Sun Times in "most endangered newspapers"

[southsider2k5]

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/...1883785,00.html

 

The 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America

By 24/7 Wall St. Monday, Mar. 09, 2009

newspapers digital economy crunch

A San Francisco Chronicle newspaper vendor

Justin Sullivan/Getty

 

Over the past few weeks, the U.S. newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy, as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close the San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts. The most recent rumor is that the company will lay off half the editorial staff. Still, that action may not be enough to make the property profitable.

 

24/7 Wall St. has created a list of the 10 major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shutter their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen on the basis of the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition they face in their markets and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it's possible that 8 of the nation's 50 largest daily newspapers could cease publication in the next 18 months. (Read "The Race for a Better Read.")

 

1. The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers, and the Daily News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the Web operation for both of the city dailies.

 

2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The paper may not make money this year, even without the costs of debt coverage. The company said it made $26 million last year, about half of what it made in 2007. The odds are that the Star Tribune will lose money this year if its ad revenue drops another 20%. There is no point for creditors to keep the paper open if it cannot generate cash. It could become an all-digital property, as supporting a daily circulation of more than 300,000 is too much of a burden. It could survive if its rival, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, folds. A grim race.

 

3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company that could be the next chain to file for Chapter 11. The Herald has been on the market since December, but no serious bidders have emerged. Newspaper advertising has been especially hard-hit in Florida because of the tremendous loss in real estate advertising. The online version of the paper is already well read in the Miami area, Latin America and the Caribbean. The Herald has strong competition north of it, in Fort Lauderdale. There is a very small chance it could merge with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, but it is more likely that the Herald will go online-only with two editions, one for English-language readers and one for Spanish.

 

4. The Detroit News is one of two daily papers in the big U.S. city badly hit by the economic downturn. It is unlikely that it can merge with the larger Detroit Free Press, which is owned by Gannett. It is hard to see what would be in it for Gannett. And with the fortunes of Detroit getting worse each day, cutting back the number of days the paper is delivered would not save enough money to keep the paper open.

 

5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said the paper is worth only $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe's parent, the New York Times, calls the New England Media Group. The Times has substantial financial problems of its own. Last year, ad revenue for the New England properties was down 18%. That is likely to continue or get worse this year. Supporting larger losses at the Globe will become nearly impossible. Boston.com, the online site that includes the digital aspects of the Globe, will probably be all that remains of the operation.

 

6. The San Francisco Chronicle. Parent company Hearst has already set a deadline for shuttering the paper if it cannot make tremendous cost cuts. The Chronicle lost as much as $70 million last year. Even if the company could lower its costs, the Northern California economy is in bad shape. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of 2009.

 

7. The Chicago Sun-Times is the smaller of two newspapers in the city. Its parent company, Sun-Times Media Group, trades for 3 cents per share. Davidson Kempner, a large shareholder in the firm, has dumped the CEO and most of the board. The paper has no chance of competing with the Chicago Tribune.

 

8. The New York Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike the New York Times, the New York Post, Newsday and Newark's Star-Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization — real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies, it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million, and has no chance of recovering from that level.

 

9. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is another big daily that competes with a larger paper in a neighboring market — in this case, Dallas. The parent of the Dallas Morning News, Belo, is probably a stronger company than the Star-Telegram's parent, McClatchy. The Morning News has a circulation of about 350,000, while the Star-Telegram has just over 200,000. The Star-Telegram will have to shut down or become an edition of its rival. Putting them together would save tens of millions of dollars a year.

 

10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is in one of the economically weakest markets in the country. Its parent, Advance Publications, has already threatened to close its paper in Newark. Employees gave up enough in terms of concessions to keep the paper open. Advance, owned by the Newhouse family, is carrying the burden of its paper plus Condé Nast, its magazine group, which is losing advertising revenue. The Plain Dealer will be shut or go digital by the end of next year.

[shipps]

This is really sad. Other than not wanting people to lose their jobs from these papers I think people dont care if these papers go. You are not going to know what you are missing until its gone and then everyone will be sorry we didnt do more to keep these papers going.

[Y2HH]

This is really sad. Other than not wanting people to lose their jobs from these papers I think people dont care if these papers go. You are not going to know what you are missing until its gone and then everyone will be sorry we didnt do more to keep these papers going.

 

It's not our job to keep a business moving along with the times, it's the job of the business itself to recognize that print media is dying and find a way to move into the future.

