Dead Tree News Organizations Having A Bad Day; Trees Rejoice

from the just-saying dept

It's not a good day for traditional newspapers, apparently. On the same day, both the NY Times and Knight Ridder's newspapers in Philadelphia have announced substantial layoffs, admitting that the world has not treated their business models kindly. Interesting to note that this comes just a day after the NY Times locked up their columnists' content behind a paywall -- which still seems likely to do more harm than good. While some people will pay, and the NY Times will claim that it makes money, it's a strategic mistake. It makes them less relevant since it takes them out of the overall discussion -- meaning that it has much less value just as they're charging more for it. Either way, it seems like both organizations have reacted slowly to the internet. While both are making bigger efforts now (the NYT with this new plan as well as the About.com acquisition, and KR with a variety of online efforts and investments, including things like Topix.net), it's still looking like they were too slow to realize their existing models needed a serious update a few years ago.

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