More sobering news. I need a beer . . .

i talk with the folks who try to keep it together, keep a stiff upper lip all the time. i grow weary of hearing "we've been here forever, we'll be here forever."

most of them are older than 50, which speaks volumes to me. i'm glad to see you didn't attempt to fool yourself. hell, the prospect of how our industry looks in five years scares the shit out of me.

 

i feel your pain. i really do.

and i think this is relevant to this discussion: are you enjoying your new gig?

 

I don't buy the xx percent profit margin is a sign things are great. Not when you look at what papers are doing to maintain such a margin. They are doing the equivalent of triage. Legs and arms are being cut off to keep the patient alive. The paper of tomorrow will be worse than the paper of today. Execs can use the term "different" but the truth is the difference between the information you get from reading a newspaper and Not reading a newspapers is getting closer each day. More public and private institutions have realized they can tell their story better and more authoritatively (though perhaps a touch of bias) than the local newspaper will. The decline of newspapers is as much changing news consumers habits as the changing habits have led to the decline of newspapers.

 

thanks. i mean that. i'm not the only one here that wants to know how you adapt to the transition.

 

One thing I would suggest (and do) is to pay attention to your own paper and own situation. Mine is healthy. Circulation is up. We're the most profitable in our chain. I have seniority over four new hires. I can work on the desk, write and shoot. So I think I'm positioned okay for a while. But I'm still wanting out.

 

I'm like wicked. I try to think of other things I'd like to as much as this and I can't. I've applied for a couple jobs at colleges, but didn't hear anything and really didn't follow through. Then again, I'm 30 and have two kids and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to last in this business for the next 35 years. It's probably time to make a jump to something else. But what? I have no clue.

 

I hear you. I am looking at programs offered at a university nearby and can't find anything I'd take.

 

I can't help but think of that saying "the cream rises to the top" and hope that's the best case for it to someday get better. When I say that, I'm talking about the papers that are doing better business than other papers; ones that are putting together quality online content and such.

Maybe the best thing to hope for isn't that it gets better, but just that it doesn't get worse. With a lot of publishers and decision makers in this industry, that's what you're going to get.

I think you'll see it worse at metro papers than smaller papers just because of the competition metro papers face ... i.e. why read City A's coverage on my favorite NBA team when I can go to ESPN.com?

 

Moderator 1---what exactly is it you do?

 

i would have sent him to a porn site.