Tribune Co. Risks Default on Debt Payments

(NEWSER) - In the avalanche of reporting and commentary on the collapse of the newspaper business, a number of salient, none-too-flattering facts have been overlooked about how newspapers contributed to their own demise, Bill Wyman writes on Splice. First, there's the misunderstanding that readers pay for news. It's advertisers who pay, and in the boom years, rich profits from that advertising were devoted to pleasing Wall Street, not preparing for inevitable threats to the papers' monopoly in delivering those ads. More»

Print publications will serve 'distilled' upper-crust audience, analysts predict

(NEWSER) - For the newspaper industry, finally a bit of good news: Ad revenue is projected to end its long slide and actually increase 2.4% in 2010, says a forecast from Borrell Associates. Modest year-by-year increases are expected to continue through at least 2014, reports Advertising Age. Borrell’s analysis does not dispute the sea changes in the industry, but contends that print newspapers will cater to niche markets of well-educated, well-to-do readers. More»

Collusion could avert disaster—but it won't happen

(NEWSER) - The newspaper industry is in dire straits, and to fix it, its bosses must “hold hands and jump off the following cliffs together,” writes David Carr in the New York Times. First, end free web access; it will drive away some readers, but they're not paying for quality reporting anyway. Second, aggregators like Google and Newser shouldn’t get a “free ride”—though that could mean angering the search king. More»

Papers will print as normal as company restructures, it claims

(NEWSER) - The owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure as ad revenues plunge, Reuters reports. Company spokesmen insist operations are "sound and profitable," and managers plan to continue publishing regularly. The announcement came a day after the 20-newspaper chain the Journal Register Co. also filed for bankruptcy as the economy continues to batter the industry. More»

(NEWSER) - Rumors of the New York Times’ demise are greatly exaggerated, reports... the New York Times. “Despite some published alarms to the contrary, the company has positioned itself to ride out another year of recession, maybe two,” Richard Péréz-Peña writes in a review of his employer’s finances. The Times hopes to "fill the void" left as other papers fold or cut back, a so-called last-man-standing strategy. More»