Suchergebnisse

Debate over newspaper profits centers on whether earnings are emphasized at the expense of journalistic quality. However, studies of newspaper profitability have used varying measures. This study uses economic theory to develop a long-run standard for comparison of newspaper profits. Profits earned by fifteen publicly-owned newspaper companies during an eleven-year period are compared to publishing company profits and to yields from government and corporate bonds. The comparisons show that average newspaper company profits could be considered excessive. Suggestions are made for refinement of the measures developed here.

Contrary to the general impression of the daily newspaper industry as a dying industry, data from 1987 to 2003 showed an industry in transition. Although 305 newspapers ceased daily publication during this period, 64% of these newspapers continued to serve their markets as weeklies, merged dailies, or zoned editions. The 111 dailies that went out of business were offset by sixty-three dailies that started publication. In effect, the newspaper industry lost service in forty-eight markets during seventeen years.

This study explores the structure of news media brand personality across multiple media outlets including television network news, newspapers, and news magazines. Through a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures with an initial set of 229 personality traits that were reduced to the final set of forty-eight items, we found five brand personality dimensions that can be applicable to news media: Trustworthiness, Dynamism, Sincerity, Sophistication, and Toughness. Practical implications for media brand management are discussed.

This exploratory study examines the relationship between private ownership of dailies and the number of weekly newspapers and weekly penetration in non-metropolitan counties. These data indicate private ownership is associated with fewer weeklies in a county, a result consistent with economic theory that suggests private dailies may create barriers to entry for weeklies through nonaggressive pricing strategies and investment in newsroom quality.