A Bold Transformation
Yesterday, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, both part of the Detroit Media Partnership (DMP), announced plans to cut delivery days and reduce workforce by 9 percent. All in all, it wasn’t a pretty day for Detroit media and the newspaper industry as a whole.
Here are some of the points from the DMP news conference:
· The Freep will deliver Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The paper will be available on newsstands seven days a week.
· The News will deliver on Thursday and Friday. The paper does not have a Sunday paper, and will be on newsstands the other six days per week.
· Approximately 200 employees will be laid off. Currently, no newsroom positions are in danger of being cut.
Initially, I think the readership for non-delivery days will significantly decrease as people adjust to not reading a hard copy of their paper at breakfast. A decrease in readership and circulation means a decrease in cost to advertisers. Hopefully, that traffic will transition to the online versions. It would be wishful thinking to think that all traffic will move directly online, especially considering not everyone has access to the Internet. However, these newspapers will have their work cut out for them and will hopefully be able to weather initial losses brought on with these transitions.
It’s hard for me to think this is a good thing, but it’s just as hard to think of the situation negatively. These newspapers have not profitable in recent years. They’re also inevitably attached to the auto industry, and we all know the current turmoil with the Big 3.
Also, according to the comments made during the press conference, other (unnamed) newspapers have been looking into similar models. I can’t see the huge papers like the USA Today, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal adopting it, but the limited regional papers may be among those considering it.
The biggest question on PR people’s minds has to be how these changes will impact media relations with each newspaper. As of now, I’m thinking that it will be a smooth transition. The news staff will still be busy and PR people will still have to be smart, if not smarter about media relations. Especially since (tentatively) there will be no newsroom cuts, the quality and value of publications will be there.
Just like the auto industry, this is a time for change in newspapers. Their audiences are moving online. Even so, I’m glad to see such a bold plan. It reflects a turbulent and constantly changing market, but it also shows how an industry can adapt. Newspapers are essential in a democracy, so keep reading them – in print and on the Web.
