AJ-C puts out 4-page sports section; no more box scores

There have been a couple of days where we had to drop the MLB boxes because we didn't have any room. The number of calls I took the day after both times made me realize that from now on, we're going to carve out the room for them.

Oh, and try not running the NASCAR lineup some weekend.

 

So, it's better than the paper that's about to fold?

 

The Times has always been the bigger, more profitable paper. Just saying that for me, the P-I is more readable. Obviously not enough readers in the Seattle area agreed with me, and the P-I is going away. And Seattle loses by not being a two-newspaper town.

 

This is like so many other discussions about this issue. It's the top 100 that are jumping out the windows. There are still a good many newspapers that hold onto the tenets of a solid, full agate page(s) and provide space for their sports section.

There's a lot more to the newspaper world than what the Atlantas and Dallases and Seattles are doing.

 

It's been years since I've been in a newsroom on a regular basis, but when I was there were more complaints about box scores, TV listings and agate than everything else combined.

 

Dumb dumb decision. Now they truly are driving their readers to the web, not their website, but ESPN or Yahoo's. Wow. We get complaints for not running expanded box scores much less the furor if there would be no box scores.
These publishers simply do not understand they are burying their own publications. You make space for box scores or you should have no AJC at all.
Just go all online, AJC, you are going to do it in a year or 2 anyway, speed it up and do it now.
Then you can fire so many people.
Do it.

 

If it's really this bad, the paper just needs to fold.

 

Exactly, or go all online.
Missourigrad you are reasoable. Don't you agree this is the master plan? Why don't they at the AJC speed it up and do it now?

 

I doubt there is a master plan. That would imply the place isn't in complete chaos. Based on the PMs I got during Super Bowl week, that place is an absolute train wreck.

I hope they sell the paper and someone comes in and salvages it.

 

When a newspaper says "our readers can find that on the Internet," it is also telling its advertisers that's where to find its readers.
The online-only newspaper business model has an obvious appeal, and an obvious fatal problem. Internet advertising revenue is not, and indications continue to grow that it will NEVER provide anything close to print ad revenues. Throw away the circulation money (remember, that's still 25 percent or more of newspaper revenue in most places) and you have a news-gathering and reporting organization making far, far less than half as much money.
It will, you can bet, have far, far fewer than half as many employees, too.

 

They can't sell it. It's in the Cox family trust. Atlanta and Dayton cannot be sold. At least that's my understanding of it. (They could sell Palm Beach, but who the hell would want to buy it right now?)

 

Voila.