Seattle Times Latest to Announce Layoffs

Less than an hour after I posted about the death of the newspaper, the Seattle Times Company announced layoffs of more than 100. The Seattle PI is breaking the news and I'm sure the Times will have something to say later in the day. The story is still developing.

Read the full article at SeattlePI.com.

How Long Will Print Survive?

This is a question that these days we are all asking. I personally believe that Print has another 7-10 years before we see major newspapers (USA Today, NY Times, LA Times, etc.) start to crumble.

The definition of crumble at this point is objective. Cut backs, lay offs, paper shrink, etc. can be all used to define crumble. The day we see one of these newspapers completely stop printing and go all on-line is the day when I say it's over for Print.

Wait a minute, we already watched that happen last week...although the Christian Science Monitor will continue to print the paper once per week, this is a sign that the end is near for Print.

Advertising Age is asking the question, "Will Print last another 5 years?" There is no doubt that the landscape is changing in the media world but I still have faith in radio and broadcast television. The internet is making us all rethink the way we reach consumers and Print is stuck in a limbo between the internet and the printed paper.

Think about it, in order to keep some revenue they have turned to the internet to publish the news. The best revenue model for them at this point would be to charge you to read their stories online. The only problem is, their competition is not charging you. Therefore in order to stay competitive with page views and unique users they have to give you a reason to come back online. Although the cost to publish news online is far cheaper than the paper, the revenue opportunity is far less compared to the revenue that print has been used to.

Newspaper Earnings Continue To Drop

The outlook continues to dwindle for newspaper companies including Gannett and A.H. Belo Corporation. While Gannett announced today that their total revenue fell 8.4%, Belo gave a warning that their announcement will be "substantially below" the original forecast.

We've been talking about it now for five years and we'll continue to talk about it for another 10 before the newspaper industry completely goes down the drain.

Click here to read the full article at the NY Times.com.

New York Times Cuts Deal with NBC For '08 Presidential Coverage

The New York Times announced today that they have cut a deal with NBC for joint coverage on the 2008 Presidential campaign. Other newspaper companies should take notes from this and figure out how they can be first through the door with remaining parties including CNN, FOX, ABC, and CBS. The New York Times understands that they have the distribution but that NBC news will be where consumers will turn to each night for immediate updates.

Click here to read the article.

New York Times Company Reports An Operating Profit Loss

Click here to read the entire article.

Newspaper Ad Sales Continue To Decline

It's rare these days to hear that a newspaper posted a positive quarter, in fact, we haven't even read about a flat quarter. But today again we learned that more newspapers are taking hits, this time it's McClatchy Company and Media General Inc. Circulation continues to drop and print is slowly dying as the medium to turn to. Click here to read this article at the Los Angeles Times.

San Francisco Chronicle Cutting Staff By 25%

The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the nations largest papers by circulation is cutting their staff by 25%. Click here to read the article.

General Motors Wants To Start Buying Newspaper Advertorials

Is this what it's come to GM? Newspaper advertorials? Click here to read the full article.

Today Advertising Age is reporting that General Motors, who has already significantly cut back on their newspaper adverising, is interested in buying newspaper advertorials. I can't decide if this is one more sign that the end is near for newspapers or if this is just a really stupid decision by General Motors.

I'm going to cut straight to the point. If full-page advertisements and ten-page pullouts don't get me to act upon a new car special, then tell me why I would decide to take ten minutes or more out of my day to read an advertorial that was paid for?

Advertorials are a paid advertisement in the form of an article. It is a mix of an advertisement and an editorial. They have been successful for companies facing PR scandals and problems as well as companies who are just trying to change their image while voicing their opinion to their consumers. Many large corporations used them in the past; before the power of the internet. As you could imagine, companies adapted to the web and found ways to reach their consumers, not via a dead medium.

Why would General Motors announce that they are interested in advertorials? I don't understand why they consider this news. Why not announce they are working on mobile content? Why not announce they are working on viral web sites for young consumers to groom them to become loyal GM drivers? What about five minute commercials to run in news across the top 10 markets?

These are not ground breaking media ideas but then again, Advertorials are old news.

Hopefully this helps GM with their sales a little better than display ads did. Look out for these new advertorials and you tell me if they urge you to buy a new car.

L.A. Times Expected to Announce Job Cuts

The Los Angeles Times is expected to announce that they will cut as many as 150 jobs within the next few weeks. This announcement comes as quartely revenue earnings were announced.

The full article can be seen on Business Weeks web-site:http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8OKU0NG1.htm

This should not come as a surprise to many. Newspapers across the country are seeing a decline in revenue. Some are seeing a steeper decline and this has forced many to rethink the way they publish. This includes the idea that some newspapers could go strictly online in years to come. Several other papers are scaling down their currently production by a few pages each year. Cutting on content, not jobs.