The Economist: On the brink
Some of America's most venerable newspapers face extinction, unless they evolve.
THE New York Times once epitomised all that was great about American newspapers; now it symbolises its industry's deep malaise. The Grey Lady's circulation is tumbling, down another 3.9% in the latest data from America's Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Its advertising revenues are down, too (12.5% lower in March than a year earlier), as is the share price of its owner, the New York Times Company, up from its January low but still over 20% below what it was last July. On April 29th Standard & Poor's cut the firm's debt rating to one notch above junk. …
…Pick almost any American newspaper company and you can tell a similar story. The ABC reported that for the 530 biggest dailies, average circulation in the past six months was 3.6% lower than in the same period a year earlier; for Sunday papers, it was 4.6% lower. Ad revenues are plunging across the board: by 22.3% at Media General, for example. In 2007 total newspaper revenues fell to $42.2 billion, not to be sniffed at, certainly, but a lot less than the peak of $48.7 billion in 2000….
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