One of my local newspapers, the Mercury News in San Jose, ran an above-the-fold, front-page article from an editor asking readers to please, pleeeeeease help them figure out how they can stay in business.
Full disclosure: I hate the Mercury News, and if it folds, it's okay with me. I hate them because they have a political agenda which often clashes with my own. For instance, I am a poker dealer, and the Merc is loudly anti-gambling. My reply to them had to do with closing the editorial bureau and concentrating solely on the news. Let me decide who/what I want to vote for, k?
The game has changed: recently, the world watched the riots in Iran on their cell phones. They read the details on twitter, grassroot reporting from the people who were there to see for themselves. Governments hated it as much as the newspapers did.
Want to see an outdated business model? Want to know why Moody's has downgraded newspaper stocks?
No problem: 14% of a newspaper's operating costs is spent creating content... the principle reason people buy the paper. 16% goes toward advertising... the principle source of revenue. That leaves a whopping 70% spent on production, circulation, and corporate expenses... the principle reason I will have the last laugh on the Mercury News... whose demise I will read about in the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle.
_
