Report: 'Sick' newspapers won't be cured in 2008
By Leah McBride Mensching, Monday 17 March 2008 at 22:28 :: Newspaper Data :: #1409 :: rss
Newspapers' poor showings over the last several years in the United States show no sign of slowing down or getting better, as circulation, flat ad revenues, rising expenses and shrinking staffs at papers across the country have turned the once stable media into a race against time, the Project for Excellence in Journalism proclaimed in its 2008 annual report on American journalism.
“The (newspaper) industry has been in declining health for some time now. It got sicker rather than better in 2007, and 2008 offers no prospect of a quick cure,” states the report, by the project and the Poynter Institute's Rick Edmonds.
The report paints a bleak picture for newspapers, citing 2.5 percent yearly circulation falls for dailies, a 7 percent drop in ad revenues for the industry last year and poor showings in stock prices, but lists bright spots in the online sector.
Newspaper Web sites are improving, and coupled with print and newly emerging mobile technologies, newspapers are reaching more people than ever. But bridging the gap between falling revenue on the print side, and online revenue that isn't growing fast enough to make up the difference, times are rough for newspapers, and 2008 won't be any easier.
“Like fans of a struggling sports franchise, newspaper watchers typical have a 'maybe-next-year' scenario. For 2008, the hope is that a collaboration of more than 400 daily papers with Yahoo will generate a kick of as much as 10 percent to 20 percent in online advertising because it will be much easier to buy and place ads under the new arrangement,” the report states. “
“What is true all over is that margins have begun to decline quickly and that high fixed costs from the era of print dominance are not sustainable,” according to the report. “For businesses that prospered for decades slow and steady as a tortoise, success in 2008 and beyond will require developing new sources of audience and revenue at sprint speed, while tending as well to the old print business that still pays the bills.”
The report also points out that the Internet is changing journalism, but not as expected, as the Web has turned the news into more of a service than a product. The fast-paced changes in the newsroom are being embraced by journalists, and surprisingly, mainstream media sites are much more welcoming to outside commentary than citizen-created Web sites and blogs.
“It was believed at one point that the Net would democratize the media, offering many new voices, stories and perspectives. Yet the news agenda actually seems to be narrowing, with many Web sites primarily packaging news that is produced elsewhere,” the Associated Press stated in its report on the project's findings.
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