Impoverished Newspapers Can't Afford To Cover Campaigns Anymore

Henry Blodget | March 26, 2008 2:02 PM

goingoutofbusiness.jpgThe knockdown drag-out Democratic primary is putting the screws to more camps than Hillary Clinton's. Much of the beleaguered newspaper industry can now only afford to cover the campaign from afar. NYT:

Among the newspapers that have chosen not to dispatch reporters to cover the two leading Democratic candidates on a regular basis are USA Today, the nation’s largest paper, as well as The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer (at least until the Pennsylvania primary, on April 22, began to loom large).

But wait: If newspapers have to scrimp and save on reporters, doesn't that make them more similar to the emerging media powerhouses they love to hate--blogs?

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24 Comments

Fabrice Grinda (URL) said:
And irony of irony, blogs, especially tech blogs (Engadget, TechCrunch, etc.) are becoming more like traditional news companies - hiring journalists, releasing articles on a pre-determined schedule, focusing on revenues, etc.
Henry Blodget said:
Horrors!
RNL (URL) said:
Role reversal. Livebloggers go to events, news outlets read the blogs to get content!
Peter Kafka said:
I'm gloomy about paper cutbacks in general, but this is a good one. As the article points out, there's almost no benefit to sending out reporters in a pack to cover the same thing. The main upside (theoretically) is for the reporters themselves, who supposedly get a leg up with White House coverage if their candidate wins.
Dan Miller said:
And without a traditional news outlet like the NYT to point to, your page-views come from where?
Henry Blodget said:
Let's see:

Direct
Google
Yahoo
Techmeme
Approx 800 Blogs
Huffington Post
AOL
etc.
biz_reporter said:
The sad truth is, the New York Times Co. is so stuck in the past that the Globe is using Reuters and AP copy to cover the campaign rather than sharing the Times' coverage. The only way for newspaper publishers to remain viable is to share newsroom resources from across the company. In other words, the Times and the Globe could not only share Washington coverage, but also International news, business news and TV and movie reviews. Let the Boston newsroom cover all things New England, and the national/international content come from the Times. Sure, some Bostonians would cry foul, but its in the best interest of the company -- especially if it makes the business profitable. Maybe some of those guys from Harbinger will help the Times Co. realize content should be shared.
Gordon said:
sam zell timed the sale of his real estate perfectly bought he bought a pig of a sector when he bought newspapers.

p.s. this logon/post procedure is draconian.
Henry Blodget said:
Gordon, thanks--sorry. We're working on the logon.
Rachel Sterne (URL) said:
Interesting-- on Friday we're hosting a panel on How the Internet/New Media is Changing Politics-- nothing has revealed this paradigm shift more than the traditional and 'citizen journalist' coverage of the 2008 elections.

Event info here: http://journo.meetup.com/69/calendar/7135448/
Dan Miller said:
>>Let's see:

>>Direct
>>Google
>>Yahoo
>>Techmeme
>>Approx 800 Blogs
>>Huffington Post
>>AOL


And who of them had this story independent of the NYT? I'd like to see you--or any of them--go a week without linking (directly or indirectly) to a story that didn't originate in a "traditional" news organization.
Henry Blodget said:
A lot of the blogs do break news, including ours. But don't get me wrong--I love the NYT. I just wouldn't want to be in their business.
Bjorn Tipling (URL) said:
"We're working on the logon."

Do you guys have an engineer, or do you contract out? Agency?
Marah Marie (URL) said:
Please please fix the captcha. I'm failing almost every first captcha I type in. I have to wonder how many readers don't bother commenting at all over it. If I wasn't already completely crack-addicted to SAI I wouldn't keep putting myself through this.

Time to go fail my captcha - again...

Edit: and sure enough, I just failed it. Let's see how this one goes...geez, SAI.
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