New Orleans returning to daily publication

So it's the Advocate's fault for taking advantage of market conditions?

That's capitalism.

The outrage was palpable from the get-go. Advance's obsession with tearing down its print operations in the face of so much opposition was moronic.

 

What's so innovative about deciding to cut publication and cut jobs? Any idiot can decide to do that. To be innovative in this environment, you have to figure out a way to boost the website without totally destroying the paper, since the paper is still where companies are making their money (Just not as much of it).

Eventually, once the website is profitable (if it can be), that's when you decide to cut down on the operations of the paper.

 

I wonder if what is going in New Orleans, will change Advance's plans for Cleveland (scheduled for three days a week this summer) or the Oregonian, which I think has a three-day a week plan on the books.

Cutting print editions isn't innovation, by the way. Cutting print editions is just a way of dumping staff.

So call it what it is.

 

The story also estimated that the paper was making a 10% profit margin before cutting down to three weeks. Yeah, I know that the general trend wasn't wonderful but that would be considered great in almost any other business.

 

Jay, I don't know about the Oregonian but Cleveland is not exactly going to a three-day-a-week plan. They will still publish all seven days, they just won't deliver the newspaper seven days a week. I would imagine that such a plan would work better in places in Portland, Seattle, San Jose because people are more computer and tech savvy in those communities than places like Cleveland and New Orleans where a good number of people have never touched a computer before. So you need at least six days per week. Let's be honest, the Saturday newspaper is probably the biggest waste of paper and print ever. I like the Times-Picayune's plan for Saturday.

 

Does the parent company carry any debt?

That's usually the problem. The individual papers may be profitable, but the profits can't service the debt the entire chain may be carrying.

 

Delivering three days a week and printing seven (four in racks), or even six if you kill Saturday or five if you killed Tuesday and Saturday, probably would work in any town. It would be much better than cutting to three and arrogantly telling everyone to screw off if you don't like it.

 

That's what killed Knight Ridder, among others.

 

The Plain Dealer announced from the get-go that while it would go to three-day-a-week home delivery, it would retain single-copy sales on the other days of publication.

 

Yep, that's the gameplan. Reduce publication frequency as an excuse to lay off staff. Then ramp up publication frequency with the skeleton staff that's left. Take in extra ad revenue. The suits get nice bonuses.

 

Didn't one of the Detroit papers do that a few years ago? Don't know what the status is now.

 

No way. C'mon. They wouldn't do that.