THE industry trade magazine, E&P, announced Dec. 10 it was being shuttered by year’s end.
Yes, this year. 2009. A few short weeks.
The magazine has since announced it will publish its January issue, but anything beyond that is uncertain.
Nielsen Business Media, which owned E&P and more than a few other titles, sold several of its publications to another company, but oddly, E&P was not included in this sale.
News of its closing, not just in print, but also online, reverberated through the newspaper industry quick – and hard.
Now, in all fairness, E&P has been waning in recent years. The printed product got smaller and smaller. But, it was E&P.
Editor & Publisher has been a destination for journalists for decades. Tracing its roots to 1884, this was the magazine for editors, reporters, publishers, ad directors and anyone else interested in the true state of the media.
From policy changes to in-depth reports about the state of affairs in the mediaspace, E&P was the place to go.
But, the times, they are a-changin'. The same story that has hit community newspapers hit E&P. Too many other online destinations for information. News executives who have too much to do and too little time to do it, resulting in few hours devoted to advancing the craft of journalism.
And, of course, hacked apart budgets resulting in fewer paid subscriptions. When I was a young pup in the newsroom, my newspaper used to have many subscriptions.
In recent years, there was one. Shared by managers and cherished by the executive editor.
Sad, but a reality of life.
E&P’s staff holds out high hopes that the product will return in some way, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. As newspapers have learned, it takes a good amount of revenue to pay for solid reporting and good copy.
The thoughts of copy bring up another sad headline. The folks in Westchester, N.Y., know a thing or two about good copy.
I’m speaking of good copy coming off Westchester’s press line, where sadly in early 2010, the press will stop.
Gannett announced recently it would be shutting down the The Journal News’ press and packaging facility and transferring printing and inserting to a plant in New Jersey. At the cost of 166 jobs in Westchester, and more importantly, the loss of the newspaper’s soul.
Yes, at the heart of every newspaper is the print and packaging plant. The journalists write, the sales reps sell, but the heart of the newspaper is the beast that prints it.
The press. Monolithic. Loud. Smelly. Cantankerous. But, a newspaper press.
Awe-inspiring when it’s running and the lifeblood of a local community. Truly a remarkable beast.
But, also an expensive one. With newspaper profits slipping further and further every day, publishers and corporate executives have no choice but to look at ways to make the process more efficient. I mean, after all, it is a business.
But perhaps a business whose expectations are too high.
Could a newspaper company not accept the fact that its margins are too high? Could a newspaper company accept a few percentage points less profit per page? I don’t know. I am certainly not an accountant or a CFO.
I’m just a newspaper guy who hates to see the local printing plant shut down.
And, lastly, what I don’t have sympathy for is Newspapers First.
Newspapers First is a national sales machine for most major media companies. They visit clients and try to get national ad dollars into newspapers. At one time, they were formidable. At one time, they were relevant.
Not any longer. In November, Newspapers First announced it was going to have to re-organize in order to survive. And, as of now, that reorg may end up being a fire sale of what assets the company has.
You see, the McClatchy Company announced earlier this month it was pulling out of Newspapers First, which leaves a huge void for the vendor to fill. Newspapers pay a fee to Newspapers First in order to have them act as the agent of the newspaper. Trouble is, fewer national advertisers are seeing the value of spending the big bucks newspapers want for national advertising.
To be fair, Newspapers First is telling its client newspapers it’s still a viable sales force. And they’re saying all the right things to quell anxious ad directors.
But the truth remains that national advertisers are seeing little value in local newspapers – except for huge sales or local events. McClatchy is one of the first major players to pull out of a national sales process. And with good reason – why pay Newspapers First for business that can’t be landed anyway.
Nope, the local advertising pool is where the future is. Trouble is, it takes a whole lot of 2x5 ads to make up the revenue lost from one full-page Macy’s ad.
So, what does this mean? Well, for most newspapers it means nothing. The national sales process used by Newspapers First should have gone away a long time ago.
The revenue impact at the newspaper level will be minimal, but the national impact is pretty big. Cause if Newspapers First goes under, my heavens, what’s next?
