Mark Potts is right:
Let’s be clear: Newspapers brought these problems on themselves.
Yeah, the economy’s a mess, which is exacerbating the situation.
But what’s happening to the industry is a massive structural change that might have been avoided–or at least reduced–by smarter management and an understanding of how the Internet is changing the business.
The ways in which newspaper managements have screwed up over the past decade or so to lead to this state of affairs are manifold and simply put:
Failing to understand the power and impact of the Internet.
Failing to be creative about business models to fully monetize Internet content.
Failing to be creative about working with advertisers to find new online ad models.
Failing to take seriously powerful new competitors like Craigslist, Monster and Google.
Failing to provide readers with enough relevant, compelling, can’t-get-it-anywhere-else content–especially local coverage.
Failing to understand that 20 percent profit margins aren’t a divine right.
Failing to move quickly enough to rein in costs and find efficiencies throughout the business.
Failing to move quickly enough, generally.
That last point really encapsulates it.
It’s an old charge, but newspaper executives simply sat on their hands while all of this started to happen.
Those of us who were privy to newspaper boardrooms and executive suites over the past few years saw firsthand how these problems took root, as top industry executives moved slothfully–if they moved at all–to adjust to the changes around them.
A lot of smart people got frustrated and simply left, all of them with horror stories of missed opportunities and clueless executives–many of whom, alas, are still in place.