 

We don't still use horses/carriages because cars were invented -- I'm sure the carriage makers back in the day were quite disappointed, too...but such is life.

 

I won't miss these papers, I haven't read a newspaper in years. By the time they're printed/distributed, the news is already old.

[maggsmaggs]

It's not our job to keep a business moving along with the times, it's the job of the business itself to recognize that print media is dying and find a way to move into the future.

 

We don't still use horses/carriages because cars were invented -- I'm sure the carriage makers back in the day were quite disappointed, too...but such is life.

 

I won't miss these papers, I haven't read a newspaper in years. By the time they're printed/distributed, the news is already old.

There is this misconception that the print media is dying. It isn't. Community papers, which make up at least 80% of newspapers, if not more, in America are doing fine with many having steady and rising circulations. It's only the big newspapers that are struggling and that's why it gets reported as a print-wide epidemic. Fact is most newspapers are still very profitable, it's the new owners of papers have too much credit debt from when they bought the papers and need to cut labor to make it all back. The print media is going to change, but die it won't.

[Y2HH]

There is this misconception that the print media is dying. It isn't. Community papers, which make up at least 80% of newspapers, if not more, in America are doing fine with many having steady and rising circulations. It's only the big newspapers that are struggling and that's why it gets reported as a print-wide epidemic. Fact is most newspapers are still very profitable, it's the new owners of papers have too much credit debt from when they bought the papers and need to cut labor to make it all back. The print media is going to change, but die it won't.

 

Sounds like a solid argument. There are defiantly print media companies still doing very well, but the big ones, like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Sun Times have become wasteful over spenders and this is their reward. They need to retract, refocus their efforts and they would be fine...but keeping the course they've been on is the road to bankruptcy. It's still not my job to keep them in business, that's their managements job. And although print media isn't dying right now, it's future isn't very bright with most technologies being able to deliver these same articles/papers via wireless. Easier to carry one device that constantly updates than buying a new paper every day.

[RockRaines]

Holy s*** theres alot of high profile papers on there.

[rangercal]

blame craigslist

[bmags]

It'd be a shame to lose the Miami Herald, along with the St. Petersburg Times, have really the only original latin American reporting not done by the AP.

 

But yes, I agree we won't know what is lost until its gone. (not with the ST). All these blogs who ridicule newspapers will be feeling the heat when they have no articles to steal and then comment on.

[whitesoxfan101]

There is this misconception that the print media is dying. It isn't. Community papers, which make up at least 80% of newspapers, if not more, in America are doing fine with many having steady and rising circulations. It's only the big newspapers that are struggling and that's why it gets reported as a print-wide epidemic. Fact is most newspapers are still very profitable, it's the new owners of papers have too much credit debt from when they bought the papers and need to cut labor to make it all back. The print media is going to change, but die it won't.

 

This is indeed correct. I am pretty sure the local newspaper in DeKalb, the Daily Chronicle, is doing quite well for example. In addition, although it's free and a student newspaper, I know the Northern Star has a pretty large circulation and is read by most students, and even quite a few local DeKalb residents. The papers that are dying are the 2nd most popular newspapers in major cities for the most part, and that is in indeed in large part due to the internet, but this doesn't mean the print media is soon going to be dead as a whole.

[DBAHO]

It's because they fired Mariotti.

[DBAHO]

I also think, that when I go to work in the morning, instead of people buying the NY Daily News which is one on the list there, people are going to grab the free Metro or AM New York instead, to save a few bucks every week and still get informed.

 

And that's obviously hurting the bottom line of these companies.

[NorthSideSox72]

Sounds like a solid argument. There are defiantly print media companies still doing very well, but the big ones, like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Sun Times have become wasteful over spenders and this is their reward. They need to retract, refocus their efforts and they would be fine...but keeping the course they've been on is the road to bankruptcy. It's still not my job to keep them in business, that's their managements job. And although print media isn't dying right now, it's future isn't very bright with most technologies being able to deliver these same articles/papers via wireless. Easier to carry one device that constantly updates than buying a new paper every day.

Its not the overspending that is the issue, at least not for the Trib. Their reporters and staffers make very little, they actually spend too little on technology. They inability to adjust and adapt quickly enough to modern media is the problem.

 

[Balta1701]

Its not the overspending that is the issue, at least not for the Trib. Their reporters and staffers make very little, they actually spend too little on technology. They inability to adjust and adapt quickly enough to modern media is the problem.

