Newspapers are paying the price for shortsighted thinking
One excerpt:
"...most newspaper companies concentrated on shoring up the profitability of their traditional newsprint-oriented business, chiefly through laying off employees, downsizing their newspapers and cutting back on circulation in distant areas of little interest to advertisers in their core markets. It was a classic defensive strategy that undermined the very things – standing, reputation, influence – that are crucial to success on the Internet."
Ouch.
Morton leans heavily on Warren Buffett's recent shareholders' letter in which Buffett writes: "..the days of lush profits from our newspaper are over."
My 2 cents: These are tough times, for sure, which only reinforces my belief that the old newspaper industry as a whole is unable to cure itself. A new mindset is needed as are local solutions that can be globally aggregated. That kind of thinking is not going to come from the boardroom nor will it flow from frightened sycophants interested only in securing their roles, not in considering the overall picture, much less the future.
Too many newspaper leaders are either frozen in fear with their heads down or working hard to appear to be doing something innovative even though they are creating nothing sustainable. Sadly, this appearance is usually marked by following what other newspapers are doing regardless of the market fit...
More later,
Mark
1 comment:
....what Warren said.
....what Mark said.
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