Merrill Goozner notices some troubling news for newspapers:
I couldn't help but notice the bad news on the business page today. Profits at the New York Times Co. and the Tribune Co. were down again. The Times is planning to triple its cost-cutting in the next two years, the report said. At the Tribune, according to the Wall Street Journal, publishing revenue dropped 9% to $920 million. Ad revenue fell 11%. Online revenue rose 17% to $66 million. Circulation revenue fell 6%."
Allow me to deconstruct those numbers a bit. The decline in ALL revenue was greater than ALL internet revenue combined. In other words, for every $8 decline in print revenue, the company picked up $1 in internet revenue.
On a related note, lots of folks are recommending Russell Baker's New York Review of Books piece, "Goodbye to Newspapers." I haven't read it yet, but I don't see why that should stop me from recommending it.
