Old Media

There was an interesting article in the February 16 issue of Time magazine entitled "How to Save Your Newspaper" written by Walter Isaacson. It was interesting to me at least. I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of the print media, especially in our area.

We have three daily newspapers in Columbiana County. There is the East Liverpool Review in ELO, the Morning Journal in Lisbon and the Salem News. All three are owned by the same company. Up until this year they basically competed with each other with three different reporters covering and reporting on many of the same events. They have a similar situation down in the Steubenville area with the Herald Star and another newspaper for Weirton just across the river. Those papers are also owned by the same company that owns our three county papers.

Earlier this year there was some consolidation in our county with reporters being assigned to cover events for two or more papers. Reporters such as Tom Giambroni, Mary Ann Grier and Jo Ann Bobby Gilbert now have by-lines in all three editions. That's just to name a few. I'm an old fogey that likes to read the print edition but I'm fearful that there is more consolidation in the future.

The article in Time said that print media readers are now more than ever but revenues are down throughout the industry. It is something many of us have suspected for sometime now. The increased readership are people reading the newspapers on electronic gizmoes such as computers, Blackberries, i-pods, etc. Newspapers go back to the days shortly after the printer was invented. I'm not sure about the Salem News but our other two papers go back to the 1800s under one name or another. That's before the days of radio and television. Those two mediums were the start of a revolution in the news media with news broadcasts and such. Now as the computer age evolves into more and more sophisticated instruments to pull up news on everything imaginable newspapers continue their decline in the business world. According to the Time story the increased readership are from people reading for free what we old fogeys pay for when we buy a paper. Many companies put what they print on web sites and for most of them it is free. All you need is access to the world wide web. There are papers that have paid subscriptions for their web sites. Some have web sites that let you review the head lines or read ticklers to get you interested. For those papers you have to be a paid subscriber with a sign in and pass code to read the whole story. Those companies with a paid subscription are a very small percentage compared to the ones that don't do that. Most newspapers and news magazines have joined in the computer age but are giving away for free what they put on paper.

Advertising has always been a source of revenue for newspapers but there was a time it was just a part of their income. According to Isaacson there was a time it was a small part of their income. According to him there was a time that newspapers sold as a result of good journalism enticing buyers. There was a time the newspaper industry was a booming business. I grew up in the years television was growing. I remember when the most popular place in the neighborhood was the house that had a television. I remember when the ads in the paper were mostly small, unobtrusive boxes. I remember when there was more space used explaining pictures with the written word than what the picture took up. It's not like that today.

I'm not getting on the reporters. There are some that do an outstanding job and it's obvious there are some that have ink instead of blood in their bodies. There's also some that give the distinct impression that they are just reporting for the pay check. True it's a job but as we've seen in the reporters covering the ville some of those reporters are there just long enough to find something better paying. You can't really blame them for moving on and moving up in their economic future.

The article confirmed to me what a lot of us have long suspected. It's like the old cliche. You wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. How long is going to be before companies that own a string of newspapers decide to consolidate operations. According to the Time story many newspapers across the country have gone out of business with the final nail in the coffin being hammered in by the web. I certainly hope it doesn't be the death knell for our county papers but the web is not going to go away. In these economic times many businesses are cutting expenses with their advertising dollars. From what I've seen in my life time public relations and spending on advertising is one of the first things to get whacked when business is slow. Owners and managers get stone cold hearted when business goes to hell. To me it is fairly evident that some newspapers are only surviving on advertising income. Just look at the Sunday editions. They are chuck full of ads when the papers are delivered.

I'm fearful that business as usual is going to be the cause of some serious consolidation in the newspaper industry just so some companies can survive. It will sad and a tremendous upheaval for many that work in the business. When companies consolidate people loose jobs. The present situation in the auto industry is a prime example of that.

For a long time I've had a nagging suspicion that someday we will see a newspaper called something like the News Journal Review with one newspaper covering the whole county.

Now I'm depressed. I gotta find something happier to write about.

ole nib