapers need to embrace digital media as their next sources of income and use them to the best of their abilities. The ad revenues from websites should be able to keep the newspapers afloat. It is going to take some time and inventive approaches to maintain profitability, but it CAN BE DONE!
Reply to this