Dying Media

Because the current financial crisis concerns credit, the current financial crisis is affecting just about everyone. Media, however, has been weathering a crisis ever since news went on the internet. To see how bad it is, check out this article, today from the NY Times.

On Tuesday, The Christian Science Monitor announced that, after a century, it would cease publishing a weekday paper. Time Inc., the Olympian home of Time magazine, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated, announced that it was cutting 600 jobs and reorganizing its staff. And Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, compounded the grimness by announcing it was laying off 10 percent of its work force — up to 3,000 people.

Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it.

It goes on. The day before, the Tribune Company had declared that it would reduce the newsroom of The Los Angeles Times by 75 more people, leaving it approximately half the size it was just seven years ago.

The Star-Ledger of Newark, the 15th-largest paper in the country, which was threatened with closing, will apparently survive, but only after it was announced that the editorial staff would be reduced by 40 percent.

And two weeks ago, TV Guide, one of the famous brand names in magazines, was sold for one dollar, less than the price of a single copy.

This is scary stuff.  As the article mentions, we need media more than ever.  The internet, in many ways, has democratized collective action, and we need the information to make informed decisions more than ever.  I don’t know what people would do without the trusted brand names in news like the NY Times, but unfortunately I also don’t know how to make news more profitable. 

I think this is related to James’s post about magazines in the comments here.  Even though I personally get most of my news from the web, I’m a HUGE print fan.  In fact, if I could afford it, I’d read the NY Times paper edition every day.  With paper, you tend to see more and read more closely, and the physical paper makes a much bigger impact on whoever is reading it.  Hopefully they’ll figure this one out.  We can’t afford to be without our professional news media.