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Google Vs The Entire Newspaper Industry: And The Winner Is...

Tyler Durden's picture




 

As Brookings notes, "overall the economic devastation would be difficult to exaggerate," with regard the shift from print to online journalism - as the following chart sums up in all its devastating reality... it's a new world.

"...putting newspapers online has not remotely restored their profitability..."

 

"Now, however, in the first years of the 21st century, accelerating technological transformation has undermined the business models that kept American news media afloat, raising the possibility that the great institutions on which we have depended for news of the world around us may not survive."

 

Source: Brookings

 

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Thu, 10/23/2014 - 19:59 | 5369973 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

The Big Skim...

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:15 | 5370044 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

When newspapers go online, they get about a nickel on the dollar of their former ad revenue.

Try covering your fixed costs on that.

One more industry which kapute ist.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:26 | 5370084 erkme73
erkme73's picture

Yes, but the ink cost for digital ought to offset quite a bit of that legacy printing stuff.  That's the real gorilla in the room... why are they still printing newspapers?  Phone books?  Because SOME people don't have on-line access?  

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:50 | 5370146 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

I hate to say it, but old people, who are resistant to change.  That and niche markets.

You see this in small towns.  Some things are easier to market in at least a weekly, print format.  Think about coupons, estate sales, local events.  Electronic media always gets the word out after the fair/show/musical event, whatever.  Doesn't that piss you off?

I still have a land line (vonage) which is rarely used, but cell service is unreliable at the edge of the mountains.  Big institutions die, but they die slowly.  Look at Sears or Penney's or Radio Shack.  WTF?

Here's an even stranger question.  Why do magazines still exist?  I hardly ever see anyone reading them, the news stand prices are ridiculous, but Barnes & Noble has as many on sale as ever.  I think the reason is, that advertisers of specialty stuff, like cameras, computers, sports equipment, are afraid to quit advertising in them, even though they have to know it's ending.  The times they are a'changin.

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:40 | 5370433 max2205
max2205's picture

Fuck newspapers

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:01 | 5370939 forexskin
forexskin's picture

agreed.

what's the point of calling infotainment put out by 6 media conglomerates news. shit, TASS was more believable - at least everyone knew they weren't pretending to be anything more than propaganda.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:18 | 5370976 strannick
strannick's picture

Newspapers should try not sucking balls so much. 

Or maybe try not being full of shit.

Or maybe stop spewing assine corporate newsiness on toiletpaper thats to rough to wipe with.

God bless ZeroHedge

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 06:04 | 5371371 barre-de-rire
barre-de-rire's picture

internet is a plague killing everything on human side of any relationship.

 

we now are amazed of what it bring to us.

 

so few look back and see the trace it made on the human ground to make its own path, and by looking where it is going to, it cannot by conception be good.

 way to make money now is  making an app for a google/apple to assist more and more people to replace what they used to do before. so lame.

 

replacing physical meet, physical relation, physical information, off grid possessing anihilated, physical stores.

 

all that by essence is making a human beeing mentaly stable is destroyed by internet.

 

and nobody see it.

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:11 | 5372006 Sages wife
Sages wife's picture

The internet will be our saviour.  There will be no substitute for the soon to be free, and almost instantaneous, sharing of information.  Long Kim.com.  Say THAT 10 times fast.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:29 | 5372098 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

lmao.  And don't forget how it decimated postal service.  We should go back to cutting down trees and mailing our correspondence..... that would engender "physical meet".

Newspapers and mail needs to die.  It's a waste of resources and horribly slow.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:58 | 5372256 fattail
fattail's picture

"Great Institutions"....  LOL!  It used to be so much easier to brain wash the masses.  

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:33 | 5370634 boodles
boodles's picture

Your observation about old people and the Internet makes me smile.  My father -- 87 years of age -- is a computer genius, but when I got him his first laptop last month, he insisted on a mouse!  No amount of suggesting that he use the touch pad was successful.  For him, it was a mouse or nada.

Rather amusing, really.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:12 | 5370974 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

My father -- 87 years of age -- is a computer genius, but when I got him his first laptop last month, he insisted on a mouse! 

Your father is correct, mouse is far superior. Macbooks have the best touchpad (IMO) but still doesn't come close to a mouse.

http://progamerhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/96fff0bf676df062b0c170...

