Ken Doctor is a news industry analyst and the author of Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get (St. Martin’s Press). He also runs the book’s companion website, newsonomics.com. He is an analyst for the research firm Outsell and a regular consultant and speaker. He spent 21 years with Knight Ridder in a variety of roles, including as managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and as a vice president of Knight Ridder Digital.
By gutting local advertising overnight, COVID-19 has accelerated strategies — like cutting print days, corporate consolidation, or even closing down offices — that publishers had hoped could wait a while longer.
The coronavirus pandemic is proving the value of local news to millions of readers, driving up subscriptions. But the advertising collapse is knee-buckling. “If it’s a couple of months, we’ll make it through. If it’s six months, all bets are off.”
The multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act should extend a lifeline to many small local publishers. But for bigger companies and chains, the help they’ll receive is still up in the air — “It’s very unformed.”
It’s generated controversy over its fundraising, its paywall, and its staffing. But it’s also about as close as a major American city has gotten to a digital news site that can go toe-to-toe with the local daily newspaper.
Will Chatham Asset Management, the hedge fund set to gain control of the company, want to operate it after bankruptcy? Or will it look to cash out via merger as quickly as possible?
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: By selling to America’s worst newspaper owners, Michael Ferro ushers the vultures into Tribune." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 20 Nov. 2019. Web. 8 Aug. 2022.
APA
Doctor, K. (2019, Nov. 20). Newsonomics: By selling to America’s worst newspaper owners, Michael Ferro ushers the vultures into Tribune. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved August 8, 2022, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-by-selling-to-americas-worst-newspaper-owners-michael-ferro-ushers-the-vultures-into-tribune/
Chicago
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: By selling to America’s worst newspaper owners, Michael Ferro ushers the vultures into Tribune." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified November 20, 2019. Accessed August 8, 2022. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-by-selling-to-americas-worst-newspaper-owners-michael-ferro-ushers-the-vultures-into-tribune/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-by-selling-to-americas-worst-newspaper-owners-michael-ferro-ushers-the-vultures-into-tribune/
| title = Newsonomics: By selling to America’s worst newspaper owners, Michael Ferro ushers the vultures into Tribune
| last = Doctor
| first = Ken
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 20 November 2019
| accessdate = 8 August 2022
| ref = {{harvid|Doctor|2019}}
}}