This is just the latest step in the industry’s three-step waltz down the cellar stairs: 1) Newspapers lose readers and
advertisers. 2) Newspapers eliminate reporters, photographers and editors. 3) Newspapers lose more readers and advertisers. There’s more to it, of course. But all the while, the nation’s newspaper publishers have treated the industry like a sinking ship – unloading as much treasure as possible while ignoring the leak. We’re not aiming this at our keepers here at the S-R. Things have been worse at other papers. But the layoffs throughout the industry have not been done to keep newspapers profitable. They’ve been done to ensure an acceptable level of profit – in an industry that has a gluttonous idea of what’s acceptable, attempting to preserve profit margins of 15 percent, 20 percent, 25 percent. And no one, meanwhile, seems to think that investing in improved journalism will pay off in any way/
Shawn Vestal
,
The Falls
.
Full post
here
Question: Do you see hope for the newspaper industry?