MEDIA - Newspapers and Shrinking Readership

"Times-Picayune Editor on Commitment, Accountability Amid Cutbacks" PBS Newshour 6/13/2012

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): Now, newspapers are shrinking staffs and making major changes to cope with the shrinking revenues of the digital age. The latest papers to take a hit are in the South.

One of the nation's oldest daily newspapers is now the latest to fall prey to sweeping cuts in the digital era. The New Orleans Times-Picayune announced Tuesday that 200 staff members would lose their jobs this fall. After 175 years, the paper is shifting to focus on online news and scaling back to publishing only three days a week.

That means New Orleans will be the largest U.S. metro area without a daily newspaper.

Editor Jim Amoss acknowledged Tuesday the change would be hard in a video posted on NOLA.com, the paper's website.

JIM AMOSS, editor, The New Orleans Times-Picayune: Many readers can't imagine a morning without our newspaper in their hands. I understand that. I'm a print guy. I grew up in this business.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Times-Picayune's parent company, Advance Publications, also announced layoffs at three Alabama newspapers: The Birmingham News, The Press-Register in Mobile, and The Huntsville Times. Together, they will lose 400 employees.

COMMENT: I've said this before on this subject, all newspapers have to do is go to a SUBSCRIPTION (for a fee) digital version of their paper. Including delivery to SmartPhones, eReaders (like Kindle), and computers.

Example, I subscribe to Scientific America Digital for a yearly fee. This gets me access to Archived issues (previous months) where I can choose individual articles (PDF downloads) or the whole issue, most with no additional fee. Sure beets paying for the whole magazine just to read one or two articles. There is special Digital Edition (PDF, subscribers only)  I can get for an additional fee.

Also note the editor's comment on Hurricane Katrina. Electronic delivery of newspapers is hard if homes are wiped out, electricity is down including cell towers, or if you don't have such electronic devices. There will ALWAYS be a need for print-newspapers.