Yes, nerdy. But the pros know their shit. 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:59 | 5371285 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Thanks!  I refuse to own a laptop because I detest those touchpads so much.  I'll take a mouse, and YES, a FULL-SIZED KEYBOARD any day!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:57 | 5371943 BiggerInJapan
BiggerInJapan's picture

I prefer a keyboard without numpad and a separed numpad on the right side of the mouse. trackball and TrackPoint are also good fun. Hope the old men got a logitech with a no inercia scroll wheel, since I got my first I cannot accept using a mouse with a old style wheel.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 13:56 | 5373160 malek
malek's picture

I mean wow - which selling-icecubes-to-eskimos marketing guy convinced you that you would NOT need a mouse with a laptop??

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:55 | 5371665 Fukushima Sam
Fukushima Sam's picture

Touchpads suck ass.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:00 | 5371679 HandyCrapper
HandyCrapper's picture

Hate touchpads too. I have Windows 8...sucks...and I had to plug my old USB mouse in because it works and the touchpad software sucks! I tried installing new drivers for it and still no go!?

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:55 | 5371935 SocDoc
SocDoc's picture

Mouse gives me tendonitis

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:02 | 5371968 BiggerInJapan
BiggerInJapan's picture

just use a bigger sensibility and stop moving all your arm for half a screen move, i can do 2 screens without raising my hand... ofcourse a real mouse does help. 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:28 | 5370092 philipat
philipat's picture

I can't say that I'm sorry to be honest......

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:10 | 5370563 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I weep for the demise of the newspaper business like I weep for the demise of the recording industry.  Not very much.

The value of data is near zero.  Information is worth only slightly more.  Wisdom I'll pay dearly for, however.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:26 | 5371007 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

The value of data is near zero.  Information is worth only slightly more.

Interesting you should state this on an arcticle referring to a company whose business model (with revenues, last I checked, in the billions) is largely based on data mining. 

And... pretty much every other tyler post on zh is commentary on a bloomberg article. Can't have the 'wisdom' without the source material information!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:38 | 5371255 gallistic
gallistic's picture

Exactamundo- glad to see you get it, although they branched out well beyond mere data mining years ago.

 

Google may pay lip service to silly snd meaningless "Don't be evil" slogans, but they are evil incarnate.

It is kind of sad, but I dare say that the vast majority of ZHers are enabling "Google evil" right this very second.

---------------------------

The question of evil is only a matter of degree. Exactly how evil are they?

Here is a pretty good starting point. It is an excerpt from Julian Assange's book "When Google Met Wikileaks".

I am pretty sure it will be an eye-opener for those that do not follow this too closely.

Enjoy.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:43 | 5371271 LULZBank
LULZBank's picture

Just chanelling Reggie Middleton ;-)

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 04:12 | 5371299 gallistic
gallistic's picture

Lulz,

OK, I'll 'fess up.

That one sailed clear over my head and off into left field.

I didn't get it.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:12 | 5372008 gallistic
gallistic's picture

aaahhhh...... Of course!

How could I have forgotten this?

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:59 | 5372257 Loup Kib
Loup Kib's picture

I often use StartPage : https://startpage.com/

(As you say : question of degree.)

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:48 | 5370164 Redneck Hippy
Redneck Hippy's picture

Ah yes, but we get to read ZH for free.  

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:44 | 5370459 max2205
max2205's picture

Well did you know, that you can save MOAR on Prudential products in 15 minutes by clicking these fucking ads?

Did ya?

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 04:03 | 5371287 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

I suggest that you donate some Munny to the kitty once in awhile. (ALL O' YAS!)

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:46 | 5371053 drendebe10
drendebe10's picture

Hahahahahahahahaha, fuk the progressive liberal democrap paper print rags..... dinosaurs the whole lot of them....  hahahahahahahahahahahah.... fukem all...

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 19:59 | 5369978 localsavage
localsavage's picture

Well....you do have to use google to find someone who actually does some reporting these days.  Most of the stuff on the MSM is just copy and paste from some crappy non researched AP story.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:03 | 5369991 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Not the Ebola stuff apparently.

And I'd be more worried about AT&T than the newspaper industry as the former is probably 10% of New York State's pension system.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:42 | 5370441 max2205
max2205's picture

And or supplied by the WH or worse

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:40 | 5370862 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

WHAT? You mean the Corporate 'news'?

