NYT, McClatchy seeing advertisers flee…slowerly

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that The New York Times and the McClatchy Co. is seeing their advertisers leave at a slower rate.

It’s mildly good news, but it’s probably just another sign that the economy is beginning to get up and out of the swamp. After all, the job market is improved. Treasuries are rising. And the yen weakened against the euro and U.S. dollar.

So is there reason to believe there’s any sort of correlation between the faltering news industry and the recession? Maybe, maybe not. But if there is, that could mean a slow, steady improvement to sustain the industry while new ideas are conceived to ensure it stays that way.

when transparency is best

I like that the current president gets out of the bubble, that he enjoys a burger, and is willing to walk back into the White House with a greasy go-bag for the staff. I’m not sure being able to watch it all unfold is good for his presidency.

– David Carr, The New York Times
David Carr’s article in The Times today, Reality TV’s Glare Hits High Office, used the ongoing White House “party crashers” controversy as greater context for the administration establishing a strong media openness and embracing.

But I wonder if subtext of this quote means that the media shouldn’t continue to actively cover him. Or is it that active coverage should be selective, and look into the president’s work rather than leverage coverage towards his celebrity status? Maybe that’s it. And if it is it seems an interesting caution since it’s essentially the way Obama built up his image, or at least, how it seemed to be embraced.

oh, rupert

Rupert Murdoch said at a recent Federal Trade Commission workshop that media companies need to do a better job of convincing consumers that high-quality journalism isn’t free.

Has he been to nytimes.com lately? I read it in Google Chrome without an account, for free, everyday. I’d say that’s pretty high-quality journalism.

I’d say that’s not really the issue. News organizations don’t need to convince consumers of anything. Their job is to offer an alluring product that fits the consumer’s need. What organizations really need to do is convince advertisers that the digital medium is just as viable and lucrative as print is.

After all, subscription and newsstand rates have always been low, per industry standard, because news organizations thrive off the ad sales. But if you don’t have to worry about presses and shipment and all those pesky overhead costs that go into actually printing a paper, then I would guess you don’t really need to charge news consumers to make up that end, no? You just make sure the ads continue to pour in. You continue to tailor your various website sections to advertisers where it would make sense, just as you would in print. That’s the convincing that really needs to take place, because ads that move and flash and, in some instances, force you to watch or skip over, are definitely as noticeable as staid printed images…at least, in this amateur blogger’s opinion.



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