Fannin on the dotcom pillage

CareerBuilder is owned by newspaper holdings.
Tribune, McClatchy and Gannett are principal owners.

EDIT: changes "majority" to "principal."

 

Papers need Web sites to prevent from falling even further behind. I think the problem is everyone getting up to speed before it's too late.

The Houston Chronicle, Atlanta Constitution, New York Times and Washington Post all have great online sites. I'm sure I missed a few, but everyone else needs to catch up. Also, the business side has to find a way to make more money off the online product to be successful.

 

Well, wouldn't that be wonderful. But, I've been in those meetings.
You know what the corporate side says?:
"If editorial would give us a unique, newer, fresher and exciting product, we could sell it."
And around and around we go...

 

Good insight.

So who is correct and how do you stop the merry-go-round?

 

I have thoughts, even instituted some change in philosophy.
But, if I knew the ultimate answer to your question, I would be in a very, very large glass office.

 

What did those papers do?

 

Major newspapers have been and still are money makers. That's why a decade ago they were popular investments. But once the blood suckers on Wall Street drained the carcas, they've moved on to other hosts.

Most papers have profit margins of 20 percent or more. THEY ARE NOT LOSING MONEY. They're not making enough money to satisfy the stock holders.

Let's say newspapers could satisfy the blood suckers with 10 to 15 percent profits _ above what Fortune 500 companies expect _ and then used the remaining profit to increase/improve coverage, perhaps they wouldn't be listed in critical condition.

But what do I know?

 

This post is filled with false conclusions.
First off, there are no papers with 20% profit margins. Even Gannett is south of 20%.
Of course papers are still grabbing a profit today. Today isn't the problem. Those profit margins are eroding. The problem is five years from now. At the current erosion of revenue, for a newspaper with a 16% profit margin, that paper will be breaking even by 2013. That's when everyone of us packs up and find something else to do.

 

I shudder to think how frail the paper would be without the cellphone companies basically subsidising the advertising half of the equation.

 

In addition, Federated Inc. They're the parent of the major departments stores throughout the country. One shift in advertising strategy, either to the web or direct mail, and POOF!

 

I'll try to find it, but I just read an article not to long ago saying that newspapers had the third-highest profit margin of any major industry at right around 18-19 percent.
A big part of the story was that how oil companies were riding around 10 percent.
If I find it, I'll post it.

 

FW:

Don't want to get into a nasty debate, but I know the paper I work at (which will go unnamed) has a profit margin that has been in the 21-22-23 percent range. The St. Louis Post Dispatch has a profit margin of 31 percent. And I agree with MU.

I saw a quote once from the former editor of the LA Times about its profit margin. He said that if the profit margin could be at 12-13 percent it would be one of the best papers in the country because the extra money could help the product.