Maybe if there wasn't an impending recession, then newspapers could have skated past the thin ice protecting them from drowning in red ink.
If advertisers still spent like during the boom days, then the latest report from Borrell about which companies are raking in the local online ad dollars would be less consequential. PaidContent broke the news with this jarring statement: "Newspapers’ share of the local online market is now 27.4 percent, down from 35.9 percent in 2006, even as the total segment has seen 57.2 percent gains last year."
Newspapers are losing the battle for online revenue in their own backyards. Meanwhile, advertisers faced with economic woes are shrinking budgets and moving significant portions of what's left to the Web, where dollars might be more effective.
Is this the moment many of us bloggers have warned about for so long? In short, yes. Time is up. Pencils down. If your newspaper company is among those without a hold on its local Web dollars, then it will fail. In the world of business, that equates to being sold or closing down.
The Star-Ledger is among the first to start its death rattle. Here's how the neighboring New York Post reports it:
"The Star-Ledger in Newark, and its sister paper The Trenton Times, are "on life support" and could be sold if fewer than 225 workers fail to accept voluntary buyouts, their publishers warned.The paper's owners, the Newhouse family, has already hired JPMorgan Chase and could unload the struggling dailies if it can't obtain new union contracts and get at least 225 non-unionized employees take voluntary buyouts by Oct. 1."
Although I have confidence in a few Web folks I know who recently joined that paper, Editor & Publisher's Joe Strupp criticizes the organization as one of the slowest to transition its business online.
"The cracks could be seen in recent years as the paper, like most Advance Publications dailies, was slow to expand to the Web. While the papers had Web sites, none of them offer a real breaking news pizzazz or individuality. All of the chain's cookie-cutter sites share the same template and are still among the most difficult to navigate. The Ledger didn't even offer a daily Web video report until this past week."
The Ledger seems to hope that cutting its staff dramatically will cure its sickness. Sounds like management hopes the financial cancer can be stopped by amputating part of the staff. I might agree if only they weren't asking for voluntary buy-outs.
If management was truly engaged and understood what was wrong with the business, then it would know which 200 people need to go and which need to stay. Look around the newspaper industry and you'll find similarly passive fix-it strategies.
If you can't hear the fat lady warming up in the wings, then you're not listening.
Comments (2)
While it is true that many newspapers are struggling, not all of them are. Those that do a good job reporting and reflecting the community's concerns still do well.
I cant speak for everyone but I can say why I canceled my Star Ledger subscription. The reporting in articles has declined. I read articles that really dont provide any information. On subjects that I know something about, I find the information incredibly incorrect. New Jersey election coverage is minimal. Investigative reporting is non-existent. Take the recent multi billion dollar ripoff of the New Jersey taxpayer with the school building project. Where was the Star Ledger? Did the paper do any investigation into finding out where the money went? It should have. The paper supported the creation of the school construction board. Instead, it merely reports that the money was wasted without bothering to tell us where it went. Similarly, the Star Ledger merely covers the horse race on the state budget without telling us what's actually in the budget. There were a number of articles telling us of the politics of when the budget was going to be signed, etc. but no real substance about the budget. Four years ago, the budget was 24 billion. Now, it's 34 billion. That is a huge increase in the budget in a very short period of time. While the paper always supports the budget, it never bothers to tell it's readers HOW the money is being spent. Why didnt the Star Ledger print a line item of the budget or detailed information of where our tax money is being spent?
Another problem is that the paper is politically too left. It identifies itself with the democratic party too much. The editorial page endorsed nearly every Democratic spending increase, tax increase, fee hike, toll hike and sales tax increase that came along. All the while, the evidence is that the state has been wasting the taxpayer's money resulting in higher property taxes and lower disposable income. The Ledger even suggested extending the sales tax to other businesses, including mine. How about we impose the sales tax on newspapers? Would that increase the circulation? The most revealing editorial i read was the recent one about Sharpe James. Everyone knew for years that he was corrupt. Yet, the Star Ledger endorsed him each time. It did virtually no investigation of his corrupt administration during his tenure. Yet, after he left office, then the Star Ledger suddenly got the gumption to look more closely at him. Is this just the editorial page? I dont think so. The left bias of Ledger is reflected in the subjects that the paper chooses to print or not print.
While the Ledger advertises itself as the "Voice of New Jersey", it really isn't. It supports higher taxes and increased government spending while failing to perform it's role as public watchdog. Instead of providing important information to it's customers, it has chosen to identify itself with the Democratic Party and a leftist ideology. The Star Ledger has lost touched with it's constituency. That is why circulation is down.
There really is no helping the Star Ledger. It has consigned itself to the excuse that all the newspapers have declined due
Posted by terry Zuckerman | August 6, 2008 9:19 AM
Posted on August 6, 2008 09:19
I've never had the opportunity to read the Star Ledger, so I can't affirm or rebuke your dislike for it. But I can offer another viewpoint from across the Web: This NY Times columnist expressed his love for the paper.
Posted by Lucas | August 6, 2008 4:27 PM
Posted on August 6, 2008 16:27