If you needed more confirmation the newspaper industry is undergoing fundamental change, you got it today. First, the surprising news about the Minneapolis Star-Tribune getting unloaded by a company that the WSJ.com says had been considered until now "a big newspaper believer." Reason? Apparently, they’re bigger believers in something else. The headline on the WSJ article tells it all: McClatchy’s Minneapolis Sale Aids Web Efforts. [This story may be behind a paywall if you aren’t a subscriber, or aren’t taking advantage right now of their free 1-month trial.] Sure, McClatchy claims they did it for a tax benefit, and says the Strib has been profitable. But drill a little further: print circulation has definitely been declining there. And one wonders if their online businesses are picking up enough slack yet. I think we can assume no. [Ed.: I’m curious what you think of their latest web efforts: Buzz.MN and Vita.MN.]
Yet all is not bad everywhere in newspaperland. On the positive side of the coin, this statement from the Wall Street Journal’s publisher earlier in the month shows that at least one property is livin’ high:
We hope to build on our recent increases in the number of individuals subscribing to the Journal, which grew more than 10% in the most recent circulation period — the fastest rate since 1980 — at a time when most newspapers and magazines experienced declines.
This quote comes from a piece explaining all the changes coming to the Wall Street Journal and its market-leading online site, WSJ.com, starting January 2.
Also, if you think newspaper readership is declining across the board, think again. Here’s one audience advertisers are hardly ignoring: Newspapers Are the Preferred Medium for Affluent Empty Nesters.
But for some great insight into the world of online journalism, and how it’s impacting the print side of the newspaper business, check out this interview Mark Glaser just did with the managing editor of the WSJ.com on his PBS.org blog, MediaShift: WSJ Gets Comfortable with Blogs, Wants to Boost Community.
In the Bruce Fein and John Nichols interviews with Bill Moyers, John Nichols pointed out that the press has been silent on the abuses of presidential and vice presidential powers, but there was no mention of the press’s silence on the push for a new investigation of 911. Even Noam Chomsky has signed the Jersey widow’s petition for a real investigationinto the attack. It took more than a year for Bush to call for the first investigation and only a small fraction of the money allocated to it than was spent on the investigations into Cliton’s wrongdoings. A large proportion of New Yorkers suspect Bush-Cheney complicity in what many are calling a “false flag” operation.