The nation’s second-largest newspaper company had paid off most of its old debt and still generates positive cashflow. But it might head to bankruptcy anyway so investors can get paid.
What was once expected to be $200 million in annual cost savings has now grown to $400 million or more. But how much blood is left to be drawn from this stone?
The “failing” New York Times’ news operation now employs more than 1,700 journalists, up nearly 50 percent from a decade ago. It has nearly 5 million subscribers, triple its print-era peak. Now it’s preparing to up the price.
“The point is they have personality. They have character. They’re engaging, and they have really inside stuff. So, they’re more than newsletters. They are mini-brands that have events and forums around them — but the newsletter is almost the spearhead.”
With Lookout Local, our longtime news industry columnist Ken Doctor is going to apply what he’s learned to try to fill the growing void in local reporting.
The number of employees soon to be cut at the No. 1 U.S. newspaper chain is about the same number as the No. 2 chain has in total. But newsrooms should mostly be spared — for now.
What will the largest local news company need to do and be to be successful in the 2020s? Neither Gannett nor Gatehouse has offered any big vision of what that is, or could be, even fueled by new money.
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: The perils — and promises — of New Gannett." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 9 Aug. 2019. Web. 30 May. 2023.
APA
Doctor, K. (2019, Aug. 9). Newsonomics: The perils — and promises — of New Gannett. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 30, 2023, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/08/newsonomics-the-perils-and-promises-of-new-gannett/
Chicago
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: The perils — and promises — of New Gannett." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified August 9, 2019. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/08/newsonomics-the-perils-and-promises-of-new-gannett/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/08/newsonomics-the-perils-and-promises-of-new-gannett/
| title = Newsonomics: The perils — and promises — of New Gannett
| last = Doctor
| first = Ken
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 9 August 2019
| accessdate = 30 May 2023
| ref = {{harvid|Doctor|2019}}
}}
