Posted on 06/10/2008 11:38:40 AM PDT by abb
The newspaper business, as readers here probably know, isn’t what it used to be.
The economic crisis for newspapers now will be felt strongly in Cleveland.
Top Plain Dealer executives – Publisher Terry Egger and Editor Susan Goldberg - told worried editorial staff members yesterday that the business climate is so bad that the paper plans to cut 35 pages a week from its news pages and 20 percent of its workforce.
Egger said they were looking at “drastic changes,” according to PD reporters.
That’s 35 pages of less news every week or 1,820 pages a year for readers of Cleveland's only daily newspaper.
A day ago the Tribune Company announced it would chop 500 pages a week from its newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and others. The New York Times reported that it could mean 82 pages a day cut from the L. A. Times.
The plan has to be approved by Advance publications, owned by the Newhouse family, Plain Dealer owners.
A newspaper price increase is also contemplated.
The paper has already lost some 17 percent of its editorial staff after a recent buyout.
The paper will reduce its op-ed pages from two to one; stock tables will be gone. There will be no business pages on Monday and special sports sections will be eliminated.
This cannot mean anything good to those who already find the newspaper lacking in its coverage.
Extra! Extra! Running a newspaper is hard
Brian Tierney and other buyers of publicly-held newspapers thought they had the perfect fix for the moribund business. It’s not working.
By Devin Leonard, senior writer
NEW YORK (Fortune) — Brian Tierney was pretty cocky when he and a group of investors bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister, the tabloid Daily News, for $515 million two years ago. The former public relations magnate vowed to boost circulation and revenue at the papers.
How would he do that when Knight Ridder, their former owner, had failed to do so before reluctantly selling itself to McClatchy Newspapers (MNI)?
Tierney boasted that he and his partners could invest more money into the Inquirer and the Daily News because, unlike Knight Ridder, they weren’t facing angry public shareholders obsessed with the next quarter.
Sounds straightforward enough. Focus on the long-term and reap the rewards of your fortitude. But that doesn’t mean Tierney and his partners aren’t under considerable pressure in the short run.
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http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13395
Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 6/10/2008 1:49:49 PM
Title: Sun-Sentinel eliminates ME position
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
Intranet memo posted by Sun-Sentinel editor Earl Maucker
It is with considerable sadness that I am announcing today that Sharon Rosenhause has decided to retire effective July 31.
Since the day she arrived in March 2001, Sharon has made our newspaper better. Her commitment to the highest journalistic standards has been unwavering. Her contributions - ranging from the creation of our I-Team, Race and Demographics Team and Consumer Team have raised the Sun-Sentinel to new levels. Her dedication to diversity - known and respected nationwide - is reflected in our newsroom which is now one of the more diverse in the country, thanks to her efforts. Her leadership will be deeply missed.
Due to the current economic challenges facing us, I am eliminating the position of managing editor. The senior editors and I will share Sharon’s duties and responsibilities going forward. Effective July 31, Tim Frank, Willie Fernandez, Pat Thompson and Philip Ward will report directly to me. Kathy Pellegrino also will report directly to me. Karen Osborne will report to Kathy. Sports Editor Kathy Laughlin will report to Philip.
Please join with me in thanking Sharon for all she has contributed and wishing her well in her new pursuits.
I plan to visit our bureaus and various staff meetings this week and will be available to answer any questions.
Earl
ping
|
Price increase? LOL.
Lauren Rich Fine On Tribune’s Changes And The Newspaper Industry
By Lauren Rich Fine - Tue 10 Jun 2008 06:07 AM PST
The Tribune announcement to measure journalists based on their productivity and move to a 50-50 ad-news ratio came midway through the Florida Press Association’s annual meeting, in which I participated. The meeting was being hosted in Orlando, home to one of Tribune’s papers. Similar to what I have sensed at other recent newspaper executive gatherings, there is a relatively new sense of urgency among participants to find and discuss solutions to the current economic woes of the industry; the historic cultural reticence is quickly being eroded.
The Tribune plans didn’t create any particular panic as redesigns were already in process at many of the papers represented at the meeting, including more migrations of print content to online and merging of sections to reduce newsprint. Instead, thoughtful discussions ensued regarding which content needed to be created locally versus nationally (e.g. movie & book reviews). There were also lively debates as to whether certain sized newspapers could stop printing daily to save production and delivery expenses or whether that would accelerate the demise of the print publication.
In my conversations with both newspaper executives in Florida and beyond, I sensed some agreement with my premise that newspapers needed to reengage with their community. Give reporters, not just columnists, opportunities to connect and gain some visibility. Especially in view of asking the reader to pay the same (or more) for less in print and possibly more online, publishers/editors recognize a need to have more of a discussion with their readers to explain the changes.
So, the Tribune announcement garnered a lot of column inches, but it didn’t create the panic it might have even just two years ago. The newspaper industry is ripe for change and change it will.
Good moves, irritating dinosaur. Why do they need extra sports sections when they already have a sports section? The op-ed pages are often full of nonsense. Most business people keep track of stocks online. But they will keep the fluff sections. Lots of entertainment 'news'.
Their motto is, "Yesterday's news tomorrow."
Suggested new motto for the Cleveland PD (and many other newspapers, too): "What we usually print ain't worth killing the trees for."
http://www.contentbridges.com/2008/06/so-its-clear-th.html
What’s Wrong With Tribune’s Math
So, it’s clear, that Randy Michaels knows how to draw attention. His 50/50 ad/news plan isn’t exactly revolutionary, but it’s become a lightning rod for the news industry, as it comes to grip with near-death experience.
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http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/06/10/why-isnt-sam-zell-selling-the-la-times
Why Isn’t Sam Zell Selling the LA Times?
snip
http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/2008/06/give-em-zell.html
Give ‘Em Zell
One of the fables of The Washington Post newsroom tells of a productivity expert who was brought in during the 1970s to look over the paper’s operations. First stop was the newsroom, where he looked around and said, “Well, first of all you’ve got to stop these people from sitting around their desks reading newspapers.” He was fired on the spot, according to the legend.
snip
http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2008/06/tribune-co-rema.html
Tribune Co. remains canary in the coalmine for big media’s continued breakdown
snip
Like I assume most/many papers do, the Plain Dealer prints extra sports sections for such occasions as beginning of season previews (MLB, NBA, NFL, high school football, etc), playoffs & so on.
It will soon be a 4-page format: front page of "news", inside front cover of local, inside back cover of comics and entertainment, and back cover of sports/business. It will be the taco shell, and the filling will be supermarket flyers, Parade magazine, and other useless crap nobody wants with ads for collectible plates from the Danbury Mint and Ed McMahon's latest low cost health insurance scam.
Diversity in the news rooms has been the sounding of the death knell for most newspapers.
Print the real news in a timely fashion (it took three days for even the Wash Times to report a story I followed on web sites) and keep your editorials from reading like you were foaming at the mouth when you wrote it and people might just start reading your rag again rather than just clipping out the Sunday coupons and putting the rest in the trash/birdcage.
As an ex-Clevelander, I can't tell you how many times I've read the Plain Dealer over the years, only to become angry at the extreme bias. It was obviously biased to me even back when I was 14 years old.
I don’t read it anyway. But hey, I’m doing my part to save trees and the planet. I feel so proud of myself. :-)
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