Or do you mean teh WhiteHouse 'news'?

Maybe the 'thinktank' 'news'?

Globalization is failing.

 

The .0001% are failing.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:22 | 5371002 Harry Dong
Harry Dong's picture

Upvote just cause I hope you're right.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:01 | 5369985 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Google, shit, I get my news from ZH.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:05 | 5369997 t0mmyBerg
t0mmyBerg's picture

yes, it was curious to not see zero hedge in the list of news organizations by pew the other day.  i guess they only count traditional media, in other words useless media

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:13 | 5370036 UP Forester
UP Forester's picture

Copyright ©2009-2014 ZeroHedge.com/ABC Media, LTD; All Rights Reserved.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:29 | 5370090 erkme73
erkme73's picture

Interesting observation.  But, still, it's not THE ABC we're thinking:  http://www.rmimedia.co/about.html

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:36 | 5370414 Yes_Questions
Yes_Questions's picture

 

 

hmmm...

 

shadowy people in London...

 

hmmm...

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:45 | 5370469 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

"I don't have answers..."

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:21 | 5370792 Bananamerican
Bananamerican's picture

ABC "already been chewed"

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 07:09 | 5371428 Seek_Truth
Seek_Truth's picture

You couldn't be more wrong.

Try: ABC Media, Ltd. at P.O. Box 814 Sofia, Bulgaria

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:30 | 5370831 ISEEIT
ISEEIT's picture

ZH represents a social shift. If I could only access one site for valueable, accurate, human action commentary it's ZH.

 

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:02 | 5369987 reader2010
reader2010's picture

All money of the population goes to interest and tax,  and most people don't give a shit about what is going on in the world. Too sad. 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:03 | 5369992 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"...raising the possibility that the great institutions on which WE have depended for news of the world around us may not survive." - The Brookings Institute.

Cry me a fucking river.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 04:07 | 5371291 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

I have a subscription to Time magazine, just to keep tabs on what the Progressive-Socialists are spewing.  Most of the magazine is now fluff, and the few "hard-hitting" articles always leave out unpleasant (for the current USA regime) facts, ALWAYS!

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:07 | 5370006 BouncyTheWonderbunni
BouncyTheWonderbunni's picture

I've been waiting for this for a very, very, long time since about 1930 when the grey lady was ranting and raving about how cool Uncle Joe was.

 

Good fucking riddance.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:17 | 5370052 magnetosphere
magnetosphere's picture

bolshevik front organization eh

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:42 | 5370660 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Yaz, it takes a fanatical reader to know of the Old Grey Lady, and its all gay editorial board.

I rather like gays as individuals.  They dress well, understand art, and music.  They always know of great parties, where there are hot chicks and damn little competition, but do they represent me and mine?  Those who have children, dogs, and land to take care of?  An interest in the past and the future?  Hell no. 

I will be sad when the New Yorker dies, although I genuinely hate new york for good and sufficient reasons.  Some part of the cosmic life of the mind will die with it.  As to the rest, twas but a fart in the breeze.

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:10 | 5370008 himaroid
himaroid's picture

"....great institutions...."

Just great.

I wish the "great" SOB's would come wipe up this spew.

That's all the rags are good for.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:08 | 5370009 SillySalesmanQu...
SillySalesmanQuestion's picture

Journalism, news, confirmed sources, reporting, unbiased, truth not script or fiction, non-propaganda, research, facts....I'm with EB. Come to the Hedge.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:23 | 5370799 Bananamerican
Bananamerican's picture

Bias? Who knows....But give me SKEPTICISM every time!

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:10 | 5370024 The Fonz...befo...
The Fonz...before shark jump's picture

Newspapers lol...I can't wait to pay tomorrow to read about what I already knew yesterday....

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:49 | 5370165 griffey247
griffey247's picture

Great User name... 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:11 | 5370028 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Well, if the Newspaper Editors were ALLOWED to print what THEY saw fit to print, instead of the Billionaire Oligarchs owners bridling them, then maybe people would still buy hard copy.

As it is... I just can't afford to pay that much for Propaganda -- unless it's the Sunday paper with the Comics section for the family, and the Coupons for shopping.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:44 | 5370151 mark mchugh
mark mchugh's picture

I can't agree that they weren't allowed to print what they wanted.  They chose their fate.

