Paper Cuts

In case you were wondering and worrying about the fate of U.S. newspapers, keep an eye on this blog: Paper Cuts by Erica Smith, a journalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  According to Smith’s research, in 2010 alone, almost 1,900 newspaper jobs were eliminated and/or lost to layoffs and buyouts.

The blog monitors recent job cuts and newspaper closings, and you can submit job cuts and newspaper closings that you know of as well. Keep it bookmarked.

The Blog Shaping the Future of the Newspaper, quoted Paper Cuts, saying that since 2008, 166 newspapers in the United States have been shut or stopped publishing a print edition. So far this year, more than 18 newspapers have folded or stopped their print editions. The numbers are based on a report titled “Million Dollar Strategies for Newspapers,” published by the World Association of Newspapers. The losses were mainly caused by a steep decline in ad revenues, fueled by the Great Recession.

According to the German press service, PressText, the US newspaper crisis has cost 35,000 journalists their jobs. German newspapers fare much better, according to PressText: In Germany, newspapers are only up to 50% financed by advertisements and the rest of the revenue comes from subscriptions and newsstand sales.

Seventy percent of adult Germans still read newspapers — far less than among Americans.

European Newspapers In Much Better Shape

“The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based group of wealthy free-market democracies, has examined the state of the news business in the 31 O.E.C.D. member states and the kinds of bailouts that are under way or up for discussion. One thing that comes across starkly in the report is just how much worse the newspaper business is faring in the United States than in other O.E.C.D. countries. From 2007 to 2009, industry revenue fell 30 percent in the United States; the second-biggest decline was 21 percent, in Britain. Countries like Germany (down 10 percent), South Korea (down 6 percent), Australia (down 3 percent) and Austria (down a mere 2 percent) fared better. So did France, which posted a decline of 3 percent, though from an already low level.” (via the European Journalism Center)

More on this can be found in this New York Times article “Preserving Journalism, if Not Papers” (June 13, 2010). And read more here on the OECD’s upcoming  government discussion session on the Future of News. Last year’s coverage can be found on the editorsweblog: “Looking at the future of news at the OECD (2009)“

The picture shows how typical  newspaper stands — in the US and in Europe — looked like in 1935. Those days are definitely gone.

Paid vs. Free in Germany

“While daily newspaper circulation in the United States fell 27 percent from 1998 through 2008, it slipped 19 percent in Germany. While fewer than half of Americans read newspapers, more than 70 percent of Germans do.[...] Instead of focusing on journalism, U.S. newspapers also made unwise investments in new media and compounded the damage by giving away their contents free on the Internet.”

Media News – European Journalism Centre

Manga Newspapers

Young Japanese shun newspapers, but they can now read online Manga newspapers (Manga No Shimbun) that distill serious news into bite-size comic strips.

How about a U.S. version, featuring the oil spill in the Gulf and a drowning Donald Duck? Sad but possible.

And just as I thought: Manga No Shimbun soon in English. Don’t miss the comments under the blog post and run for cover…

And here’s the real deal in Japanese: 漫画の新聞 マンガで読むニュース

Global Journalists On Journalism

World Press Review’s website [my former employer, when it still published a print edition] has a compelling special report on global journalists musing about journalism in their countries. “In countries around the world, independent journalists risk jail, injury, and death to get the story out.” Must read.

A Worldpress.org Special Report – Journalists on Journalism – Worldpress.org