Internet Blamed For Newspapers’ Poor Stock Performance

Am I the only one getting tired of the constant refrain that the internet is responsible for all of the newspaper industry’s woes? I’ve been covering newspapers in one form or another since the late ’80s and I promise you this isn’t happening in a vacuum where the industry has done everything right and it would all be hunkydory if only people weren’t going online.
Further, despite these end-of-year dump and runs of newsroom employees, most major newspapers are not struggling to make money. They’re struggling to make even more money while they make the transition to multi-platform companies and they’re anticipating future drags but — for now and for some time into the future — as fund manager Scott Black, Delphi Management Co., told Bloomberg, “… The bottom line is they are money machines that generate a lot of cash.” Money machines with high double-digit margins.
Update: I’m reminded by a reader that I should mention the newspaper industry itself usually includes newsprint prices as a chief culprit.
Update 2: AP’s Seth Sutel has a FAQ for people wondering why an industry that makes 20 cents on the dollar is laying people off. Nicely done.(via Romenesko)

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