The big wigs of the newspaper industry gathered for their annual meeting and tried to rally the troops with tales of rising internet revenue and increased newsstand prices. It was like the Confederates boasting of their victory after Appomattox.
Janet Robinson, the star-crossed CEO of The New York Times Company (NYT) said that internet revenue was 10% of the company’s total. She was not so forthcoming about the fact that total revenue was falling sharply anyway.
The head of McClatchy (MNI) and he internet chief also bragged about their plans for the web, But, the company’s total advertising dropped over 11% in May. That would include any money the company got off the web.
Newspapers need to stop talking about about how great the internet is and band together to do something about it. If the largest chains combined their online audiences, they would have a reach that would rival Ebay’s (EBAY) or Fox Interactive’s.
That would be something.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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