Mindless drivel written by spineless idiots that no thinking person would want, even for free.  Good riddance.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:33 | 5370403 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Its a good point.

My favorites are, "Anonymous sources say..." or "sources close to...confirm earlier reports"...thats when it starts hurting my brain.

What they are actually saying is, trust us on these anonymous, unidentifiable sources that will never be held accountable for what they say. Trust us because we trust them.

In other news, we are getting confirmation from yet another source close to the national security investigation that Martians have in fact, landed in San Francisco.

More than a few would believe this ;-)

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:20 | 5370789 mark mchugh
mark mchugh's picture

And to make it even worse, these dimwits couldn't see the ground shifting under their feet.  They could have put their archives on line for peanuts, which would have given them some traction in staying relevant, but no.  My local newspaper has spent the last thirty years shooting itself in the foot...reloading...shooting....it's embarassing.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:31 | 5370832 espirit
espirit's picture

Sort of like Eastman not embracing the digital revolution.

 

Tick, Tock, Motherfuckers.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 04:15 | 5371301 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Or Swiss watchmaking firms telling digital watch developers that NO ONE would want a watch without hands! Tick-tock indeed!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:14 | 5370982 Sokhmate
Sokhmate's picture

.. "Allegedly"

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:16 | 5370047 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

Deflate that chart by 5% a year for inflation and the newspaper figures especially are more realistic.

Problem is the MSM crawled up their own ass even before the Internet disintermediated them.  I keep thinking that a well-edited, neutral newspaper would be a tremendous success even today.  Of course the dead tree edition would lose money even so, but they might make it up online.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:18 | 5370055 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

the major trend i see is that the net amount of advertising revenue has gone UP 20 BILLION DOLLARS IN TEN YEARS!!!

 

that's what money printing does. then the question is-------what happens when and if the trend reverses? seems like google can easily take a hit of 50% to its revenue while maintaining costs at an even clip--extremely low. 

 

the newspapers are litterally one major revenue decline from going out of business altogether. 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:24 | 5370077 Cymore Duttz
Cymore Duttz's picture

a substantial portion of my local paper's ad revenue comes from print government required notices such as foreclosures and government jobs and construction projects.

if those laws were modernized then the newspapers would really tank.

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:13 | 5370285 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Good point.

.gov, obituaries, and car ads.  Who cares?

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:25 | 5370078 TomGa
TomGa's picture

Well, you still have to wrap fish and line birdcages with something....

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:22 | 5371004 MisterMousePotato
MisterMousePotato's picture

How would I start the charcoal chimney thing?

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:30 | 5370099 Bumbu Sauce
Bumbu Sauce's picture

Who buys anything that is advertised on the net?

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:32 | 5370105 Bubenthauser
Bubenthauser's picture

Fuck the newspapers and fucking journalists too. About time they get fucking obliterated and raped by the fucked up system they helped create.

Welcome to the fucking Jungle.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:47 | 5370156 griffey247
griffey247's picture

Great fucking comment... I said (Hell fucking yeah out loud) when i read your comment... Consequences for actions taken is back with a vengence. 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:34 | 5370119 arrowrod
arrowrod's picture

The only reason I get the daily newspaper is to get Sudoku and Scramble.  At that, the Sudoku I get is a cheap competitor.

I scan through last week's news, while preparing my breakfast, then do the puzzles while eating.

If they cancelled the puzzles, I would cancel the newspaper.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:34 | 5370841 espirit
espirit's picture

Do you see the fallacy of your reasoning to subscribe to 'last weeks news'?

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 06:47 | 5371401 Comte d'herblay
Comte d'herblay's picture

Not really.  You can predict tomorrow's "news" as well as next month's, next year's and on out to infinity simply by reading last week's "news".

Here's 'news' from year 2035:

The Middle East is in turmoil

The democrats and republicans can not agree on anything

Charlie Brown for the hundredth year still believes Lucy will not remove the football at the last second

President so and so's ratings are tumbling, rising, in the tank

A hurricane in the gulf, has threatened to wash New Orleans out to sea.

Terrists have claimed credit for the bombing of .....

 

Y'see. there is no more "news"

News peaked in 1980 and it's all been iterative since.

