All over the world, the story is the same. Hit by declining circulation and advertising that is at best sluggish, newspapers are cutting jobs. It causes me a lot of pain to see it happening at my old employer, Fairfax. Seeing the way the industry was going, I decided it was emotionally, creatively and financially better to go freelance. And I suspect more will join me.
This is historic stuff and signals a massive change in the media industry. Does the future of newspapers lie in magazines, as suggested by the Wired blog? One would think there would be vested interest in their argument.
If newspapers, indeed if the media, is to be saved, it has lie in a very different business model. One based on innovation. And media executives should not be given bonuses based on bottom line growth. Instead, the focus needs to be on the top line, revenue growth. I make that point in my column here.
For my industry I pray that it will survive