"Like the US automakers and the music industry, print media
companies squandered most of their time and money during boom times
clinging to the past rather than preparing for the future. And now
they're left totally unprepared for the bust. How bad is it? It's
bad.
"The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy Monday. The company
publishes the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and other
daily newspapers. The New York Times Co. intends to pawn its shiny
new Manhattan building to borrow a quarter of a billion dollars
just to stop the bleeding. Other major dailies are either for sale,
or rumored to be so, including the Rocky Mountain News, the Miami
Herald and others. The Cox newspaper group is closing its
Washington bureau. Most newspapers have announced layoffs, or will
do so soon.
"Magazines are faring a little better than newspapers. But the
industry is all doom-and-gloom, and everyone is predicting a
bloodbath in 2009. Newsweek has reportedly lost between half a
million to a million subscribers from its 2.6 million rate base and
has announced layoffs. TIME layoffs may total 600. National
Geographic, The Economist Group and Doubledown Media are all laying
off staffers."
