Its hard to believe its been only a week since the last Raleigh City Council race was decided. Seems like much longer.
In light of the N&O’s endorsement of the pro-development candidate in the District B race, I took note of the business story that ran a few days ago:
McClatchy Co. reported sharply lower profit and revenue for its third quarter Tuesday and said it would take an accounting charge to reflect the poor conditions in the newspaper business and its falling share price.
…
The announcement reflects the deepening malaise in the newspaper business, which has seen advertising slump badly as marketers and readers continue to migrate to the Internet, and amid a long-term decline in circulation. The housing slump also has affected real estate advertising at newspapers.
The N&O knows what butters its bread: real estate advertising. Crack open any Saturday edition – hefty from furniture and real estate ads – if you don’t doubt it. The housing downturn is hitting newspapers hard and Internet sites like Craigslist have taken away classified advertising revenue. No wonder the N&O pushed the developer-friendly candidates.
We still need papers, we still need journalism, but the times they are a’changing. The old business models aren’t working anymore. I hope the N&O figures out the new game.
We need papers that serve citizens, not advertisers. I too hope someone figures out a business model to achieve this.