« Half the Country Can't Afford Health Care?? | Main | Giant Steps» Russell Roberts
November 30, 2004
Monopoly Power?
Russell Roberts
The Washington Post reports that nationwide newspaper readership is down:
The key chart is the second one. Circulation has fallen from almost 80% of the adult population in 1970 to barely over 50% today.
Of course there are many reasons for this decline. The most obvious one is the rise of alternative sources for news and information—cable television, free suburban papers and more recently the Internet.
But there is perhaps another reason, the complacency of the newspapers and the failure to understand the nature of their competition. Since 1970, a lot of evening newspapers have folded leaving many cities with only a single newspaper. I suspect the lone survivor of those newspaper wars saw itself as a monopolist. After all, there was only one newspaper in town. Yet there was always plenty of competition from other media outlets. Newspapers that act as if they are the only game in town are unlikely to thrive.
When I saw these data, I was reminded of a recent story in the Washington Post describing an internal meeting that was to focus on the decline in daily circulation at the Post, a 10% decline over the last two years. But the meeting took an unexpected twist as the opening of the article reports:
Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. met with hundreds of newsroom staffers yesterday to outline management's latest attempts to combat declining circulation. However, the more intense discussion at the meeting involved diversity at the newspaper, as several minority staff members lamented that a white man recently was chosen over a woman and a black man as the paper's new managing editor.
Further on in the article, we see that the Post does care something about diversity:
Downie told staffers that the paper has made strides to increase newsroom diversity in recent years, and said that of the paper's 30 to 40 top editors, "white males are in the minority." But he said the paper needs to hire more minorities and to improve its coverage of the area's increasingly diverse population.
Downie and Bennett will hold a meeting to address diversity issues early next month.
Diversity probably is a good thing, but maybe they ought to hold a meeting on how to improve the paper and sell more copies. Otherwise, all those minority hires will have to find work elsewhere.
Posted by Russell Roberts in Competition | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834518ccc69e200d834577ebd69e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Monopoly Power?:
» And the Pendulum Swings... from Law, Legislation, and Lunacy
Just a little reminder of the lost priorities in this country. [Read More]
Tracked on Nov 30, 2004 9:01:46 PM
» Wednesday's Daily News from The Club for Growth Blog
If The Economy’s So Bad, Why Is It So Good? - L. Kudlow Personal Accounts, not Benefit Cuts - P. Ferrara, Wash Times Democrats Need an Ownership Agenda - A. Cherny, TNR A New Index for Social Security - J.... [Read More]
Tracked on Dec 1, 2004 10:12:29 AM
» The Legacy Media: Macro and Microeconomics from Ed Driscoll.com
Macroeconomics: Virginia Postrel, William Bennett and Russell Roberts explain why the MSM is rapidly becoming a legacy media. Microeconomics: Glenn Reynolds explains what it means for libel law when everyone is a potential pundit.... [Read More]
Tracked on Dec 6, 2004 8:12:52 PM
» The Legacy Media: Macro and Microeconomics from Ed Driscoll.com
Macroeconomics: Virginia Postrel, William Bennett and Russell Roberts explain why the MSM is rapidly becoming a legacy media. Microeconomics: Glenn Reynolds explains what it means for libel law when everyone is a potential pundit. Update: Speaking of m... [Read More]
Tracked on Dec 6, 2004 11:36:18 PM
» Full Albums Archive from MP3 Album Finder
Enter Artist or Song or Album name to search: ... Download VA - –усска€ коллекци€ 4 «олотой шл€гер 70 х (1973 1979) mp3 ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 5, 2006 2:36:21 PM
» Auto Search: 1938 buick 47 from Online Auto Guise
Search and Compare Certified Pre-Owned Cars. Car Shopping Tools and Advice · 2006 Auto Shows · New York Auto Show Check out 2007 models and cool concepts ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 27, 2006 5:15:06 PM
» Jerusalem's Fall, Division and Liberation from than walk in
change whenever necessary, as we experienced with our "first love" and initial conversion? What [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 29, 2006 3:13:07 AM
» Library of Congress WWW/Z39.50 Gateway from Harvard Seismology: Centroid Moment Tensor Catalog
Contents: Search Library of Congress Catalog | Search Other Catalogs | About the Z39.50 ... Library of Congress Online Catalog. Simple Search (any keyword) ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 30, 2006 12:09:55 AM
» Jewelry Shop from Jewelry making, Tips from The Jeweler's bench - Jewelry making
The Gem and Jewelry World's foremost Resource on The Internet. ... The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography. Add Ganoksin Power Search to your website ...
[Read More]
Tracked on May 20, 2006 3:42:27 AM
» Italian Charms from ItalianCharms -- Search results
Italian charms has stainless links from companies by Zoppini, Boxing, ReFlorence, Puzzle, Ryry, Talexia & Unodomani... [Read More]
Tracked on May 21, 2006 9:08:29 PM
» Got a minute? New York Minute Film Festival Wants Your 60-Second Masterpiece from Video Storytelling
Celebrates the Art of Rapid-fire Video Storytelling (PRWEB May 15, 2006)
Trackback URI: http://www.prweb.com/dingpr.php/U3VtbS1Qcm9mLVByb2YtRmFsdS1IYWxmLVplcm8=
[Read More]
Tracked on May 27, 2006 1:21:26 PM
» Saving Lives With a Straw from Provides Clean
Provides Clean Water to the Millions Across the World Who Don't Have It [Read More]
Tracked on May 29, 2006 5:56:02 AM
» Le Batard: Miami Heats Up at Right Time from Le Batard in
of a basketball court. ... That's where you could find more joy per square foot than anywhere in [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 10, 2006 10:44:12 AM
» Al-Zarqawi's assassination won't stop bloodshed / But it could change the face of insurgency from Iraq's most wanted
- Hours after U.S. warplanes killed Iraq's most wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, two bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad, indicating [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 11, 2006 11:22:00 PM
» Moving Toward Mash-Ups from Web developers
developers increasingly embrace the mash-up, government IT officials examine the pros and cons. [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2006 1:00:16 PM
» In Baghdad, a Show of Solidarity -- and Force from surprise visit,
a counterinsurgency crackdown will try to sustain the momentum following Zarqawi's [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2006 9:38:54 PM
» Country Weekly names Urban sexiest man
(AP)
from is country musics
sexiest man, according to a reader poll to be released Friday in Country Weekly. [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 20, 2006 6:28:37 PM