Actually, I'd disagree with that too. There needs to be a little bit of contraction within the industry as a whole to account for the fact that people have other news sources, but a lot of these papers are still profitable and are even becoming more so as they cut back on things (i.e. my LA Times weighs half as much as it did last year). What's killing these guys is that, like a lot of businesses, they over-expanded and bought up everything they could on credit at the peak of the market and they just assumed that nothing would ever go wrong. Suddenly now though credit is a lot harder to get, and these guys like Zell who bought up the Tribune entirely by taking out loans are having those loans called in, and they can't get new financing to keep going.

[DukeNukeEm]

The CST sucks.

[NorthSideSox72]

Actually, I'd disagree with that too. There needs to be a little bit of contraction within the industry as a whole to account for the fact that people have other news sources, but a lot of these papers are still profitable and are even becoming more so as they cut back on things (i.e. my LA Times weighs half as much as it did last year). What's killing these guys is that, like a lot of businesses, they over-expanded and bought up everything they could on credit at the peak of the market and they just assumed that nothing would ever go wrong. Suddenly now though credit is a lot harder to get, and these guys like Zell who bought up the Tribune entirely by taking out loans are having those loans called in, and they can't get new financing to keep going.

The Zell deal and LAT were certainly main reasons for their troubles as well. But that isn't what I'd call overspending, institutionally, like Y2HH was (I think) getting at. That was the new owner (and old owners) making some colossally bad decisions with the business. Their internal, running cost structure is actually quite tight. But look at the various things that happened in a year or two:

 

--Buy LA Times

--Find out that LA Times owes a HUGE chunk of bad taxes that the Trib thought was taken care of

--Economy goes to s***

--Media technology moves further away from print

--Cost of paper rises dramatically

--Cost of ink rises dramatically

--Oil/gas transportation costs rose dramatically, though now have come back down somewhat

--Zell buys the Trib via a HUGE overleveraged deal, putting the Trib in dire financial straits

 

That's a whole pile of bad s***, some under their control and some not, that they were not able to adapt to quickly enough (some their own fault). Its not a spending problem per se, its really bad strategic business decision making, and lack of agility.

 

[SouthsideDon48]

It's not our job to keep a business moving along with the times, it's the job of the business itself to recognize that print media is dying and find a way to move into the future.

 

We don't still use horses/carriages because cars were invented -- I'm sure the carriage makers back in the day were quite disappointed, too...but such is life.

 

I won't miss these papers, I haven't read a newspaper in years. By the time they're printed/distributed, the news is already old.

 

I've been reading newspapers since I was 8 years old. I used to always read the newpapers my dad brought home from work, and I still read a newspaper everyday at 23 years old. I like reading a fresh copy of the Chicago Sun-Times on my lunch breaks at work. It's something that I think cannot change with the times, because reading a paper on your lunch break is as timeless as you can get. Why should anyone lug around a laptop computer on their lunch breaks for the news? I'd rather have an actual newspaper in front of me.

[NorthSideSox72]

I've been reading newspapers since I was 8 years old. I used to always read the newpapers my dad brought home from work, and I still read a newspaper everyday at 23 years old. I like reading a fresh copy of the Chicago Sun-Times on my lunch breaks at work. It's something that I think cannot change with the times, because reading a paper on your lunch break is as timeless as you can get. Why should anyone lug around a laptop computer on their lunch breaks for the news? I'd rather have an actual newspaper in front of me.

There will always be some people who want that. There is some appeal to it, I admit.

 

I used to have a routine with the papers - I read the WSJ on the way to work on the train, and the Trib on the way home.

 

But once you start having so many people having instant internet news everywhere they go, the hard copy crowd will diminish to the point of being marginal.

 

[CanOfCorn]

There is this misconception that the print media is dying. It isn't. Community papers, which make up at least 80% of newspapers, if not more, in America are doing fine with many having steady and rising circulations. It's only the big newspapers that are struggling and that's why it gets reported as a print-wide epidemic. Fact is most newspapers are still very profitable, it's the new owners of papers have too much credit debt from when they bought the papers and need to cut labor to make it all back. The print media is going to change, but die it won't.

