There appears to be a crisis of confidence running through the North
American newspaper market, with both U.S. and Mexican papers experiencing
severe financial difficulties.
Recent reports indicate that leading U.S. newspaper executives will meet
during the last week of June in New
York to discuss ways to persuade wavering investors not to take
their funds elsewhere.
Conspicuously, Wall Street Journal publisher Dow
Jones & Co. Inc. is expected to skip the meeting, as rumor
fly that it will be bought out by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The newspaper industry is struggling financially as advertisers and readers
flee print for the Internet. Unfortunately, newspaper's online revenue
growth, while still considerable, has slowed from its rapid pace earlier
in the decade. Some industry experts posit that newspapers have been behind
in the overall growth rate for Internet advertising for the last several
years.
The majority of newspapers' online revenue comes from an up-sell of print
classifieds, and this year real estate classifieds — an area of tremendous
growth in 2005 and 2006 — have fallen sharply, by about 15 percent.
Automotive and employment classifieds continue to decline at roughly 10
percent a year. Thus, even in a period of deep staff cuts and very affordable
newsprint prices, the U.S. newspaper industry, as a whole, is showing declines
in earnings, profit margins and earnings per share. The problems appear to be even worse in neighboring Mexico, with The
Herald Mexico, a daily English-language newspaper published in Mexico
City suspending publication on June 1. 'Economic considerations' was the
reason given for the paper's closure.
The Herald was established in Feb. of 2003, one month after a
Mexican-owned English-language daily, The Mexico City News, closed
its doors after 53 years of publication. The Herald was a joint
venture between The Miami Herald of Miami, FL, and El Universal,
a popular Spanish-language newspaper also published in Mexico City.
In a 'good-bye' notice on the front page of the Thursday, May 31 edition, the
paper expressed its appreciation to loyal readers and supporters. Addressing
the closure, the notice said: "The newspaper industry worldwide is
currently going through important changes. In many instances, economic
pressures have forced publications to go under or make drastic changes
to stay afloat. The Herald Mexico is no exception. "
However, the farewell notice left the door open for a possible comeback in
the future by stating: "There is a definite need for an English-language
publication in Mexico that serves expats, tourists and Mexicans who either speak
or want to perfect their English. We hope this message will not be a definitive
adiós."
According to a report in Mexico's Guadalajara Reporter, the Herald's
management is currently putting out feelers for a new publishing partner.
Following the theme of troubled newspapers, another Mexican daily recently
closed its doors, though for far different reasons. The Cambio Sonora
newspaper ceased operations indefinitely on Friday, May 25, due to fear
of attacks by drug cartels.
The newspaper suffered from two grenade attacks on its headquarters in the
northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, capital of the state of Sonora. The
Cambio owners blame the government of Governor Eduardo Bours Castelo
for lack of support after he refused to ensure that local law enforcement
monitored the neighborhood.
Sonora, which borders Arizona,
has recently seen fierce battles between police and drug gangs.
|