I don’t quite know where to post this; it really could fit anywhere except the Pit, so I’ll just try IMHO, and let the mods move it if they feel someplace else is more appropriate.
Cleveland has two alternative weekly newspapers; the Free Times, and the Scene. The Free Times is locally owned; the Scene is owned by Village Voice Media, and is similar to some other freesheets such as Pitch (Kansas City) and Westword (Denver).
A few weeks ago, after the massive “Best of Cleveland” edition was published, the size of the Scene was dramatically reduced. The height of the tabloid format paper was shortened by an inch, and there seems to be far fewer pages; it feels more like a suburban shopper than an urban alternative newspaper.
It’s been reported here that, thanks to Craigslist, alternative freesheets throughout the country are hurting … bad. Have you noticed any changes in the alternative newspaper in your city?
Why “thanks to Craigslist”? Do those papers make the bulk of their money from selling classifieds?
I would think it’s “thanks to the Internet” in general. I used to pick up Scene religiously in order to find out who was playing when, read some CD and movie reviews and perhaps check out the feature articles and cover stories.
I stopped needing any of that once I had access to the Internet. And then once Scene went online and I could read their cover stories there.
The local alt-weekly here is largely supported by escort ads, and they seem to take up as much space as before. No changes to content or size that I’ve noticed.(Georgia Straight)
Daily newspapers are certainly taking it in the back, yes. But weeklies, in general, are growing at about 1% per year. If something has happened to The Scene it could be for a number of reasons, but it wouldn’t be because all papers are dying.
Craigslist does represent a challenge for newspapers relying on classifieds for the bulk of their income. But that applies to both daily and weekly. Others, like mine, that specialize in gaining revenue from space ads, are doing fine.
I know that the Reader isn’t what it once was, but there’s a high enough circulation (you can literally get it damned near anywhere you might be in the city) and enough ads from bars and concert venues and the like that it’s doing fine for a indy paper in the age of the internet. Some of the others not so much. We used to have an excellent underground free heavy metal paper called Subterranean that seems to have folded up and I’m sure that there are others too.
Our local weekly, The Independent is doing swimmingly well. The circumstances are unusual in that our local newpaper was bought by a bat shit insane ex-wife of a billionaire. She happens to be a billionaire herself, but as I’ve always said, I’m sure that Craig McCaw considers that 2.5 billion dollar divorce settlement to be the best 2.5 billion dollars he ever spent.
I don’t know the financials of it, but certainly CraigsList has severely curtailed their classified ad revenue. However, for local news and around town happenings, it’s really the only game in town.
We have the “Shepard Express”, which certainly appears to be doing well. Lots of ads for local shops, concert venues, clubs, bars, escorts, etc. to keep it going. Great content, too!
Then there’s MKE, which is owned by the newspaper and is probably not going to last much longer.
Does “The Onion” count? I think it started in Madison, expanded to Milwaukee, then NYC. I’d say it’s doing fantastic.
Er, um, as someone on the front lines of this trainwreck, I will say that newspaper companies are fighting back for all they’re worth, striving (with some successes) to become information providers irrespective of the (very expensive to produce) paper medium.
The medium may be reeling (no question there), but it won’t fall over completely until there is something portable to replace it. You know, digital ink, wireless access everywhere, and a handy, cheap device to access the content. I give it 5 to 10 years for that to happen. If there is an “Ipod-like” breakthrough device broad acceptance may only take a few years. If there are competing devices that aren’t compatible to each other then it will take longer.
Sorry for the semi-hijack, but I believe that sort of flat statement requires some perspective applied to it.
As for the OP, our local rags (SF Weekly and Bay Guardian) seem much the same as always; I couldn’t speak to their relative profitability. Bay Guardian is locally owned by some crackpot; SF Weekly is, I believe, owned by a chain of alternative papers.