Cut from the top - a newspaper story.
October 31st, 2008
When newspapers are in trouble, journalism is in trouble. And this week has not been a good week for American newspapers. One of their worst, in fact. And it raises the question of whether current global conditions are going to deliver a knockout blow to an already punch-drunk industry in America.
The LA Times retrenched 75 more people in what I believe is their third recent round of firings. This leaves them with half the newsroom staff they had just eight years ago.
The respected and serious newspaper, Christian Science Monitor announced that it would cease publishing a daily paper after a century of providing this service. And their paper was always a non-profit. They will now run a daily website and publish a weekly newspaper.
Time Inc, publishers of such giants as Time magazine, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated, cut 600 jobs. Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, laid off 10 percent of its work force — about 3 000 people.
The Star-Ledger of Newark, the 15th-largest paper in the country, cut editorial staff by 40 percent. Two weeks ago, TV Guide, one of the famous brand names in magazines, was sold for one dollar, less than the price of a single copy.
As the New York Times put it in reporting the above: “Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it.”
Back home, the newspaper industry is in a better state, having had a few good years of growth (unlike the US and Europe, which has seen almost continuous shrinkage). But there are signs of serious strain as newspapers feel a plunge in advertising.
Two stories doing the rounds of journalists to support this. Media24 told staff that advertising was down more than 30% already, and expected to get worse. They have a team looking at amalgamating the news operations of their four Afrikaans newspapers (Beeld, Burger, Volksblad, Rapport) into one national operation.
The Independent Group is looking into creating one national subs-room doing production for all their papers around the country. This is a radical move, but not as radical as they have tried elsewhere - such as outsourcing production completely.
Entry Filed under: Anton Harber, Journalism, Print
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