June 23, 2008
Pulp Continues to Retreat
In a continuing decline the newspapers latest numbers look the worst seen in years. Some papers are reporting -15% declines in revenue. The SF Chronicle is losing $1m a WEEK.
For newspapers, the news has swiftly gone from bad to worse. This year is taking shape as their worst on record, with a double-digit drop in advertising revenue, raising serious questions about the survival of some papers and the solvency of their parent companies.
Ad revenue, the primary source of newspaper income, began sliding two years ago, and as hiring freezes turned to buyouts and then to layoffs, the decline has only accelerated.
On top of long-term changes in the industry, the weak economy is also hurting ad sales, especially in Florida and California, where the severe contraction of the housing markets has cut deeply into real estate ads. Executives at the Hearst Corporation say that one of their biggest papers, The San Francisco Chronicle, is losing $1 million a week.
Over all, ad revenue fell almost 8 percent last year. This year, it is running about 12 percent below that dismal performance, and company reports issued last week suggested a 14 percent to 15 percent decline in May.
We continue to cover this trend as the loss of the pulp industry translates to switch to electronic media. That shift also telegraphs a move to portable wireless mediums as we generally like to read our news as we need it.
I do make one observation. There is going to be a market for buying up the archives of some major papers morgues and digitizing them. I wonder who will be smart enough to recognize the opportunity?
Comments on Pulp Continues to Retreat »
These guys should go interactive / online and do pulp as a adjunct. (concept is free, but if you want expert assistance implementing mr/ms pulp proprietor, contact us at thirdpipe@gmail.com for fair and reasonably priced help). The old concept of top down dictation as to the mindless masses is over. Even the most dim witted knows how to access a universe of alternatives. If pulp went interactive, they would soon learn that the agenda driven tripe they are currently peddling is chasing away readers faster then the web can steal them.
[...] Reader as the last hold out as a NYT reader, changes are coming to the media industry. We mentioned here how bad it is getting in the revenue phase. But as Ed Driscoll points out, when they erect a museum [...]
I thought so too there Boss. They have the news gathering apparatus, the talent, the connections. They should have viewed the web as just a different brand of printing press. Had they done that they would have been at least in the game. But for some reason, I think based on political gain, they view bloggers and consequently the media they use as some poison to be avoided.
Their loss.
While the old media loves to chat it up among themselves, they abhor interacting with the rest of us. After all our eyes and ears have not received special training in how to observe and describe what we see. Then there is the news gathering. Very few modern “journalists” can be bothered with the nasty details of observing. Instead they package, paraphrase and opinionate (bloggers do this too - maybe that’s why journalists hate them so much). Most “reporters” get stories from the same wire services you and I read on the internet every day without their added spin. The news wires are doing well and there is little danger of them going away anytime soon.