Bird Cage Liner: It is well-known that the historic newspaper business model - charge for ads, charge subscribers - doesn't work anymore. People under 55 get their news from drive-time radio and the internet. The subscriber base has been shrinking for over 20 years.

Bad economic times have now forced advertisers to carefully examine the effectiveness of their limited ad budgets and they're abandoning traditional newspapers for other, more effective venues.

Affiliated Media Inc., which owns television and radio broadcasters as well as 54 daily newspapers and more than 100 non-dailies, is filing for bankruptcy.

Its stable of papers includes the Denver Post, Detroit News, Salt Lake Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, Pasadena Star-News, Monterey County Herald, Redwood Times, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Charleston Daily Mail and El Paso Times.

"About 80% of the firm's revenue is generated from advertising sales, which continue to be affected by the recession." Falling circulation was also cited as a factor.

Morris Publishing Group also plans to file bankruptcy. Morris publishes 13 daily newspapers including the Augusta Chronicle, Savannah Morning News and Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville. It also has more than 60 non-daily newspapers and magazines.

Since 2005, the industry's annual ad sales have dropped by more than $20 billion, a decline of about 40%, based on figures from the Newspaper Association of America.

While the severe recession has exacerbated the industry's problems, it is questionable whether many of these lost advertisers will return as the economy recovers. (posted 1/18/10, permalink)

Fish Wrap: Last week, my wife picked up a copy of the Sunday Oregonian, primarily to check out the retail ad inserts. I hadn't looked at the Oregonian in years but I can now conclude that it remains the worst large city newspaper I've experienced. A waste of two bucks.

Paper Loss: The decline in U.S. newspaper circulation has accelerated as the industry struggles with subscriber defections to the Internet and tumbling ad revenue. New data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show that average daily circulation dropped 10.6% in last six months from the same period last year. That was greater than the 7.1% decline six-months previously and the 4.6% drop before that.

The Wall Street Journal has now surpassed USA Today as the top-selling newspaper in the United States. The WSJ was up 0.6% during the period - the only daily newspaper in the top 25 experiencing an increase. USA Today dropped more than 17% to 1.90 million. The New York Times was down 7.3%; the Washington Post fell 6%; the New York Post declined almost 19% - same for the Boston Globe.

The San Francisco Chronicle lost more than a quarter of its daily circulation, down 25.8% to 251,782. The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. (once Tony Soprano's favorite morning read), dropped 22.2% to 246,006.

Many newspapers are hoping to bring in money from online editions to make up for falling print circulation and advertising sales. Not happenin'. "Online revenue at most large dailies fell last year. Publicly held chains say that online revenue is now 6% to 12% of total sales, and that is not enough to offset a collapse in their traditional revenue stream."

Over in Portland, the Oregonian's circulation is down 12% from last year. The paper sold an average of 249,163 copies of its Monday through Friday editions. The same day, the Oregonian announced a new publisher at the helm; it was rumored that he was presented with a braided captain's hat with Titanic embroidered on the bill.

ABC reported a daily circulation of 36,347 - a drop of 9% - for the bankrupt Vancouver paper, the Columbian.

What does all this decline and turmoil mean? Simply that the business model is broken. Newspaper revenue streams have traditionally been threefold: subscriptions (in serious decline and with no good prospects in sight - most people under 50 simply don't subscribe), display advertising (falling fast due to increased competition from internet ads, well-designed websites and a proliferation of attractively-priced radio and television ad packages) and classified ads (dropping like a stone due to Craigslist, eBay and the like). Low revenue = low viability. Many newspapers will soon disappear.

I'm just guessing, but I think two kinds of papers will ultimately survive: Big national newspapers like the Wall Street Journal; it's content is unique and original enough (not just AP and Reuters regurgitations) that people will actually pay for it - even online. Another survivor will be the small neighborhood paper - the free weekly ones serving small towns or neighborhoods of large towns. They are full of community news: school board meetings, road repairs, local political scandals, etc. and contain lots of ads from local merchants. (posted 10/30/09, permalink)

Headline Of The Week ... is from The Onion: 'Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date'.

Excerpt: "According to a report published this week in American Journalism Review, 93% of all newspaper sales can now be attributed to kidnappers seeking to prove the day's date in filmed ransom demands."

