Why Newspapers Are Almost Obsolete

I've read in a couple of places that one reason newspapers, even big papers like the New York Times and the Seattle Post-Intellegencer, are on the ropes is the lack of classified ad revenue.  Classified ads are cash cows for newspapers but classified ads are in steep decline these days.  They usually require very little space and labor is usually not that intensive to publish them. 

Before the advent of the Internet, the cost of placing a classified ad was very affordable.  I've placed a few of ads over the years and the cost was usually fairly reasonable.  I think the last one I placed was in the late 80's and it cost me like 11 dollars for a seven day run.  I forget what it was for, but I did get results. 

For some people, perusing the classifieds in the daily paper was an art form.  They would pour over the ads like a bookie studying the Daily Racing Form looking for a winning nag.  They would find untold treasures hiding in all of that small print.  That was then, now we have the internet and people comb through Internet sites like Craig's List to find their bargain.  With very little money (compared to buying a printing press and hiring a huge staff to print and distribute), you could put up a web page that would allow people to place their own ads for free or very little cost such as Craig's List.  Once people realized they could place an ad that was either inexpensive or even free, newspapers started losing some serious money.

It took awhile for it to really start to concern the Newspapers because most newspapers had a healthy circulation rate and a wider readership than the internet.  Not so, today.  With the Internet, the news cycle shifted into a 24 hour full-on run.  "Cycle" no longer even applies.  Newspapers are full of yesterday's news.  By the time the newspaper printed the news and it landed on your doorstep or the newsstand, it's already been dissected, analyzed and digested by almost everyone.  Add to that, you can then read any number of blogs to get it even further reduced and refined and the newspaper's take is essentially irrelevant.

It also doesn't help that they've managed to alienate anyone in their readership that is further right than Josef Stalin.  That doesn't help circulation either

So classified ads are down, circulation is slumping and costs for everything are up.  It doesn't take a financial genius to understand that a tiny print ad costing 25 dollars or more for three days is rather pricey compared to free on Craig's List.  If you want to sell your house in the newspaper, you can get 3 lines of text for ONE DAY in both the Seattle P-I and Times for the paltry sum of 84 Dollars.  You read correctly.  $84 dollars a day will get you a one day print ad.  It does include a 7 days of online placement.  Such a deal!  Run that ad for a month and it starts to eat into the profit really fast.

The Seattle P-I is on the block and I suspect that by April, it will cease to function as a print entity.  It's just a matter of time before others start to fall, including the Gray Lady herself. We might not like the idea that newspapers are going the way of the horse and buggy, but it will happen.  As the car edged out the horse, so the internet is edging out the print media.

Many newspapers will undoubtedly try and remake themselves digitally, but I suspect that even that will only succeed in prolonging the inevitable in most cases.  If they already have a strong web presence, they may have a chance.

I do think it's kind of sad in a way.  I used to love getting up on a Sunday and spreading the paper out all over the table, perusing over the news, the editorials and of course, the color comics.  Now, The color comics are small enough that I need a magnifying glass on top of my reading glasses and instead of about eight or ten pages, it's reduced to one sheet. 

It's not worth reading anymore. 

VW

Comments

[Bloviating Zeppelin]

Big Print fails to understand that, along with the fiscal issue, they have been proven skewed, false, inaccurate, massively biased for some time and, moreover, now mostly irrelevant. They're finally beginning to pay the price for their editorial and political leanings --

BZ

[BB-Idaho]

IMO, its economic, not political content..recall only 25% of us are conservatives. I hate to see them go. Like you, my Sunday paper has been a feature since we used to buy them in basic training and share around. Basic training, gee, that was so long ago there was b/w tv and no internet!!

[WMD_Maker]

Classifieds were never the primary revenue source of papers it has always been commercial advertising. Yes papaers clasified rates are now so high that I am suprised that ANYONE places an ad. I would have to imagine that commercial ad rates are just as outrageous. With the growth of cable tv and internet I would think that an advertiser gets far more for his money by getting an ad on cable tv or a local internet site. The fact that newspapers and the MSM in general no longer report the news but editorialise the news doesnt help circulation either