Sad time in the business

i saw a sonogram with a fetus reading a paper in the womb -- that means every new baby will read the paper and we'll have jobs for life!

 

Frank, I'd argue other media go downscale, or at least for the lowest common denominator, every day, trying to reach that 18-34 group that most advertisers want.

So why not newspapers?

 

The problem is that this new go-go generation doesn't have time or interest in the printed word. It's sad but true. We have a generation that is geared solely for electronic media. In 20 years, I really believe that many small newspapers will become weeklies and that many larger newspapers will be skeletons of what they once were. Sure there will be a need for reporters to report on events but don't expect it to be in the form that you are presently viewing.

 

Aren't Internet stories still printed words -- just printed in megabytes, not on paper from the press?

It's time to redefine what the "printed word" means. Same standards exist, for the most part, with major journalism organizations in cyberspace. Just because some bloggers are out there spewing propaganda doesn't mean journalism is coming to an end. Remember, 100 years ago, we had political lackies publishing their own newspapers across the country. Now that trend of bias is on the Internet. Eventually it'll sort itself out.

 

Not before a lot of good people are on the unemployment line.

 

But on major newspapers, the most valuable advertisers are major department stores that buy a slew of full-page ads in the A section on an annual contract basis, banks, real estate agents, auto dealers and to a lesser degree the more fickle entertainment venues. The first three are generally seeking an older, wealthier audience. Some auto dealers (but not all) do covet the downscale readers, and they are largely the advertisers that are keeping urban tabloids (barely) alive. Compare the ads in the Chicago Tribune vs. the Sun-Times, or The New York Times vs. the Daily News and the Post, or the Boston Globe vs. the Herald -- you will see fewer ads in general in the downscale products, of course, but also notice the quality of the advertisers in each. There was a story about when the New York Post briefly reached 1 million in circulation in the late 1970s or early 1980s and the department store executive told the ad salesman, "But your readers are our shoplifters." What holds for TV does not necessarily hold true for newspapers. You don't see Nordstrom, Nieman-Marcus or even Macy's advertising much on TV, but they are vital to a large, healthy newspaper.

 

Good points, Frank, all of them. Enjoyed this conversation.

 

Frank: I think the story about the New York Post was when the other New York newspapers were on strike. The story may or may not be true, but it is accurate in the sense that in terms of advertising, that is the perception of the New York Post... I haven't seen a paper copy in a while, but it seemed like most of the ads were from "gentlemen's clubs".

 

Don't forget supermarkets.

 

With some exceptions, supermarkets no longer advertise in the news sections, they buy inserts, which are less profitable than other ads because we merely deliver the inserts, we do not print them.

 

Frank, there is one subsection of the food business that still advertises in papers-specialty shops. Large butcher shops are a staple of the Herald's ads, and so, of course, were the big chain liquor stores. Everyone loves a bargain, but the less disposable income one has, the more love one has for a good deal. LOTS of Bostonians stock up on meat at the Hilltop Steak retail shop and at similiar places. I have to assume other cities have the same kinds of big stores.
Without car ads, there'd be no Herald. It's why Monday is its biggest sports section.

 

But the bottom line, I feel, is that newspapers aren't being read by the younger sect.