An insider’s take on the state of the media industry
CLAUDIA-TERESA POU – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE
Bloomberg reported that the collapse of the U.S. newspaper industry is accelerating as a significant drop in advertising forces publishers to consider curtailing print editions or shutting down altogether.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will shut down or appear only on the Internet, unless its parent company can find a buyer for it by March. The Tucson Citizen in Arizona will close also if it can’t be sold. Denver’s Rocky Mountain News is up for sale and Detroit’s two dailies have cut their publishing schedule, according to the article.
In addition, The New York Times defended itself earlier this month after The Atlantic declared that The Time’s print edition might be dead in May, according to The Daily Beast. The website says The Times argues that it is not confronted with the same debt that damaged Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company, and is trying to take advantage of all is competitors’ cutbacks.
These problems are by no means individual to the newspaper industry. Layoffs and cutbacks are rampant in television and radio newsrooms across the country.
In Chicago, news producers, writers and editors at WMAQ-TV, Ch. 5 must reapply for new multi-faceted positions, according to the Chicago Tribune. The new jobs are not just for internal candidates but also for outsiders at well. ABC News also cut 35-40 staffers last month.
So in light of all the hardship the media industry has had to face, I decided to sit down with a general manager and talk to him about the fate of the industry, layoffs and the business in general.
Marv Nyren is the regional vice president of Emmis Communications and general manager of Q 101.1 and 97.9 the Loop. In the video, you’ll see some of the highlights of our conversation.
An insider’s take on the state media industry from Medill Money Mavens on Vimeo
Tags: 97.9 the Loop, Emmis Communications, layoffs, Marv Nyren, media industry, media layoffs, newspapers, Q101.1, recession
