Valley PR Blog

Marketing Sociologist Says:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

mediarelationsexpert.com, did a study last year of clients. Most thought PR stood for getting the company in the press (PR stood for press release, I guess). No marketing, strategic planning, just “get us in the news.” Seeing the times, I moved to being a marketing sociologist.

In early 2007 I lost more than 10 perspective clients for telling them they needed a YouTube and MySpace presence. They told me I was “crazy” and went with the firms with people who had not spent 10 years on newspapers prepping them for life as a PR practitioner. But they promised media coverage (most did not deliver).

These are probably the creative thinking companies who are laying people off today. It is the Peter Principle at work, not a bad economy. There’s always going to be bad economy from a dullard’s view.

Media has killed itself. Where’s the reporting that less than 30 percent of all male graduates get a college degree today? Where’s the report that women comprise 54% of the workforce, 75% of professional jobs at Maricopa Community College District, but yet are still a protected class? There was more information from Len Fernandez’ Linkedin answer than you’d read in a month from every newspaper in Arizona:

“President Obama is pissed at AIG for paying out $165,000,000 in bonus money (allegedly our tax money) to people who have sunk AIG. However, President Obama only needs to look at Capitol Hill to see an entity that is far worse at abusing its privileges.

“Obama has scolded greedy bankers, but our recession is also the result of Congressional corruption — and Congress got a raise this year. The President has also looked entirely the other way, and even lied to the American people during his campaign when he publicly stated there would be no earmarks. Those same suffering taxpayers who were hosed by AIG are getting stuck far worse from Congress. Earmarks will cost taxpayers $7 billion more than AIG’s bonus payments, which were supposedly contracts from 1.5 years ago.

“In addition to their 11% raise this year, Congress gets innumerable freebies. If the President were honest and courageous, and not beholden to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, he would have stopped the practice of earmarks. It would have given him far more credibility then just going after AIG.

“As AIG’s PR rep the trick would be how do you get the general media’s ear when they are still having a love affair with Obama and seem to be giving Congress a free hall pass on its pork-laden stimulus bill?”

Yet the media does not cover this. They’ve killed themselves. Check http://marketingsociologist.blogspot.com/2009/03/fluff-pieces-why-news-media-is-dying.html

Pat Elliott Says:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it is possible that eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the United States could cease publication in the next eighteen months.

1. The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Daily News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.

2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The paper may not make money this year even without the costs of debt coverage. The company said it made $26 million last year, about half of what it made in 2007. The odds are that the Star Tribune will lose money this year if its ad revenue drops another 20%. There is no point for creditors to keep the paper open if it cannot generate cash. It could become an all-digital property, but supporting a daily circulation of over 300,000 is too much of a burden. It could survive if its rival the St. Paul Pioneer Press folds. A grim race.

3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company which could be the next chain to go into Chapter 11. The Herald has been on the market since December, and but no serious bidders have emerged. Newspaper advertising has been especially hard hit in Florida because of the tremendous loss in real estate advertising. The online version of the paper is already well-read in the Miami area and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Herald has strong competition north of it in Fort Lauderdale. There is a very small chance it could merge with the Sun-Sentinel, but it is more likely that the Herald will go online-only with two editions, one for English-speaking readers and one for Spanish.

4. The Detroit News is one of two daily papers in the big American city badly hit by the economic downturn. It is unlikely that it can merge with the larger Detroit Free Press which is owned by Gannett. It is hard to see what would be in it for Gannett. With the fortunes of Detroit getting worse each day, cutting back the number of days that the paper is delivered will not save enough money to keep the paper open.

5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said that the paper is only worth $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe’s parent, The New York Times, calls the New England Media Group. NYT has substantial financial problems of its own. Last year, ad revenue for the New England properties was down 18%. That is likely to continue or get worse this year. Supporting larger losses at the Globe will become nearly impossible. Boston.com, the online site that includes the digital aspects of the Globe, will probably be all that will be left of the operation.

6. The San Francisco Chronicle. Parent company Hearst has already set a deadline for shutting the paper if it cannot make tremendous cost cuts. The Chronicle lost as much as $70 million last year. Even if the company could lower its costs, the northern California economy is in bad shape. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of the 2009.

7. The Chicago Sun Times is the smaller of two newspapers in the city. Its parent company, Sun-Times Media Group trades for $.03 a share. Davidson Kempner, a large shareholder in the firm, has dumped the CEO and most of the board. The paper has no chance of competing with The Chicago Tribune.

8. NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level

9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram is another one of the big dailies that competes with a larger paper in a neighboring market – Dallas. The parent of The Dallas Morning News, Belo, is arguably a stronger company that the Star Telegram’s parent, McClatchy. The Morning News has a circulation of about 350,000 and the Star Telegram has just over 200,000. The Star Telegram will have to shut down or become an edition of its rival. Putting them together would save tens of millions of dollars a year.

10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is in one of the economically weakest markets in the country. Its parent, Advance Publications, has already threatened to close its paper in Newark. Employees gave up enough in terms of concessions to keep the paper open. Advance, owned by the Newhouse family, is carrying the burden of its paper plus Conde Nast, its magazine group which is losing advertising revenue. The Plain Dealer will be shut or go digital by the end of next year.

Changing of the Guard: Print Goes Online or No Where « PR Campaigns - The blog Says:
March 16th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

[...] bias is more prevalent than ever. Len Gutman in the Valley PR Blog makes a point that it goes beyond just the conglomerates and the economy in regards to newspapers crumbling left and right: We can blame the corporate behemoths that have [...]

Tara Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am

This reminds me of the panic we saw from educators about 25 years ago when they claimed my generation would not know how to sufficiently read or write because of TV and TV news. (”Nobody is reading newspapers anymore.”) Well, we’re not buying them but we are still reading the news and sharing it via delicious, Facebook, blogs and more. In fact today’s ability to self-publish on a whim may be inspiring more writers than ever before. I would argue that Internet delivery of news is creating stronger analytical thinkers, stronger research skills and better writing.
People still have a hunger for quality information and I believe that will continue. Unfortunately, many newspapers sacrificed quality information for the content they thought would bring readers back. The problem with newspapers for the past 25 years has never been content. It’s the format. (Seriously, who prefers inky, dirty jump pages or not being able to click through for deeper detail when you need it?)
This is a refreshing change for journalism and it means better access to timely information with an environmentally responsible form of delivery — and perhaps a generation of prolific writers.

Johna Burke Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 11:36 am

Len-

We were definitely on the same page this morning.

http://tr.im/hrwE

JB

Steven Shaffer Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 5:48 pm

Funny, I was talking with some friends (from San Diego no less) about this very subject.

My conclusion:
Now we’ll begin to see a marked rise in citizen journalism. Each day we come closer to desiring real time information, something a print newspaper can’t deliver.

Citizen journalism is already happening here in Arizona. For example e-papers like The Arizona Guardian (www.arizonaguardian.com) and Heat City (www.heatcity.org).

I do worry about potential drawbacks like bias and lack of depth, but I’m also excited about the rich stories e-papers like these might produce.

Len Gutman Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 6:37 pm

My only concern about Citizen Journalism is that many of these bloggers are not trained journalists and don’t understand the rules of the game. I believe very strongly in ethics in journalism and without a basic journalism and media law education these folks could do more harm than good. Then again, if they are the only option…

Geri Koeppel Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Sadly, a lot of so-called professional journalists were not trained in J-schools and/or have no knowledge of or interest in ethics.

The Guardian, however, is run by a team of experienced professional journalists. I think if we see more of this kind of online publication as well as sites like The Zonie Report, that’s a pretty good thing.