Example 4,587 on what's wrong with the newspaper biz

Longtime state government reporter for the Gannett papers in my state just announced his retirement. Gannett won't replace him -- they're going to let one reporter cover the Legislature for all of their papers across the state, even though they've got several 50,000-100,000 circulation papers in small metro areas. Yeah, because people on the other end of the state don't give a fuck what happens in the capitol or what their legislators are doing. You've got to preserve that 28% profit margin!
I swear, the newspaper biz...it's in bad shape, but a lot of the wounds are self-inflicted.

 

It's like handing a heart patient a pack of cigarettes. An alcoholic a bottle of whiskey. A suicidal person getting a gun.

Some companies never learn, do they?

 

The bottom line is the bottom line. That's what they've learned.

 

I hate to sound like an alarmist, but when I look at the parallel tracks of journalism and politics in the U.S., I have to say this country is fucked.

Let's meet back here in 20 years and see if I'm right.

 

It's true, and its incredibly sad. I would love to have a future in this business, but when I look around at the upper management at so many large papers having no ability to think outside the box whatsoever, I can't really envision myself staying too much longer.

 

I guess Gannett is using the same consultants as the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

 

The real problem is newspaper bosses even believe there's a box anymore. Old models don't work.

That said, it's ludacris to believe you're going to be able to cut content and still compell people to subscribe.

 

Ludicrous indeed. (I agree with your points )

 

And nine years ago, American Journalism Review was reporting drastic reductions in the coverage of state government:

http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3279

So what we're seeing now is only continued reduction of already vastly reduced coverage.

 

A former co-worker of mine who is now doing PR and speechwriting for the ACLU put it best:

"I didn't leave the news business. The news business left me."

 

With appreciation to Billy Wilder. . .
Reader: "You're Joe Williams. You used to be in newspapers. You used to be big."
Joe: "I am big. It's the newspapers that got small."

 

And that bottom line will shrink for Gannett as readers in parts of that state that Ganett doesn't give a damn about them, or puts out the manpower to cover the issues that affect them.