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:38 | 5370131 sschu
sschu's picture

the great institutions on which we have depended for news of the world around us may not survive.

Did they really just write this nonesense?  "The great institutions" like the NYTimes, Time Magazine, etal?  They are so baised, this is part of the reason their readership and hence advertising has declined.

Please.

sschu

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:50 | 5370174 Stupid Donkey
Stupid Donkey's picture

I don't get it.

 

I have only clicked on google adds a handful of times and have never bought anything as a result.

 

I get one free paper a week and always use the coupons in it.

 

I think google advertising is grossly overvalued. Or I'm just old.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 20:50 | 5370181 fishwharf
fishwharf's picture

I'll continue to buy the San Francisco Chronicle until it ceases publication or I cease breathing.  It's a big time small town newspaper.  There are not many days that I don't read about someone I know.  Unfortunately it's increasingly on the obituary page.

Go Giants!

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:04 | 5370243 Zoomorph
Zoomorph's picture

Nowadays your revenue has to be growing at 10% per year, otherwise you're doing horribly. Poor guys, down to 20B a year.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:22 | 5370341 limacon
limacon's picture

Porn news said "Go ogle!"
Now gone Google!

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:48 | 5370476 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

Just like television news, major newspapers have basically stopped 'reporting'. Instead, they recycle the same stories that AP, Reuters, and others have released - only you get them a day later printed on newsprint. Sure, you still get some good sports reporters, but few newspapers go out looking for stories anymore. Printed newspapers are dying - but it is the death of the 'reporter' - killed by the newspapers themselves in order to 'save' money - that represents the mortal, self-inflicted wound.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 21:48 | 5370477 gwar5
gwar5's picture

I hate Google but hate the propaganda big old-school newsies like NYT, WaPo, LAT, even more so let them all die a slow death.  Can we now get rid of Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and the rest of the douchebaggery on TV?  Then we'll figure out how to get rid of NSA-Google.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:14 | 5371725 silverer
silverer's picture

Since they are the drug that has been mentally numbing down the population for years to stop thinking, the sheeple just get stupider and stupider, eventually losing the ability to read a newspaper or anything else anyway. The papers are responsible for their own demise.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:31 | 5370629 Rentier88
Rentier88's picture

MSM sucks anymore anyway...with all their bullshit sensationalism headlines, everything violently criminal now is labeled push button 'terrorism' or 'terror'.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:10 | 5371712 silverer
silverer's picture

Even non-violently "criminal", like a kid biting a pop tart into the outline of a pistol. Treated like he walked in and started shooting with a real gun. WTF? You think the papers would rail against that idiot response from the school (position on the people's side and common sense), instead they make the case for the labeling, or stay silently neutral. They answer to their masters only. They are pathetic.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 22:59 | 5370712 Sock Monkey Posse
Sock Monkey Posse's picture

I see a trend.

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:13 | 5370758 Burticus
Burticus's picture

A well-deserved, prolonged & painful death for the corporate media cartel!

These @$$#01e$ blacked out coverage of the Libertarian candidate for Florida governor, Adrian Wyllie, from their local fishwrappers.  Then, their employees who run Florida Press Association, Inc., excluded Wyllie from their gubernatorial debate, leaving only the elephant & jackass sock puppets.

Coincidentally (cough), debate-censor FPA's for-profit subsidiary, Florida Press Service, Inc., received FeRNs from its advertised major customer GMMB, a K street PR firm that received 6.5 million from the Demonrat Party, the jackass candidate and SEIU.

"Follow the money" (& jackass turds):  JackassParty/JackassCandidate/SEIU --> FeRNs --> GMMB --> FeRNs --> FPS, Inc./FPA, Inc. --> blackout & exclude Libertarian candidate

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:26 | 5370811 mark mchugh
mark mchugh's picture

Here's a serious question:

Did any of these Zombie-Dinosaurs ever reach out to ZH to see if they could make a deal to acquire some content that didn't suck ass?  Ever?

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:32 | 5370833 PADRAEG
PADRAEG's picture

Pity we can't delete our own comment ((

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:30 | 5370834 PADRAEG
PADRAEG's picture

People buy stuff on the net, more than from newspapers. I'd like to see Fox extracted from this data, & plotted separately on the same chart. 

For reasons of the bias in MSM, we'd see something between the 2 variables displayed. Fox newpapers (WSJ) might survive...  Rampant inefficiency in this market, huh?

