Fifteen years ago, John Morton published an apologetic in the American Journalism Review entitled “Why Are Newspaper Profits So High?”
That headline now looks like a sardonic joke. But at the time, Morton’s question was posed in earnest. He noted that in 1994, the Buffalo News actually posted a profit margin of 34.6 percent — among the other publishers that Morton routinely tracked, the worst performance was a respectable 7+%. American newspapers posted their most profitable year ever in 2000. And as recently as 2005, Journalism.org reported in its annual report, The State of the News Media, “As businesses, newspapers are strong, highly profitable, and resilient.”
But by the beginning of 2008, the New York Times reported, “The talk of newspapers’ demise is older than some of the reporters who write about it, but what is happening now is something new, something more serious than anyone has experienced in generations.”
What is happening in the world of newspapers has spilled over to virtually all areas of communication that were once dependent on print. In 2007, Condé Nast Publications edged out Time Inc. in total revenues, accounting for almost half the total revenues of its holding company, Advance. But just a year later, Condé Nast began closing magazines and trimming the number of annual editions for other publications, while competitor Time Inc, still #1 in overall circulation, saw magazine revenues fall a shocking 75% in 2008.
Thanks to the “perfect storm” of the Internet explosion and economic contraction, 2009 is looking no better. Outdoor advertising revenues, also largely a print-based media until the recent introduction of digital billboards, took a huge dive in 2009, falling 75% at industry leader CBS Outdoor. Publishers Information Bureau numbers suggest that Condé Nast will post losses of $1 BILLION in 2009. And major newspapers across the nation are slashing staff and closing offices — including the venerable Washington Post, which announced Tuesday that its news bureaus will be closing in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
But does all this really mean that print is dead?
In coming posts, we’ll look at how traditional print media is adapting to changing circumstances, how print can be more effective than ever within a media mix that includes targeted online communications — and how Next Year’s News can help you create compelling messages across a mix of media platforms.
