Seriously, what if newspapers did this?

Currently the per copy price doesn't pay for jack. Distribution, maybe. Definitely not the printing costs with paper going through the roof. Advertising is THE source of revenue. Well, it was.

 

Captzulu,

That was a fantastic post. Great insight to the whole situation. I learned a thing or two.

 

Craigslist.

 

And it ain't ever going to be the source of revenue on the Internet product.
I love all the posts but I'll still never be convinced giving away a product for free is a smart business move. And those comments at the end of stories have turned "journalists" into punching bags. In my opinion, no smart business would allow the customers to blast the employees like that. I feel it is outrageous and absurd and all newspaper owners should be ashamed of themselves for allowing these comments on stories. There is never a discussion; just a total blasting of the sports reporter. Hideous.

 

You say ever, (actually, ain't ever) but advertising is all about results. If advertisers can find results through internet ads then the money will be there. I think it's hard to say anything works during this economy because people have less money to spend on anything but necessities.

 

So that's ... a little over $1.8 million gross per year. I vaguely suspect that rate of return won't work.

 

yeah, it's big trouble. i remember the original reasoning from the web guy..."oh, we'll just toss more ads on each page!" it's why many web pages are bogged down now when you go to visit them, since they usually have three or four ad spots on each. they're trying to stuff as much ad crap onto each page as possible, and it's just not working.

 

Fred,

If the neighborhood McDonalds shuts down, people don't stop eating hamburgers. They just go elsewhere to find it. Same principle applies here.

 

good point bob, i like your posts