 

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:49 | 5370898 AgentScruffy
AgentScruffy's picture

Worked at a major newspaper back in late 90's to 2001. They were dumb as shit. When I talked about cellphone trends being hugely important they stared blankly at me: "But we're a NEWSPAPER!!!" (E.g. "WTF are we talking about cellphones for?") When I presented research on future mobile multi-media trends and location-based advertising, they essentially threw it in the trash.

They clung to their fat, lazy comfort: they had distribution systems: printing machines and warehouses! They should've been funneling money into creating innovative DIGITAL distribution systems/technologies, so they could be the first in certain spaces, not just stand in line to "ride" on someone else's platform.

They deserve to die because of their enduring commitment to stupidity (and their decades-long love for useless middle management).

Thu, 10/23/2014 - 23:59 | 5370917 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

I publish in MSM niche publications and on the 'Net

Net for the Unvarnished truth, and niche mainstream mags for know how.

Niche MSM pays more than 'Net BTW, which pays pennies if anything.

Here is a one I wrote awhile back.

Good skipper, bad skipper

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:15 | 5370984 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

I personally do not believe that Google takes in or earns that much from their ad scheme.

No proof, just my "spidey-sense."

An American, not US subject.

 

But then I thought the Berlin Wall would stand another lifetime.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:35 | 5371030 GoldIsMoney
GoldIsMoney's picture

I do not like Google all to much, but I do hate the current "news industry" and so this counts for me as success. I'm just waitin on the day (here in Gemany) when the state will introduce a tax for political education and hand over the money out of it to the newspapers. We do have it for the television, "fairness" demands that the papers woll not treated worse ;-(

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 00:39 | 5371041 Machination
Machination's picture

Does anyone else remember this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHBPuHS-7s

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 01:36 | 5371140 Rastadamus
Rastadamus's picture

Used to work for a good newspaper. But it got bought out and the new management did nto give a fuck about the community..... 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:01 | 5371229 Bloodstock
Bloodstock's picture

For all the lies MSM continues to tell they had to go online to compete with the bloggers. The bloggers won! Goliath comes crashing down. But then again I do believe that the destruction of jobs was foremost on their mines as in their completely insane mindset, they've won. Fuck 'um, power to the people!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:05 | 5371235 JetsettingWelfareMom
JetsettingWelfareMom's picture

My husband has been clutching his tattered version of the Thai language Las Vegas News (paper copy) like it's a bible. There is still a market for print....it's more a matter of how to distribute efficiently to a smaller more localized population...

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 03:38 | 5371270 dreadnaught
dreadnaught's picture

i live in Seattle used to have 2 major dailies here. One went under-now  online only-the other used to sell half million copies on a Sunday -60 pages of want ads;

Time goes by... picked up a Friday paper: thin, light NO WANT ADS....picked up a Sunday paper -light not many inserts and  4 PAGES OF WANT ADS!!!!!!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 04:51 | 5371331 Magooo
Magooo's picture

Bullshit.   Name a newspaper that is actually publishing anything but spin which is dictated by their corporate masters?

 

"If the people cannot make a change, how about the media? Not a chance. From Fox News to the New York Times, the mass media in the United States is nothing but the public relations wing of the corporatocracy, primarily the military industrial complex. At least the citizens of the former Soviet Union knew that their news was bullshit. In America, you grow up thinking you’ve got a free media, which makes the propaganda doubly effective. If you don’t think American media is mere corporate propaganda, ask yourself the following question: have you ever heard a major American news outlet suggest that the country could fund a single-payer health system by cutting military spending?"

http://cluborlov.blogspot.hk/2014/09/americathe-grim-truth.html

 

Good fucking riddance to the MSM!  The sooner the better!!!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 07:45 | 5371512 bk1037
bk1037's picture

Agree fully. And the wealthy now earn all the newspaper endorsements, example Rauner in Illinois. What a crock of shit. This is an industry that does not feel they can survive here coming out against a wealthy potential new governor so they took the cowards way out. I don't mind some of them endorsed, but all of them? That is wealth that has infected our so called Freedom of the Press, which is a bullshit anachronism reference of the 1st Amendment when it seemed like we did. We have not had Free Press here in many years now, nor do I suspect we ever will again.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:58 | 5372253 zaphod42
zaphod42's picture

Hope you're wrong about 'never again.'  I think at some point, when things really get dicey (and they will), there will be a place for a weekly NEWSpaper.  Where reporters report facts, as opposed to the press releases provided by the oligarchs.