Recycled Newspaper: The Columbian, now in Chapter 11, hopes to exit bankruptcy soon. Emphasis on the word 'hope'. The paper will need lots of that ... and luck, too. At its May 1 filing to the bankruptcy court, the company "reported 2007 gross revenue of $33.2 million; 2008 revenue of $29.7 million and $6.13 million in the first four months of this year through April 30."

Ever-Steepening Slippery Slope: Washington state's Democratic governor Christine Gregoire has approved a tax break for the state's troubled newspaper industry. The new law gives newspaper printers and publishers a 40 percent cut in the state's main business tax. Since most troubled Washington papers enthusiastically endorsed Democratic candidates, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Soon the government will own both the auto companies and the newspapers. It will be just like the old USSR. Hope you enjoy driving a Moskovitch and reading Pravda. And riding the Amtrak Red Arrow from Moscow to St. Petersburg. (posted 5/15/09, permalink)

Feeling The Pinch: The Columbian, the local Vancouver, WA newspaper, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Columbian owes approximately $17 million to the Bank of America and to a host of unsecured creditors, including Mason Nolan, a former Columbian executive, $179,263; North Pacific Paper Corp. (Norpac, a Joint Venture of Weyerhaeuser and Nippon Paper) of Longview, WA, $95,000; GE Capital Solutions, Torrance, Calif., $84,331, Page Cooperative, a newspaper buying co-op, $30,000 and Inland Empire Paper Co., Spokane, $27,893.

Publisher Scott Campbell woke up one morning and apparently thought he was the next Pinch Sulzberger and that Vancouver was the next Manhattan. He proceeded to construct a glossy new 118,000 square-foot office tower downtown. The Columbian moved its operation to the new building in January 2008. And suddenly realized that what was missing was Pinch's money. Oops. Shortly thereafter, the Columbian moved its staff back to its old, less flashy building in a seedier part of Vancouver.

'Pinch' Campbell said of the bankruptcy, "The Columbian has seen a 40 percent decline in advertising dollars over the past several years, most of this decline in the past year. In response, we have reorganized, particularly over the past year, and we are positioned to come through this bad economy."

I would point out that the Columbian's decline in revenues began well before the recession. In early 2007 (when Southwest Washington's economy was still firing on all cylinders), the paper initiated a "selective job elimination" program. In February 2008, before the Clark County economy seriously nosedived, the Columbian laid off 8% of its workforce.

Since then, the paper has cut its staff (now less than 260 employees) and cut its size without cutting its price, making it a less desirable read for its remaining subscribers. And a less desirable media buy for its remaining advertisers. (posted 5/4/09, permalink)

Paper Chase: The Audit Bureau of Circulations has released newspaper circulation figures for the six months ending March 31, 2009, showing large declines at many newspapers:

McPaper Misery: USA Today, the country's largest newspaper, has lost 100,000 subscribers just from the slowdown in travel. The slowdown has resulted in a reduction of more than 7% in the number of copies of USA Today distributed through partnerships with hotel chains such as Marriott, which account for more than half of its weekday circulation of 2.3 million. (posted 4/3/09, permalink)

Shredded Paper: The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban newspapers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, making it the fifth newspaper publisher in recent months to seek protection from creditors. The IRS has said Sun-Times Media Group owes up to $608 million in back taxes and penalties.

Motown Shrinkdown: The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are reducing home delivery to the three days a week most popular with advertisers - Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Slimmed-down newspapers, sold at regular prices, will be available in news racks and convenience stores the other four days. More than 80 newspapers in the country - in smaller markets - have dropped at least one publication day since last year. (posted 3/30/09, permalink)

All That's Fit ... or That's All That Fits: The Washington Post has eliminated its stand-alone Business Section, combining it with the front section to save on paper costs. Also shrinking or disappearing are stock listings, comics, TV listings and the crossword puzzle. The Post noted that the changes "will allow us to continue providing the features that our readers tell us they most value in the newspaper," possibly referring to absorbency and a size compatible with popular models of bird cages.

Whenever I visit the WP online site, I am greeted with "Hello undefined" instead of the customary greeting other news sites use for unregistered readers: "Welcome, visitor."

In related news, the last print issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was published Tuesday. (posted 3/19/09, permalink)

Batboy Is A Business Genius. Who Knew? Douglas A. McIntyre of 24/7 has written, "In the future, the big daily newspaper and national weekly magazine will not be printed at all. They will exist on the internet, run by much smaller staffs. Hearst, which said it would close its Seattle paper, the Post-Intelligencer, has told some members of its staff that they may be candidates to create an online version of the paper as its print version is shuttered."

