Sauce For The Goose

How Do They Keep A Straight Face?


I was cruising around this morning looking at what was happening in the world when I came across this story on the "Editor & Publisher" website about the announcement of yet ANOTHER circulation decline over the past six months for the major print newspapers.

...The push to herald total audience is coming not a moment too soon since paid circulation continues on a downward slide. According to industry sources speaking to E&P, daily circulation for reporting papers in the six-month FAS-FAX period ending September is down about 2.5% while Sunday is expected to fall 3.5%. Those types of declines -- in the 2% and 3% range -- have been occurring as far back as the March 2005 period.

E&P has learned that several major papers have suffered declines in daily circ of over 7%, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Miami Herald and The Dallas Morning News.

Asked for comment, publishers of these papers blamed the decreases partly on the cut back in other-paid circulation -- which includes Newspaper in Education, hotel, and third-party copies. And papers have been chopping distribution areas--it's too expensive to serve outlying communities, at least in print.

...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's circulation fell about 9% for both daily and Sunday. "Those loses are in-line with our expectations," Robert Eickhoff, senior vice president of operations, told E&P. "We are focusing on individually paid and marching down a very strategic path." [emphisis mine-VRR]

...

Daily circulation at The San Diego Union-Tribune declined about 8.5% while Sunday was down about 7.9%. The paper has almost completely eliminated third-party copies and reigned in some of their bonus days as well as discounted copies. Bill Nagel, the vice president of circulation, noted the paper's total audience reaches more than 60% of the market.

Combined circulation for The Miami Herald and Nuevo Herald declined daily and Sunday about 8.4% and 12.3%, respectively. Terry Whitney, vice president of circulation, said the papers were cutting back on third-party and event copies under a two-year plan.

These people kill me. They are explaining rearranging the furniture on the deck of the Titanic like they're just doing a little planned redecorating.

They simply can't bring themselves to publicly admit that they are losing readers because their product SUCKS--either because of or in spite of all of the Columbia Journalism Grad school alumni they have hanging around their offices.

I, your lowly unpaid Internet blogger, tilt my head back and laugh to mock the dead tree legacy medias' fate as you keep your quarters in your pockets to feed the parking meter rather than paying fifty cents each day for want ads and useless false ASSociated Press stories about jobless recoveries and death and doom in Iraq.

How long will it take for them to figure out that they will either improve the quality of their product, else ultimately be forced out of business?.

It's not a question of IF, it's just a matter of when...

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