And the ink gets redder and redder …
The numbers are in, and it’s been another miserable quarter of declining earnings for newspaper companies.
It’s not good news for the Tribune Co., down 62 percent from a year before; Media General, down 47 percent; and Gannett, down 8.3 percent. McClatchy stayed even, but circulation declined 4.4 percent. The New York Times Co. plans to report earnings next week.
The reasons? The usual suspects: rising (up 12 percent from last year) newsprint costs, increasing shift of advertising from print to the web, and something the NYT story called a “weak operating environment.”
So what will the CEOs do? The Trib execs plan to cut $200 million in costs. Says CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons, Tribune’s chairman and chief executive:
Let me stress that there’s more to this plan than just cutting costs. We intend to redeploy resources, to reinvest for growth in interactive, as well as in our newspapers and targeted print products. [emphasis added]
Bullshit. Aside from the vagueness in Fitz’ statement, it’s just bullshit.
These companies don’t know how to be innovative. They’ve proven that by ignoring that their best product — news — has been diluted by so many job cuts. They can “redeploy” as much as they wish, but until they return to producing news people will read — either in print or online — their advertising revenue will continue to evaporate.
Leave a Reply