The Weekly World News ceased its print publication in 2007 and is available exclusively online. And is apparently doing very well. WWN is the home of Batboy - the half-bat, half-boy superhero, the purveyor of famous tabloid headlines such as 'Aliens Abduct Cheerleaders', 'Blind Mother Given Newborn Chimp' and 'Heaven Photographed By Hubble Telescope' and the proprietary locale for Ed Anger's rants. In the 1980s, the circulation of Weekly World News peaked at 1.2 million per issue. Sales in 2006 were only 83,000 per issue.

Here's a hot headline from this week's issue of WWN: 'Siegfried and Roy Make Cher Disappear'. Excerpt: "When news got around Las Vegas that the magicians had made Cher vanish, her most devoted fans went into an uproar. Dozens of drag queens and Cher impersonators rushed to the theater. Security guards were quickly trampled under stiletto heels in a violent frenzy of wigs and black fishnets. However, the magicians had already left the building.

No charges have been filed yet for Cher's apparent kidnapping. Siegfried and Roy were last seen riding into the sunset on their white tiger, followed closely by a legion of angry drag queens."(posted 3/11/09, permalink)

Now, I don't agree with Robert about everything he writes but I'll read his stuff because 1) he has an opinion and 2) he expresses it with intelligence and forethought.

Apparently, what set off the Chronicle was his negative review of the Subaru B9 Tribeca. You know, that ugly one. (He characterized the Subie's front end as a "flying vagina".) Farago writes: "I believe the media in general, and newspapers in particular, have an obligation to tell the truth about cars. You know all those puff pieces that fill up the odd blank spot in every single automotive section in this great country of ours? Does it ever occur to the propagators of these gutless "reviews" that a car is the average consumer's second most expensive purchase? To operate under the principle that all cars are wonderful in their own special way is to sacrifice readers' direct financial interests for the paper's short term monetary gain."

Amen, brother. The Columbian (Vancouver, WA) used to have an on-staff writer, Tom Ryll, do car reviews. His articles were thought-provoking, engaging and often funny. A few years ago, the paper switched to a useless Friday automotive section, with the silly appellation, 'Cruise Control'. (The section is so forgettable, I had to wait until this week's edition came out on Friday to get the name right.) In between state-the-obvious fluff filler ('Don't Forget Your Tire Pressure', 'Winter's Coming! How's Your Antifreeze?', 'Has Your Car Insurance Expired?', etc.), the paper now features 'Auto Reviews' provided by Motor News Media Corp. a soulless flack house out of Iowa. MNM has never met a vehicle it didn't like. ("Inside the cabin, the driver enjoys a commanding view ...") These "road tests" appear to be pieced together from company press releases. Ken Chester, Jr., the author of most of this drivel, is president of Motor News Media.

Mr. Chester claims to personally review 120 cars each year. Since he must take some time off to go to automotive press briefings and newspaper conferences (to promote his column) as well as Christmas, vacations, etc., I would guess that he's got to do four a week just to meet his annual quota. What if it's raining? Or snowing? Or there's a tornado? (I mean, it's Iowa, for Pete's sake.) Well, I guess Ken can sit in the vehicle in his driveway and write about that "commanding view." Of the twister.

As an opinionated car enthusiast, I've often thought of contacting Ken and asking him how he sleeps at night. But, I'm afraid he'd counter with that famous answer from an old Simpsons episode, "On a very large pile of money!"

Then there's my own experience as a columnist. I wrote a business column for nine years, as a freelancer. For a long time, my editor left me alone. She did reject one column - a Father's Day piece about dads in business - for vague reasons. Then she left. The following year, I submitted it to her replacement, who enthusiastically ran it.

Later, my old editor returned and began nitpicking my columns. She rejected my 'An Open Letter To Detroit' out of hand, referring to it as "too general, too angry." So, I posted it on my website. Within a week, a Motor City insider wrote me: "That may very well have been the most insightful article I have ever read. Congratulations." So, I quit writing columns for the paper. A couple of months later, it found another business consultant to write a column. She was gone in less than a year. I don't know why; she was a good writer. The paper now uses an inoffensive, syndicated piece in its business section.

Meanwhile, I continue to enjoy writing the censored-only-by-me View Through The Windshield. It's the world as I see it.

I hope Robert will continue to write the censored-only-by-him Truth About Cars. He's passionate and entertaining. And I enjoy every word. (posted 9/12/05, permalink)