tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post1907968875909226364..comments2024-03-29T04:56:02.252-07:00Comments on Paying attention: How to save newspapersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-35774229980720656352013-08-27T23:04:26.281-07:002013-08-27T23:04:26.281-07:00I'm so very very late to this comment thread, ...I'm so very very late to this comment thread, but I feel inclined to add my two cents.<br /><br />1) What with all of these superannuated and still pretty young reporters out there, I think they should put their severance packages to good use. One idea would be to buy the Vancouver Province and follow one of your suggestions - turn it into an actual slam/bang tabloid. I got this idea while reading the NY Post online, which manages to cover headless bodies in topless bars while also breaking real news stories. Reporters and editors! Stop waiting for "someone" to find a solution. YOU are the solution.<br /><br /> 2) Guess what, I subscribe to the New York Times online. And I read TMZ. I'm human. Local and regional papers should cede the international gossip and sleaze fields to those who do it well. I personally also think they should stop being real estate ads masquerading as newspapers, but that's just a pet peeve. This is an additional vote for the "more local".<br /><br />3) Continuing that idea, maybe a local/regional paper could partner with another national or international paper so your (online) subscription includes either a section from that paper (i.e. international news from NYT) or a certain number of self selected stories each week. So your subscription gets you excellent informed local and regional news and top flight news sources from elsewhere.<br /><br />4) Maybe the model is something along the line of the Trust that funds The Guardian. Who ever said news organizations had to be profit centres? They were rich men's fancies for many years, and they can be again (Hello Jeff Bezos!). The 1% have to be good for something more than taking expensive space vacations. Or just go non-profit or Community Contribution Company. It's the news version of crowdfunding.<br /><br />I regret not joining the conversation earlier.Suzannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-17209763277297218972013-08-03T19:06:05.967-07:002013-08-03T19:06:05.967-07:00When You Account For Pensions, The Boston Globe So...When You Account For Pensions, The Boston Globe Sold For Negative $40 Million<br /><br /><i>The terms under which John Henry is buying the paper stick the New York Times Company with the Globe's pension obligations, which are said to amount to around $110 million. Which is to say that the worth of the overall Globe enterprise is negative $40 million.</i> - The New York Times Company bought The Boston Globe for over a billion dollars in 1993.<br /><br />http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/08/03/pensions_included_boston_globe_sold_for_40_billion.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-69661125573206522572013-07-17T11:26:25.415-07:002013-07-17T11:26:25.415-07:00Sun Media to close 11 newsrooms across Canada
htt...Sun Media to close 11 newsrooms across Canada<br /><br />http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/07/16/SunMediaCloses/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-72797517037168771152013-07-15T16:34:03.682-07:002013-07-15T16:34:03.682-07:00In addition to your sensible suggestions, maybe so...In addition to your sensible suggestions, maybe some newspaper could try reporting from an angle that isn't way over on the right wing.<br /><br />I used to feel as you do that newspapers were a valuable civic amenity worth fighting to preserve. Now I just see them as a tool used by rich people to get their way and I cheer/fight for their ongoing demise.Declannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-9453562179524581902013-07-14T04:52:18.202-07:002013-07-14T04:52:18.202-07:00Who is and who is not a journalist?
If PW writes ...<b>Who is and who is not a journalist?</b><br /><br />If PW writes for the T-C, he's a journalist.<br /><br />If PW writes for his blog, he's pond scum.<br /><br /><a href="http://boingboing.net/2013/07/13/with-new-news-media-guidel.html" rel="nofollow">http://boingboing.net/2013/07/13/with-new-news-media-guidel.html</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-24240995509479528242013-07-13T19:28:58.208-07:002013-07-13T19:28:58.208-07:00and another thing...
