Summary
Article is extremely relevant as it address the current climate for newspapers. There is still life left, but much change is needed.
Analysis
Mr. Louis is right on with his comments and observations about Gannett as well as the newspaper industry as a whole. The long term picture is less than promising, we've known of this for quite some time now. But, there should be no doubt surrounding the relevancy of newspapers for both readers and advertisers. Circulations and ad revenue are down, unfortunately the industry as a whole has been a little late to the party regarding emerging technologies. Blame it on the fact most papers have been fat and jolly with almost an entitlement regarding advertising. For way too long publishers have been conditioned to wait for insertion orders to come in rather than providing advertisers with much needed marketing research and support. We all are to blame for this; retailers, automotive indusrty, real estate developers, etc. Rather than challenge the newspapers to be true marketing partners they have been content to fax them insertion order after insertion order without any thought of true accountability or ROI.
