gannett plans to layoff 3,000 by december.

I was able to confirm that one of the deans of American field hockey writing, Tony Pinciaro of The Westchester Journal-News, has lost his job after more than a decade.

 

Final Pitoniak column today. Just the right touch, IMO, and a fine taste of why he'll be missed:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20081207/SPORTS/812070344/1007/SPORTS

 

He got a bum deal. Fuck Gannett.

 

http://lansingsportsrage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1444:news-a-freep-to-stop-printing-&catid=33:lsr-blogs&Itemid=83

This would be full of fail.

One paper online? Maybe. Both? Terrible idea. Especially if they are going to send in a reader's inbox as a PDF. Who the fuck wants to download anything in PDF/ It would be much easier to log into a website and read it that way.

Besides, there are way too many people subscribing to these papers to go all online. Nearly a half a million people. You can't tell me all those people have the desire to receive their paper this way. This is an awful, awful idea which will officially kill the newspapers in Detroit.

 

BLOGS!

 

I know, I know, I know.

It's such a bad idea though, it has Gannett written all over it!

 

That, "exclusive" is basically a rehash of a rumor on the Gannett blog earlier this week.

Look, the Detroit News is either going under or going online. Anyone who logically knows the paper and the market and the economic challenges facing both recognizes that. Seriously, if the weaker paper in Denver - an area with stronger economics and a much better journalistic product - is going to be folded, how can anyone logically believe Detroit can continue to support two newspapers?

The News will eventually go online only or fold, and the Freep will be stronger for it. Sad, but true. Just like the Rocky and the Post in Denver.

 

Whoa.
As I read it, they would still print a paper, just not deliver it during the week.
'Stang, this probably deserves its own thread.

 

I just don't understand corporate's desire to destroy newspapers.

Instead of trying to figure out a way to save newspapers, they seem hell-bent on just using whatever excuse (tough economy, rising cost of printing, high-gas prices) to justify eliminating newspapers completely.

 

Your take sounds more logical than the blog post I just linked to.

The problem for the news is, their online product still isn't as good as the Freep's. It's obvious if one paper isn't going to survive it would be the News. That would mean increased readership for the Freep online and in print. Circulation would jump incredibly I'm sure and keep one of the paper's afloat for a while.

It'd be interesting to see though, if one of these papers were able to charge a yearly fee like 20 bucks and you just log in and view the content. I really think that could work for a good enough paper.

Besides, I'd like to believe there is still value for that print edition of the newspaper, even if it's diminishing, the value isn't gone yet. People 50 and up love the newspaper in hand, college students can read it in class, and in the cafeteria, and then there's all the blue collar workers who read it on break, or don't sit at a computer all day.

There's also the travelers in the airports that need something on planes, or people who read when they are passengers in the car. There are so many instances where the print edition is still relevant, I hope they don't give up on it.

 

As far as I read in that plan, it's *making* an investment in the newsgathering product.

They'd finally be forcing people to pay for something they read online. Oh, I know, horrible! Reducing your online content to wire copy and forcing people to pay for local updates would probably boost advertising rates in the long term. Just like your local shopper that has 60,000 circulation can't charge as much for ads as the 60,000 daily, I would imagine the same philosophy (i.e. more captive audience) would work in the Web world. But what do I know?

 

You'd also be telling around 500,000 print subscribers that their business no longer matters.

-Less money from subscriptions.
-Less money from print advertisers, especially the inserts.

On the other hand

-Saving money on print costs, ink costs
-Saving money on delivery.

However, I don't feel it is in a company's best interest to deny customers. You have people buying the print edition now. It may not be as many as two or three years ago, but they are still buying them.

This would be like Ford Motor Company saying, "Well dealerships aren't selling a lot of cars anymore, lets just sell cars online."