Take Back the Times: Many Small Papers Are Tanking As Year Begins

By Ken Reich

The way things are going in the newspaper business, it may not be too long before the big papers will be just about the only ones left. Two longtime newspapers have closed since the end of 2007, and many others have undertaken layoffs and other cost-saving measures. In recent years, hundreds of afternoon dailies have vanished, or become morning papers.

Here in Southern California, the papers owned by Dean Singleton have virtually all laid off numerous employees. At the Orange County Register, the story has been told about the unfortunate newsman summoned in on his day off to a meeting, only to be told when he got there he was fired.

Singleton is trying to follow in the footsteps of the Tribune Co.'s inept former CEO Dennis FitzSimons, who was laid off himself when Sam Zell became the Tribune owner. But unlike FitzSimons, it is doubtful that Singleton could leave with a multi-million severance. His papers probably do not have that kind of nest egg. The Singleton story is one of a squalid little man buying a bunch of squalid little newspapers, and then running them further into the ground. He may end up like the squirrel, living off nuts in the park.

The Cincinnati Post, its circulation having dropped by 75%, went out of business after 127 years of publication Dec. 31, and the Kent County Journal of Kent, Washington, a Seattle suburb, will close down Jan. 21. It has been Washington state's 8th largest paper.

In California, the story is almost as bad. The San Jose Mercury News is a shadow of its former self. Two big layoffs in recent months have pared the staff by 17%. One wonders whether a Silicon Valley edition of the Los Angeles Times wouldn't be more of a success.

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What are the causes? Ads are way down, and certain categories of ads, like classified, are approaching the vanishing point. Owners are unwilling to invest, fearing further reverses. There is a general ecnomic downturn, the whole housing industry has tanked. And more people are getting their news from the Internet rather than the daily press.

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Many Small Papers Are Tanking As Year Begins