USA TODAY Column: … It’s true that newspaper circulation and ad income have been sinking for years, and overall revenue growth has been elusive since 2006. This can lead to the impression that the sky is falling and newspapers are dying quickly. But it’s important to remember that this remains a profitable industry, albeit more often in the 5% to 10% range as opposed to the eye-popping profits of yore.
But that’s largely due to cost-cutting. And you can cut only so far before you damage the quality of your product to the danger point. “You can do it for years; you can’t do it for decades,” says Ken Doctor, who keeps an eye on the media for research firm Outsell….
Says longtime media analyst John Morton: “My fear is that newspapers’ cost-cutting culture of recent years will continue, which could doom even the smaller newspapers in an environment that will reward content quality more than ever.” … (more)
