Selected items of interest to the media community
• What Print Cuts at Times-Picayune Mean for Papers
May 29, 2012
Traditional print media continue to adjust to changing market conditions. Hurricanes may not be as adverse to their survival as the changing habits of media consumers, increasing costs, and loss of ad revenue to emerging venues.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune survived Hurricane Katrina. Now it is making its play to stay alive during the digital revolution, stopping the presses for good on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays this fall. Where some see that as another nail in the coffin of dedicated journalism, others view it as a business evolution necessary to keep such journalism alive.
"The Times-Picayune stayed in the water with people when the cops and government left," said Rusty Coats, a longtime newspaper executive who is now a media consultant. "They have a special relationship with the community. But anyone understands that you have to renegotiate your relationship when circumstances change."
And circumstances have changed. In the broader newspaper industry, ad revenue has plunged more than 50% since 2005, while paper, printing and delivery costs rose.
Read the full article at AdAge here.