media consolidation: 6 compa...and another thing...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.freepress.net/blog/11/11/22/media-consolidation-illusion-choice" rel="nofollow">media consolidation</a>: 6 companies now control 90% of American media<br /><br />and they will soon be joined by the Koch brothers buy of the Tribune company:<br /><br /> Burbank Leader, Burbank, California<br /> Daily Pilot, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, California<br /> Glendale News-Press, Glendale, California<br /> Huntington Beach Independent, Huntington Beach, California<br /> Valley Sun, La Cañada Flintridge, California<br /> Coastline Pilot, Laguna Beach, California<br /> Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California<br /> Pasadena Sun, Pasadena, California<br /> Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut<br /> South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida<br /> Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, Florida<br /> Chicago Tribune and Redeye, Chicago, Illinois<br /> Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland<br /> The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania<br /> Daily Press, Newport News, Virginia<br /><br />Spanish-language newspapers:<br /><br /> Hoy, Los Angeles and Chicago<br /> El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida<br /> El Sentinel, Orlando, Florida<br /><br />Cable Television:<br /><br /> Food Network<br /> Chicagoland Television<br /><br />Broadcast TV:<br /><br /> Los Angeles KTLA 5 (31) 1985 The CW<br /> Sacramento - Stockton - Modesto KTXL 40 (40) 1997 Fox<br /> San Diego KSWB-TV 69 (19) 1996 Fox<br /> Denver KWGN-TV 2 (34) 1966 The CW<br /> Hartford - New Haven, CT WTIC-TV 61 (31) 1997 Fox<br /> Waterbury, Connecticut WCCT-TV 20 (20) 2001 The CW<br /> Washington, D.C. WDCW 50 (50) 1999 The CW<br /> Miami - Fort Lauderdale WSFL-TV 39 (19) 1997 The CW<br /> Chicago WGN-TV ** 9 (19) 1948 The CW<br /> Bloomington, Indiana WTTV 4 (48) 2002 The CW<br /> Indianapolis WXIN 59 (45) 1997 Fox<br /> Kokomo, Indiana WTTK 29 (29) 2002 The CW<br /> New Orleans WGNO 26 (26) 1983 ABC<br /> Grand Rapids - Battle Creek - WNOL-TV 38 (15) 1999 The CW<br /> Kalamazoo, MI WXMI 17 (19) 1998 Fox<br /> St. Louis KPLR-TV 11 (26) 2003 The CW<br /> New York City WPIX ** 11 (11) 1948 The CW<br /> Salem - Portland, OR KRCW-TV 32 (33) 2003 The CW<br /> Philadelphia WPHL-TV 17 (17) 1992 MyNetworkTV<br /> York - Harrisburg PA WPMT 43 (47) 1997 Fox<br /> Dallas - Fort Worth KDAF 33 (32) 1997 The CW<br /> Houston KIAH 39 (38) 1995 The CW<br /> Tacoma - Seattle KCPQ 13 (13) 1999 Fox<br /> KZJO 22 (25) 1998 MyNetworkTV<br /><br />Radio Stations:<br /><br /> Chicago WGN-720 1924 Talk<br /><br /><i>Where does 'news' end and propaganda begin</i>?<br />Is losing money at news just part of the cost of doing business?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-52940875666540584312013-07-11T12:17:45.932-07:002013-07-11T12:17:45.932-07:00Marc Edge:
I hope you’re right.
But I see a few p...Marc Edge:<br />I hope you’re right. <br />But I see a few problems with the scenario. The “going bust” process tends to be untidy. Canwest’s inability to pay its creditors led to Postmedia’s ownership of the papers, with its debt problem. Given reduced opportunities to sell, an owner in crisis is likely to opt for a desperate attempt to protect short-term profits that won’t leave much for a new owner to build on. An asset strip, as they say.<br />Interest payments, depreciation and amortization are real, even if only the former affect the available cash flow. <br />So are the pension and contractual obligations that make most Canadian newspapers less attractive to a new buyer.<br />And most importantly, the trend lines are terrible. If you take last year’s revenue and expense reductions for Postmedia and extend them on a straight line basis, the corporation will be unable to make interest payments in 2015 and losing money, on an operating basis, within four years. (Before interest and depreciation and the rest.)<br />Things might change. Newspapers might cut costs more quickly, or revenue declines might slow. But there is no real reason to think those are the most likely scenarios.<br />I agree that there is much less revenue potential online. But it seems the only way to ensure a model where the work of good journalists on local issues is widely available.<br />For better or worse, we’ll have the answers in a few years.paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11003637352818760817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-67621944102064178822013-07-11T10:27:43.420-07:002013-07-11T10:27:43.420-07:00Maybe I just don't get it. Postmedia is not ju...Maybe I just don't get it. Postmedia is not just posting positive cash flow, as you state. It is making a pretty nice return on revenue. Operating earnings of $32.8 million in the last quarter on revenues of $191.7 million amounts to a RoR of 17.1 percent. That's a profit margin that most companies would admire. The much-ballyhooed quarterly loss of $112 million is made up mostly of a $93.9 million "impairment" charge representing the reduced value of the company, which is a classic "paper" loss and involves no money going out the door. Another $16.8 million in restructuring costs is non-recurring, except that we'll likely see it in the next quarterly report as well with all the buyouts at Pacific Press. Then, of course, there's the $15 million in interest payments for the quarter. But the newspapers themselves are nicely profitable. So what's the problem? If Postmedia goes bust, the papers will be bought by someone else who will pay less for them and have less (hopefully no) debt to pay interest on. But why would they stop publishing? They make good money. Go online? There's no money in it.