Newspapers are getting thinner and thinner

[Syrinx]

I know a lot of it is that there are fewer ads in this down economy. But it seems to me that they are cutting way down on content. Isn't that going to be to their long-term detriment. It's gotten to the point that, when I buy a newspaper, it's mostly for the crossword puzzle.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

1. that's what I say in the newsroom

but they don't listen to me

no one buys it so they cut ads, which cuts content - which leads to no one buying it

[Syrinx]

3. keep up the fight!

:hi:

[abluelady]

10. THEY Don't Cut Ads

Businesses aren't advertising. It isn't like which comes first--the chicken or the egg. Without advertising the paper can't be printed. Unfortunately, it isn't news or crossword puzzles that will keep a paper alive. It is ads and the baby boomer generation. Without the two of them, there won't be newspapers.

[hobbit709]

2. We got a free Sunday paper last week

Trying to get us to subscribe. It was smaller than the Wednesday paper when I used to deliver that fishwrap back in the 90's. Hardly any ads of any kind, including the classifieds.

[Syrinx]

4. yeah, that's weird

I've noticed that too. The classified section is a shadow of its former self. From something like 16 pages to three. :shrug:

[LiberalEsto]

8. That's because of Craigslist and ad prices

Newspaper classifieds are way too expensive. Our local paper charges over $35 for a yard sale ad, so we stopped buying ads for our yard sales years ago. Instead, we put up lots of big signs and place a notice on Craigslist for free.

Another reason is that there just aren't many jobs left to advertise.

[sandyj999]

5. Detroit Papers are so thin we only get them delivered three times a week.

You can read them online the other days but that is a real pain and not worth the effort. I only subscribe now because it's too expensive to buy cage liners for all my bird cages.

[summer borealis]

6. Oh, but the insipid feature pages

... about mother's day recipes are probably still there.
Just cut the news.

[Buzz Clik]

7. Ours cut the content by 30% three years ago.

They are now down to 50% of where they were before the original cut.

We take the paper mostly out of habit -- the amount of information they give us is quite limited.

[tularetom]

9. You can do the puzzles online

And not have the paper to throw out later.

[Captain Hilts]

11. The collapse of automobile ads has helped. The Wash Post was too fat. nt

[trof]

12. Ours went narrower.

It's now about 2/3rds as wide as before.
But the number of foreclosure ads takes up 3-4 pages.

[Jane Eyre]

13. Charlotte Observer price went up today too

If you want to buy a copy of the daily paper on the street, it will now cost you 75 cents instead of 50 cents. The Sunday paper went up 25 cents too.

It's now owned by McClatchy. The leveraged buyouts of the last couple decades haven't helped either. The business model now is focused on managing the burdensome debt. Feature articles tend to be national rather than local, same with national news and editorials.

[-..__...]

14. The only times I ever buy a newspaper...

is if there's a clipping article or picture I want to save.

Other than that... I read the online versions (the Boston Globe is the first website I check in the morning).