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Tariffs on paper will hurt us

vicd

Active Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2005
Messages
485
Tariffs on paper will hurt us, and our readers

These tariffs will also hurt our employees, because payroll is the only expense that is bigger than newsprint. To help offset the extra expense of paper, publishers will eliminate jobs. Make no mistake: These tariffs will cause layoffs across American newspapers, including this one.
- Paul Tash
 
The Tampa Bay Times also laid off staffers in the past due to its poor business practices (not that they were alone in that, but still). Maybe you look at this as the jump-off to cutting down publishing days or eliminating the paper edition all together -- and in the Times' case, fixing one of the worst websites for a major metro.
 
The Tampa Bay Times also laid off staffers in the past due to its poor business practices (not that they were alone in that, but still). Maybe you look at this as the jump-off to cutting down publishing days or eliminating the paper edition all together -- and in the Times' case, fixing one of the worst websites for a major metro.

I suspect this is exactly what's going to happen. Now that there's no competition in town, this is the right cover story ... er, opportunity.

They're already working on improving the website. Somehow, they scavenged enough money to buy a CMS created by the Washington Post, and some of their blog pages and special reports have had a new look for a month or two.
 
I suspect this is exactly what's going to happen. Now that there's no competition in town, this is the right cover story ... er, opportunity.

They're already working on improving the website. Somehow, they scavenged enough money to buy a CMS created by the Washington Post, and some of their blog pages and special reports have had a new look for a month or two.

That's good to hear. I had stopped looking because it was so mediocre.
 
ARLINGTON, Va. – Members of the printing, publishing and paper-producing industries, which employ more than 600,000 workers, are announcing the formation of Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (STOPP), a coalition to fight proposed countervailing duties (CVD) and anti-dumping duties (AD) on imports of Canadian uncoated groundwood papers including newsprint and other papers.
These preliminary duties, which were assessed by the Department of Commerce in January and March, respectively, are the result of a petition filed by one company, North Pacific Paper Company (NORPAC), an outlier in the paper industry that is looking to use the U.S. government for its own financial gain. The STOPP coalition is concerned that these CVD and AD duties, which range up to 32 percent combined, will saddle U.S. printing and publishing businesses with increased costs and threaten thousands of American jobs.
The Coalition is asking the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Congress to reject these newsprint tariffs and protect U.S. jobs. With the announcement, STOPP has launched a new website: www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org and is inviting other interested parties to join in the fight to overturn these tariffs.
Members of the STOPP coalition include:
American Society of News Editors, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Association of American Publishers, Association for Print Technologies, Book Manufacturer's Institute, Catalyst Paper, Inland Press Association, Kruger, Local Search Association, National Newspaper Association, News Media Alliance, Printing Industries of America, Quad Graphics, Rayonier Advance Materials, Resolute Forest Products, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, Trusted Media Brands (formerly Readers Digest Association), Valassis Communications, and Worzalla.
The impact of these tariffs on newspapers, paper producers, book publishers and others has the potential to be devastating to entire industries.


http://wvpress.org/breaking-news/pr...ch-national-coalition-stop-newsprint-tariffs/
 
I've long thought the Times should abandon the M-F daily, lean on the free, breezy TBT* for that and just focus on an enterprising, enhanced weekend product and projects. Obvious obstacle is that TBT* is free. But as deadlines shrink and pressure to reduce payroll increases, the two products are similar enough that you obviously don't need both M-F.
Heard today they are reducing TBT* to one day a week. If true, that will save money on newsprint and likely absorb some of the pending layoffs.
And, yes, that website is an absolute disaster.
 
The paper that fired me 2-plus years ago just lost more than 50 subscribers in a two-week span because the news editor wrote a snarky, poorly timed article in which he said he couldn't sympathize with public school teachers having their pensions cut because he was "too busy working." Editor was OFF four days in a six-day span.

Two weeks later, paper says its Sunday color comics will go from 6 pages to 4 because of the tariffs.
 
Times' movie critic announced his layoff on Twitter.
I know the suits see no value in critics and their pieces. I've always enjoyed reading good movie reviews. Definitely extinct. The suits say those stories get very few hits. I personally think it's more misguided behavior of suits.
 
Times announced today that TBT* is shrinking to 1 day a week, starting June 7.
But they are "excited about the changes," so there is that.
 

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