<br /><br />http://www.postmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Postmedia-Network-Canada-Corp-FS-Q3-F13.pdfMarc Edgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00510625002771364258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-71113157597593331982013-07-11T10:20:47.120-07:002013-07-11T10:20:47.120-07:00Anon 10:28: Castanet.net is an interesting and app...Anon 10:28: Castanet.net is an interesting and apparently successful experiment. I'm keen to know more about the business model.paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11003637352818760817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-18651295927426785692013-07-11T09:22:00.410-07:002013-07-11T09:22:00.410-07:00I'm reading a blog and am in contact with a re...I'm reading a blog and am in contact with a researcher writing about and working in Mali.<br /><br />I can watch live streams of the protests in Egypt and "talk" with Egyptians on my phone.<br /><br />Desktop and laptop sales--sitting in front of a monitor--are almost obsolete. The little screen is the future.<br /><br />Web or print, a capitalist venture still has to make a profit: the "content" must be massaged for the customers.<br /><br />1) What is "news" to someone under 30?<br /><br />2)Why do I need "news" people to gather and interpret the world for me?<br /><br />3) What evidence is there that "people" want quality content and not celebrities/sports/sex.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-11388374325181863332013-07-11T08:34:00.552-07:002013-07-11T08:34:00.552-07:00Paul, I totally agree that local news could be imp...Paul, I totally agree that local news could be important in any kind of success to be achieved by online newspapers. As a resident of a non urban area (the West Kootenays) as I first became familiar with the web and the wealth of information available there, I increasingly noticed the absence of info about local issues. <br /><br />We are fortunate in my area to have a bi-weekly totally advertiser (with the odd paid subscription by people living away) supported paper that covers the local area of Kootenay Lake, the Slocan and Arrow Lakes region.<br />Meanwhile the Nelson Daily News, which thirty years ago was a wonderful daily, became part of a chain and gradually became a repository for PR releases from Hollywood and other fluff died an ignominious death after over a hundred years of publication. kootcoothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11344208424209840730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-5986711344112078552013-07-10T22:28:36.132-07:002013-07-10T22:28:36.132-07:00If La Presse is spending $40 million to develop a ...If La Presse is spending $40 million to develop a totally new product for "tablets" they don't understand the market.<br /><br />August 2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the Okanagan fire where more than 200 homes were lost. Castanet.net showed - and still shows - how to do news right in this new(s) digital age.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-40405772055445554012013-07-10T17:41:52.500-07:002013-07-10T17:41:52.500-07:00Crikey is good.
I like the star/anchor/magnet id...Crikey is good. <br /><br />I like the star/anchor/magnet idea with a stable built around it...Weirdly, it's kind of how the science business often works best/most efficiently these days (and really helps with bringing in the resources needed to acquire the infrastructure to do things well).RossKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-67751827903396955752013-07-10T17:38:16.160-07:002013-07-10T17:38:16.160-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11003637352818760817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-91987988457187190002013-07-10T17:38:14.720-07:002013-07-10T17:38:14.720-07:00Interesting thought. Some of the pilots could be d...Interesting thought. Some of the pilots could be done by other, new organizations. (Though current companies have a lot of the resources in place.) I wouldn't count on any pools of cash in any form from the old companies though.<br />Did you look at Crikey, the Australian online news and analysis site? The model seems to make sense. (And shows the value of a star columnist; Keane seems to be well-known.) That kind of startup is feasible here.<br />paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11003637352818760817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400574.post-78483819172571843392013-07-10T16:57:51.336-07:002013-07-10T16:57:51.336-07:00Very interesting Paul--
Personally I like all of ...Very interesting Paul--<br /><br />Personally I like all of the experiments...In fact, I think at least four of the them are included in the way I have my (constantly changing) Twittmachine feed set up right now. But that is still kind of hit or miss and I would be very happy with a well curated and editted version of any/all of them.<br /><br />So, how to actually make it happen?<br /><br />Here's one thing that I'm wondering about...<br /><br />How many of your suggested experiments need be done by existing old media companies as they are currently configured?<br /><br />Put another way...What if there were, instead, a ton of start-ups that competed for a venture pool of $$ that came from, say, a fund that was generated by an old company or two cashing out (and doing right by their current staff) before they went down the tubes completely?<br /><br />Of course, something like that would likely require some assist wherein the tax benefits made it possible/financially favourable...But what the heck, given that we are dreaming of wild experiments here, I thought it was at least worth suggesting.<br /><br />.RossKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677239332112652522noreply@blogger.com