One of my favorite editorial cartoonists is a guy named Steve
Benson. He became the editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Republican in 1980.
He moved to the Tacoma Morning News in 1990, but returned to the Arizona
Republic a year later. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, and was nominated for
the Pulitzer 4 more times after that.
Here is a sample of his work:
This week, he was laid off.
This week was scary for American media: About 1,000 people were laid off by major outlets, including Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post. Nearly 400 were let go from news giant Gannett alone.
These people are editors, support staff, and writers—including at least one Pulitzer Prize finalist—who worked to report news stories, check facts, edit, and promote important content getting too little attention. In the age of Trump, this work is absolutely critical.
This week was scary for American media: About 1,000 people were laid off by major outlets, including Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post. Nearly 400 were let go from news giant Gannett alone.
These people are editors, support staff, and writers—including at least one Pulitzer Prize finalist—who worked to report news stories, check facts, edit, and promote important content getting too little attention. In the age of Trump, this work is absolutely critical.
In a way, guys like me are to blame for his departure. I read 5 (and sometimes 6) newspapers every day, but I only
pay for 2. I pay $15 a month for the digital version of the New York Times, and
I also pay more than $20 a month for the Arizona Republic, which gives me
online access, as well as deliveries on Wednesday and Sunday. I also read the
Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and the Daily Star (Tucson’s home town newspaper)
but I don’t pay for any of the views from those sources – and therein lies the problem.
Total circulation of daily newspapers peaked at 63 million in
1973, and has been going downhill ever since. By 2017, that number had dropped to
almost exactly half, to 31 million. The reason for that decline is that more
and more of us get our news from electronic sources, like Facebook. The New
York Times was one of the first papers to notice the trend, and they started
offering “digital only” subscriptions 8 years ago. The nation’ largest newspaper, The
Wall Street Journal also started offering online subscriptions a short time later,
and the Washington Post joined the movement in 2013.
Going electronic has been a smart move for newspapers, since
it has allowed a large INCREASE in circulation. In 2017, the New York Times
increased digital subscriptions of 42% over increases in 2016, and the Wall Street
Journal experienced gains of 26%.
Newspapers make most of their money from advertising. The peak
year for advertising revenue was 2006, when it reached $49,000,000. After that,
it took a very steep dive, and by 2017, it had dropped to $16,000,000.
Newspapers have made up for some of that lost revenue with digital advertising,
since the percentage of advertising revenue from digital sources has risen from
15% in 2011 to 30% in 2017.
Since ad revenue from electronic sources is less than from
conventional advertising, newspapers have had to make some very painful cuts.
In 2006, the total number of newsroom employees peaked at 74,410. In 2017, that
number was 39,210. Benson’s departure from the Arizona Republic happened just a
few weeks after a columnist named Linda Chavez stopped appearing in the Opinion
section.
Since newspapers seem to be such a losing business, why in the
world would Jeff Bezos buy the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million? Donald
Graham, son of legendary publisher Katherine Graham had approached Bezos about
buying the newspaper, even though he knew that Bezos knew very little about
newspaper publishing. Bezos, however, DID have a mastery of the internet (which
is why he is now the world’s wealthiest man).
In his own words, here’s Bezos’ explanation:
“It is the newspaper in the
capital city of the most important country in the world. The Washington Post has an incredibly important role to play in this
democracy. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
Bezos drew his optimism about
the paper’s future from one simple fact. The internet destroyed most
advantages newspapers had built. But it did offer “one gift: free global
distribution.”
With Bezos's help, The
Post developed a new strategy to “take advantage of that gift.” They
implemented a new business model. The old model relied on generating a high
revenue per reader. Their new focus would forego revenue per reader in favor of
acquiring more readers. In other words, a volume play.
Early signs of success
indicated the strategy was working. The Washington Post was quick to post
profitability and a growing newsroom. In fact, the Washington Post is about the
ONLY newspaper that is ADDING to the number of people in the newsroom.
The Arizona Republic is owned by Gannett, the country’s
largest newspaper chain. Between 2016 and 2017, the value of its stock
decreased by 50%. It is surviving for exactly the same reason that the
Washington Post is prospering – it is expanding its audience.
(To the chagrin of a lot of old white guys, the Gannett chain
is being run by a 57 year old Jewish girl from New Jersey named Joanne Lipman,
and the largest owner of the New York Times is a Mexican telecom entrepreneur named
Carlos Slim, who was the world’s richest man from 2010 to 2013).
More than 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson knew how important that
newspapers were to a democracy. Given a choice between a government without
newspapers, and newspapers without a government, he would choose the latter.
Not every newspaper can rely on wealthy benefactors like Jeff
Bezos, so what can they do to survive and prosper? One idea that would seem to
bear merit is one that was introduced by Democratic senator Benjamin Cardin in
2009. It was called the Newspaper Revitalization Act, and it would allow newspapers
to become nonprofits if they chose to do so. Cardin’s bill did not pass in
2009, and it’s unlikely that it would get passed during the current
administration – but it is still a good idea.
Newspapers play an extremely important role in our society.
The Washington Post effectively brought an end to Nixon's presidency, and they will
help do it again before 2020. My prediction is that it will happen sometime prior
to August 9, the day that Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.
I’m optimistic about the future of newspapers. Their business
plans will need to be very different from what they were in the past, but I’ll still
be able to read the comics in the Sunday paper for a lot of years to come.
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