Wait, Is The Newspaper Business Thriving Or Falling Apart?

from the depends-on-who-you-talk-to-apparently dept

Tue, Jun 2nd 2009 8:16pm — Mike Masnick

It would appear that the folks in the newspaper business don't quite have their talking points set. Yesterday, we showed the letter from the Newspaper Association of America all about how the newspaper business was supposedly thriving despite what you may have heard. But clearly, not everyone in the industry agrees. A whole bunch of folks have sent in the Ars Technica article about the AP's supposed plans to go after sites that copy their articles, but we'd avoided posting it -- because there really weren't many new details beyond what they'd said before. However, reader Mark pointed to a rather interesting (and surprisingly honest) quote from the AP about why it wants to crack down on sites reposting some of its content:

"We need the money. The industry is falling apart."

So, on the same day, the NAA claims that the newspaper industry is thriving and profitable... and the AP insists its running out of money and the industry is collapsing. It would be great if, I dunno, one of these reporters could maybe dig into the actual numbers to figure out what's actually happening. Or is that not what the press does?

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: failing, journalism, newspapers, thriving
Companies: associated press, naa

11 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Dave Barnes, 2 Jun 2009 @ 8:24pm

There are 3 kinds of newspapers (in the USA)
1. Newspapers with zero debt. Doing OK. Not great. Will be here after all the dust settles. Have the financial strength to experiment or not. Most hyper-local papers fall into this category.

2. Newspapers with lots of debt.
a. Those that have declared bankruptcy to screw their creditors. cf. Tribune
b. Those that will declare BK to fuck their creditors. cf. MediaNews
Whether these papers are making money or nor is irrelevant. They cannot produce enough cash flow to make the debt payments. Therefore, BK is the only way out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 2 Jun 2009 @ 8:54pm

Ap and newspapers are often two ends of the stick, they rarely agree.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Brendy, 2 Jun 2009 @ 10:45pm

They have news on paper now?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chunky Vomit, 2 Jun 2009 @ 11:45pm

Re: moral values
What?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fungo Knubb, 3 Jun 2009 @ 5:49am

Huh?
"...Or is that not what the press does?"

Nope, they haven't objectively researched anything in years. What they do is to fabricate stories, or intentionally ommit real stories, based upon their far left political leanings. Why do you think they're disappearing? ... people have started to figure it out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
giafly, 3 Jun 2009 @ 6:08am

@Fungo Knubb. Research??? Pot meet kettle, Mr "I haven't paid for a newspaper, or news magazine for the last ten years or so."
http://ww.techdirt.com/articles/20090324/1631534240.shtml
[ link to this | view in thread ]
minijedimaster (profile), 3 Jun 2009 @ 6:40am

Re: There are 3 kinds of newspapers (in the USA)
Therefore, BK is the only way out.
Why would Burger King be the only way out? Is it because they can have it their way?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
minijedimaster (profile), 3 Jun 2009 @ 6:44am

Re:
You don't have to buy a newspaper or magazine to know how corrupt and biased they are you asshat. I applaud him for not buying any in the last ten years, they don't deserve one red cent.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Michael, 3 Jun 2009 @ 7:00am

So you take your laptop into the john to do the crossword ... grab a coffee, sit on the deck and read your computer ... geez, I'm getting old!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 3 Jun 2009 @ 8:56am

Re:
"So you take your laptop into the john to do the crossword ... grab a coffee, sit on the deck and read your computer ... geez, I'm getting old!"

Why would I grab the laptop? I use the iPhone for that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
schleifnet, 3 Jun 2009 @ 10:23am

ap is failing, some newspapers are failing
newspapers are going through a contraction right now, local dailies in medium and small markets are mutating and are going to thrive in the years to come (see the times picayune/nola.com, recently found to have 85% of all adults in its market to read it online and in print, http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003979150 ) but those in over crowded markets that have to directly compete on a national and local scale with other outlets are going to get screwed big time... also AP is screwed right now. They overcharge member papers for content, provide substandard content at times and will be competing with the new CNNwire very soon (which will be cheaper, if not free and more unbiased) in addition to the current competetion with reuters and others
[ link to this | view in thread ]