 

That isn't necessarily true either. The Wednesday Journal, which is an Oak Park local is either closing/selling a bunch of its affiliates. Mostly they are Chicago residential communities. For instance, the Wicker Park/Bucktown/Uk. Village one is being shuttered. The other ones, mostly north side, are being sold off and either closed or combined. Now the Oak Park, Forest Park, Riverside, etc. are fine. But, the print media, as a whole, are in trouble.

[BigSqwert]

I've been reading newspapers since I was 8 years old. I used to always read the newpapers my dad brought home from work, and I still read a newspaper everyday at 23 years old. I like reading a fresh copy of the Chicago Sun-Times on my lunch breaks at work. It's something that I think cannot change with the times, because reading a paper on your lunch break is as timeless as you can get. Why should anyone lug around a laptop computer on their lunch breaks for the news? I'd rather have an actual newspaper in front of me.

You don't need to lug around a laptop to get instant news.

[Balta1701]

That isn't necessarily true either. The Wednesday Journal, which is an Oak Park local is either closing/selling a bunch of its affiliates. Mostly they are Chicago residential communities. For instance, the Wicker Park/Bucktown/Uk. Village one is being shuttered. The other ones, mostly north side, are being sold off and either closed or combined. Now the Oak Park, Forest Park, Riverside, etc. are fine. But, the print media, as a whole, are in trouble.

The thing that is hurting free print media is that a number of their classic revenue sources are cutting back. Either ad sales are cutting back because of the recession, or if they're carrying classified ads, people are buying fewer classifieds because they can find the same info free online (Craigslist). That's a major hurt on even the big ones...classifieds used to be a major revenue source and they're drying up now that there are major free options.

[SouthsideDon48]

You don't need to lug around a laptop to get instant news.

 

I know you're talking about cell phones. Yea, I have a t-mobile sidekick 3 and I can use that for news if I wanted to, but nothing beats having a good old-fashioned newspaper in front of you as you're eating your lunch or dinner.

 

I use my phone for a multitude of things, from using soxtalk, adjusting my fantasy baseball rosters, google, wikipedia, porno, mapquest, facebook, and other online messageboards, but it's still not the same as physically having a copy of Chicago Sun-Times in your hands.

 

In fact, I prefer finding my news from a newspaper instead of online sources.

 

And... as I'm typing this, I know it's WAAAAY too much information, and I'm sorry about that, but... I'm typing this on my phone on the toilet, and right after I hit the "Add Reply" button, I'm gonna read from today's Chicago Sun-Times. Yep.

[bmags]

That isn't necessarily true either. The Wednesday Journal, which is an Oak Park local is either closing/selling a bunch of its affiliates. Mostly they are Chicago residential communities. For instance, the Wicker Park/Bucktown/Uk. Village one is being shuttered. The other ones, mostly north side, are being sold off and either closed or combined. Now the Oak Park, Forest Park, Riverside, etc. are fine. But, the print media, as a whole, are in trouble.

 

That's a nice anecdote, but what he said was true. Those are all pretty close to the city and have overlapping markets. The Beacon, NW Herald, etc. are all doing fine. The problem with the big city dailies closing down is scary, but it's easy to get national news everywhere. Community news is specialized and unthreatened, really only dealing with rising paper costs, that most are solving with tabloid format/moving to morning delivery (saves costs).

 

I had this really long post defining the future of newspapers that hit right as the site closed, and I'm not going to write that all down again.

But, many of these large papers are in trouble because of dumb investments by their owners that had nothing to do with print.

 

And finally, the Times is not in trouble. Yes, they are leasing in a building they built, a smart move that will save them millions. They have by far, the largest staff in the country, probably the world. They have maintained that staff through this. Are they in a crunch right now? Who isn't?

[lostfan]

I know you're talking about cell phones. Yea, I have a t-mobile sidekick 3 and I can use that for news if I wanted to, but nothing beats having a good old-fashioned newspaper in front of you as you're eating your lunch or dinner.

 

I use my phone for a multitude of things, from using soxtalk, adjusting my fantasy baseball rosters, google, wikipedia, porno, mapquest, facebook, and other online messageboards, but it's still not the same as physically having a copy of Chicago Sun-Times in your hands.

 

In fact, I prefer finding my news from a newspaper instead of online sources.

 

And... as I'm typing this, I know it's WAAAAY too much information, and I'm sorry about that, but... I'm typing this on my phone on the toilet, and right after I hit the "Add Reply" button, I'm gonna read from today's Chicago Sun-Times. Yep.

just so random