I saw a news article that talks about something I hadn’t heard of. Several major media companies (Time Warner, News Corp, Tribune) have spun off their newspapers as seperate companies. I can’t help thinking that this is basically a way for them to let those newspapers die without having to drop the axe themselves. I assume that the newspapers are being spun off because they couldn’t find anyone to buy them.
So, what do you think this trend portends?
Start failing? Newspapers have been going out of business in droves for years. Others are barely scraping by with online-only editions. The newspaper industry is over and has been for some time.
Depends on the media company. My company has newspapers, magazines, pieces of various cable channels, real estate, and some other stuff, and I can tell you that they are holding onto their newspapers with both fists, even the unprofitable ones. The newspapers run the gamut from major metros to mid-size to small-town papers.
Most or all of these newspapers also have strong online presences but most of the revenue is still from print advertising and from circulation, and it’s enough to keep the doors open and in the black, even if only a little.
I think the great die-off of newspapers that were going to die has already happened over the past 15 years with the growth of the internet. It would take universal very fast wi-fi or something like that to make another die-off, and I don’t frankly see that happening any time soon.
[QUOTE=friedo]
Start failing? Newspapers have been going out of business in droves for years. Others are barely scraping by with online-only editions. The newspaper industry is over and has been for some time.
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Tell that to the several hundred people who still work here. Tell that to the (I can’t tell you the amount) of advertising revenue we took in last year. Tell that to our local bottom line, which is in the black.
The rumors of our death have been somewhat exaggerated.
I deliver a daily city paper. After almost 13 years, I really haven’t seen a drop in subscriptions. Of course I only see my relatively small (300ish) sample, but I don’t think there is a remarkable drop overall in our total deliveries, either. Keep in mind that local papers carry ads, local news, human interest stories/obits/crime/gossip, comics, and coupons. I think that’s enough to carry them for a long time. Believe me, people LOVE their coupons, ads, and comics.
I get national news online, but I do like my local gossip and coupons.
I’ve noticed a tidal shift in what people do on the morning train in the past few years. Used to be, almost everyone had a newspaper, both to read and as a quick defense against train seats of questionable clenliness. It’s far preferable to run the risk of a slightly inky butt than to sit in …wet.
Now, the updated train upholstery makes soiled seats easy to spot, and everyone has their nose buried in a phone or tablet. True, some may be reading online news, but judging by the flying thumbs, most are texting or emailing.
As for coupons, comics and sales, I do get the Sunday paper.
I miss newspapers. 
I’d been a daily newspaper reader since the 1970s but gave up that long-standing habit about ten years ago.
My local paper has gone to three days a week and the online version is so poorly-written and edited that it’s become a local joke. I envy people who have newspapers that are informative, useful, relevant and competent.
Sure, larger conglomerates like McClatchy can stay afloat through diversity, but a lot of papers have disappeared over the years. The local paper recently went to partial digital only, with real papers being delivered four days a week. They still do a paper edition all seven days, but only for news stands that don’t require people. I suspect that it won’t be long before it’s digital only. We subscribe to the NYT online. I have a good friend who works for them in New York, and the focus is pretty much on the electronic edition, it seems.
It won’t matter. Very few of them have a single investigative reporter. They just paste up PR releases and what the police deign to tell them about crimes, and designate sections to things like food and fashion, where they fill the space between the ads with syndicated puff pieces.
What is there to save?
Exactly!
Not a single "reporter"on my local paper does anything more than copy and paste releases or other, faster-acting news outlets news. It is absolutely pathetic. I went from several decades of actively supporting my local paper to being unwilling to patronize their advertisers because of such shoddy and lazy product.
Yes. People want their information more quickly than a traditional newspaper can deliver. And, oh they want it for free, too.
A related question, so I hope not a hijack, but are journalism schools still doing well? They were when I was in college, but that was the 70s and everyone had seen All The President’s Men. A few of them might have even read the book.
I cant’t think of a newapaper in our area where reporters are not digging up local stories. Press releases are used as fill, but not in the news section.
The failure of many newspapers had little o do with changes due to TV and the Internet. Many closed because they started investing in real estate and lost millions when the market collapsed in 2008.
I graduated from the Kent State school of journalism in 2001, and they’re not begging me for money. The school isn’t just newspaper of course - they did advertising, magazine, broadcast, photography. And they were just about to start doing more with digital when I left.
I wouldn’t think that the state of newspapers would be too much of a hit to journalism schools. Journalism still exists in many many facets. It’s just that newspaper is cranked down and broadcast, digital and advertising is cranked up.
The University of Colorado closed it’s School of Journalism a couple of years ago. You can now get a double major in something else plus Journalism, or get a Minor in it, but as a School (not just a department) it no longer exists. It is the first School ever closed by the University.
Graduates complained that they were unprepared for the current state of the job market, and they were learning skills that were long since obsolete. It was a classic case of faculty intransigence. “If it was good enough for me, then it should be good enough for them!” I wonder how many of the faculty would even qualify for an entry-level position with a large company whose list of qualifications always includes “familiarity with office computer software,” meaning Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook (I’m not even counting Access.)
I miss newspapers too. Unfortunately I’ve become severely allergic to them. I’m assuming it’s the ink. If I touch a newspaper my hands/fingers break out painfully; if I am near one but not touching it, the smell can start a coughing fit. 
The San Francisco Chronicle has been doing bang up work on exposing corruption at CalTrans and the Public Utilities Commission, but I don’t think that will save the paper, which shrinks every quarter. It is a great public service, but it isn’t paying.
Medill is still going strong. Seems they do fairly well in changing their curriculum to meet emerging needs. City News is long gone. That was the proving ground, regardless of your formal education. You did your first tour at City News.
[QUOTE=Hey Hey Paula]
I miss newspapers too. Unfortunately I’ve become severely allergic to them. I’m assuming it’s the ink. If I touch a newspaper my hands/fingers break out painfully; if I am near one but not touching it, the smell can start a coughing fit.
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Are you allergic to soy? Most papers have gone to soy-based inks.
[QUOTE=The Second Stone]
The San Francisco Chronicle has been doing bang up work on exposing corruption at CalTrans and the Public Utilities Commission, but I don’t think that will save the paper, which shrinks every quarter. It is a great public service, but it isn’t paying.
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And their website sucks shriveled donkey balls with a mix of a crappy implementation of a paywall and a tendency to crash my web browser. I used to have a seven-day subscription to the Chron, but between the crashing and half of the content being wire service and fluff like “Here’s what $1.5 million will buy in San Francisco” it’s not worth the price.
Agreed. Donkey balls. Section one is almost all wire service which I could give less than a hang about. I do think The Chron’s Food and Sports sections are second to none which is why we 'scribe. Pricey though.
The collapse was certainly an element of that, but I think more as a secondary - fewer businesses advertising means less revenue.
And Craigslist was a huge blow. Classifieds were among the highest margin portions of the paper (usually behind legals/death notices) and craigslist sucked a high percentage of those out of newspapers.