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Gannett, Gatehouse talking merger

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SoloFlyer, May 30, 2019.

  1. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Excellent post. Says a lot about the crap newspapers are still publishing (barely).
     
  2. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    I completely agree. I hate it but you’ve got it right. I get Amazon Prime for $13.99 a month. Worth every cent. It’s all I need for TV right now. Just bought a one-year online subscription to Washington Post - for $29.
     
    Severian likes this.
  3. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    I got a $60-per-year subscription to WaPo about six months ago, and it's definitely worth it. I think the normal price is $150 for the year and that's a big bite at once, but still worth it.

    Every paper in these parts except for a handful is owned by Gannett, and I worked at a few of them. Wouldn't spend a dime and I hate saying that because friends work there.
     
    sgreenwell and BurnsWhenIPee like this.
  4. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Netflix provides a bang for the buck; newspapers not so muc
    Amen brother. I am one of the few who still says if we had stayed the course and put out a great great print product like the 10 page daily sections during the week and 18 page sports sections on weekends in the 90s that newspapers would have survived. You put out the crap of today and charge what we charge, sorry. It all started when publishers were sold a bill of goods called the free internet.
     
  5. Readallover

    Readallover Active Member

    Ask Pete Spina about the demand for increased sports coverage via print in the 1990s. The demand did not exist.
     
  6. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    That’s not what they were sold. They were sold a bill of goods called “exclusive content deals with AOL or Compuserve, which will provide an online revenue stream.” They were told that the full Internet would never work for the typical user because home access speeds would never increase to the point that full Internet access would be tenable.

    The newspaper consultant who told me that at an SPJ meeting was last seen via LinkedIn working as a bowling alley attendant.
     
  7. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Threw his industry into the gutter, now fetching balls from there.
     
    2muchcoffeeman and I Should Coco like this.
  8. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    We could do a whole thread on how much money newspaper publishers set on fire by giving it to consultants (instead of, oh, investing in employees. Or at least equipment).

    My favorite example from the 2000s was when our company hired a consulting firm, which emailed anonymous surveys to everyone in the building to examine the "culture" of the place. So we all filled them out honestly.

    When the results were revealed, they showed our company culture was dominated by two themes: "what did we do last year" and "C.Y.A." Then our publisher got pissed off about the results and never implemented any of the consultant's suggested changes.

    A good use of $10,000 (or whatever was paid).
     
  9. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Independent publishers just loved handing money to consultants. Then the big companies bought up all the papers and no way they were going to spend that kind of money on something like that. Second generation publishers were not the smartest people, dishing money to know-nothing consultants instead of paying their own employees well.
     
  10. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    The best are the design consultants. One of the Bost0n suburban papers rebranded, say, 20 years ago. New name. New design. Expanded circulation area. In fairness the design could've used a refresh. After spending whatever stupid amount of money, they got a couple hundred new subscribers. At least they won a few NEPA awards that year.
     
  11. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Mario Garcia has stolen more money from the newspaper industry than any vulture capitalist.
     
  12. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    You must be thinking of a different Pete (Price).
     
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