Craig

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:45 | 5371640 silverer
silverer's picture

Even in their death throes, don't count on them for the truth of much of anything. They stopped reporting news years ago, and switched to events: car crashes, police chases, murders, rapes, fires, and other nonsensical crap that repeats every day and will forever.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 06:37 | 5371389 Comte d'herblay
Comte d'herblay's picture

A better harbinger of the dismal but well-earned fate of the newspaper industry is the cartoon pages. 

I now need a magnifying glass to read most of them since they have seen fit to save ink money by miniaturizing the letters.

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:54 | 5372232 zaphod42
zaphod42's picture

I told my wife that, and she said it was my eyes getting weaker with age!  LOL.

I have a problem reading what the text on my iPhone too.

Craig

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 11:01 | 5372276 Comte d'herblay
Comte d'herblay's picture

Not so.  I have papers from 2 years ago and the type face is at least 40% less today in the cartoon section.

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 11:12 | 5372355 WhyWait
WhyWait's picture

Plus, most of them aren't funny - or even interesting! 

We laugh about what really hurt.  These "funnies" - with a few exceptions like Boondocks, Dilbert and Doonsbury - don't have the guts to go anywhere near there.  Even Wizard of Id has become tame.  And the family situation funnies - have all the pain and pathos of life with Ozzie and Harriet!

The small type has helped me break the habit of looking and hoping to find a laugh or a chuckle.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:42 | 5371545 Downtoolong
Downtoolong's picture

Unfortunately, this doesn’t imply online media is any better in quality. Check out this article for bullshit spinning by the MSM. Just don’t get too close or you might get some of it on you.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fed%e2%80%99s-dollar4-trillion-holdings-keep-boosting-growth-beyond-end-of-qe/ar-BBaRiTo?ocid=U219DHP

The logic of the linked article is as follows:

The Fed supposedly did a good thing by growing its balance sheet four times its original size. But, because of this, The Fed now can’t unwind its position without damaging the markets and economy. Therefore, The Fed is once again doing a good thing by preventing bad consequences of the first good thing they did, even though the specter of that bad thing eventually happening will now hang over our heads until it actually does happen.

I hate pop up ads, but, I’d rather be forced to read an entire page of them without crap like this in the way.

 

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:14 | 5371552 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

This is a misreading of the situation.

The rise of the internet and the decline of the newspaper is a direct consequence of the extraction of real purcashing power.

 

Again - if I had the choice now   I would be reading a paper or doing a crossword in the civilized atmosphere of the pub.

 

Not becoming a atomic agent of consumption.

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:38 | 5371618 silverer
silverer's picture

Don't worry, they'll be ØK once the EMP attack hits. Only paper will work. Of course, there will be a bit of a problem running those presses...

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:55 | 5371667 HandyCrapper
HandyCrapper's picture

I can remember back in the late 90's watching a idiot box (TV) commercial with John Elway shilling for the newspaper industry. I knew right then the print news era was on it last legs.

Major problem seems to be the left-leaning political slant of these publishers, not the medium or technological tools used to convey their "news".

Good riddance to them all!

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 10:52 | 5372220 zaphod42
zaphod42's picture

Newspapers used to provide a Libertarian slant, not liberal. 

In the 60's and 70's, the plutarchs decided to conflate the two, because they don't like Libertarians very much.  Later they conflated Ayn Rand and Austrian Economics with Libertarianism, and somehow got away with it through the auspices of "St. Ronnie, the Wrong."

Things have gone downhill ever since.

Of course, newspapers today are part of the plutocratic enterprise, and reflect a far right slant (NOT Libertarian!!!  I have been Libertarian since the early 80's and I know the difference.)

so get off the left wing media crap.  Media is owned by your rulers.  All Hail King Koch.

Craig

Fri, 10/24/2014 - 09:25 | 5371787 Shropshire Lad
Shropshire Lad's picture

Newspapers are declining because most of them only print Zionist propaganda, rather than any kind of objective news and analysis.  This has greatly speeded up their natural decline as readers say "Enough aand no more".

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