The jury’s out…
Can so-called newspapers survive on internet advertising alone?
That’s question is looming larger by the day, especially as organizations like the Lawrence Journal World and Kansas City Star approach the point of no return as paid print advertisers fan out in different directions in search of customers under the age of 65.
At this point in time, daily newspapers seem to be surviving largely on the basis of advertising inserts – primarily grocery stores on Wednesday and sundry retailers such as Target, Walgreens and the Franklin Mint on Sunday.
In terms of what are known as display ads, it’s not what one would call a pretty picture.
In today’s Star for example, most of the ads range from retirement communities, walk-in baths and erectile dysfunction ads for oldsters, bank ads and classifieds for pets and death notices.
Not exactly what appeals to prime audiences like adults 25 to 54 years of age.
For the Journal World it’s far worse.
Aside from ads for the Senior Resource Center, a local mortuary, a local retirement home and a smattering of car classifieds and help wanted ads, the 12 page newspaper is surviving on fumes.
And it’s not much better online, where the rates are presumably far lower.
The $64 million question: Can newspapers make it on internet ads alone?
Uh, the jury’s out on that one.
An NPR story eight years ago notes that, “Newspapers have chased audiences and advertisers to the Web and other digital platforms, where they are finding strong growth. But that transition has been rocky (because) newspapers don’t make nearly as much money from digital ads as from print ads.”
A more recent private study of newspaper execs – who agreed to weigh in on the condition they would remain anonymous – contended that “newspapers, by and large, are not dying. But they also said that, five years from now, papers likely would exist in reduced form: fewer delivery days per week; smaller staffs, possibly ‘further’ weakening editorial content; and a likelihood that some papers would fold or ‘limp along’ until another recession proves ‘catastrophic.'”
Guess what? We are there.
Starting with overwrought Star editorials on anything and everything under the sun.
Which brings us to the bottom line:
“Shifting too quickly from print carries a risk,” the NPR story said. “An average of 80 percent of total newspaper revenues still comes from print advertising (and) for every $11 collected from print ads, newspapers collect $1 from digital ads, according to the study.”
With print advertising having withered away the past several years,, accompanied by the attendant staff cuts, the gap between what had been print revenues and online still makes for tough sledding.
This past winter/spring the Star tried to raise a couple hundred grand by begging readers to donate in return for questionable tax deductions.
Unfortunately, they were barely able to raise 20 grand and change.
These days the Star is running full page Google ads prevailing on locals to subscribe, donate and/or advertise to try and keep the newspaper alive because they are “losing money fast.”
Things are far worse at the Journal World, which is now operating out of tiny offices in a third rate strip mall on the outskirts of Lawrence.
So don’t be surprised if and when the unthinkable happens…
In newspaperland, Bias=layoffs. Bias=bankruptcy. Newspapers have neglected to take the mote out of their own eye.
Well, gotta say you sent me to the dictionary with “mote”
But I think I get your point.
The Star has always had its, uh, political leanings…but nothing like it is now.
The funny thing is, main man Mike Fannin is basically an old school, red blooded sports fan kinda dude with few if any leanings towards anything even close to political correctness and other woke ideologies.
Trust me on this one, I’ve spent tons of time with M ike including one of the drunkest expeditions I’ve ever embarked on in my life at the Kansas City Country Club. He remembers it, too. How he made it home sans a third DUI makes zero sense.
So what he’s presiding over is strictly a go along to get along with the new journalistic order and hang on to what still amounts to a pretty good paycheck and a job that Art Brisbane told me long ago, he never would have gotten if Knight Ridder had remained in charge.
I didn’t know Lawrence had a newspaper. I won’t miss it.
You might if you were stuck living there and wanted to keep up to some extent with what was going on in town…
Unfortunately, in order to accomplish that, you need to choke down an inordinate amount of KU basketball stories, lots of black and while, old-times newspaper cartoons, past-their-prime television grids, lame editorials and gosh knows what else.
If they didn’t include all of that, they wouldn’t be able to sell enough subscriptions top the senior citizens that likely make up the vast majority of their readership.
Think of it was a really lame Catch 22
Why didn’t the Star buy the paper and destroy it like they did with all the KC suburban papers?
I have -zero interest in ku.
Hmmmmm…
Well, effectively they are
Hearne was is your take on the new Asset Management Company that took control of the Star? Chatham Management I think…what changes do you see over the next 6 months that we will notice..
Boy, not sure what to think, other than here we go again with a new beginning of the same-old end…
Here’s a possibly telling quote from Fortune:
“Playing tough is the Chatham way. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business.”
I’ll keep an eye on things, but other than a handful of guys at the top, it’s hard to imagine that there’/s much in the way of optimism for the surviving journalists.
Then again, as little actual journalism as they seem to be practicing these days, maybe something positive can come out of it in terms of some badly needed house cleaning and a fresh approach. That said, don’t hold you breath!