The New Orleans Times-Picayune's decision to
return to daily publication, reversing (sort of, in a way) its disastrous move
a year ago to print a paper only three days a week, is being described by some
observers as a salvo in an escalating newspaper war. The Advocate of Baton
Rouge has invested big in covering New Orleans since the Times-Picayune's
retreat. That paper is publishing a New Orleans edition, and it has hired a
bunch of journalists away from the hometown paper, including some big names. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer has resumed publishing
a newsstand edition on Saturdays after halting Saturday publication about two
years ago. "This daily newspaper thing may be catching on," wrote
David Carr in the New York Times' on Sunday.
"The much ballyhooed unmaking of daily newspapering seems to be
unmaking itself." Well, not really. Though the moves are certainly positive
ones, it's much too early to conclude that daily newspapers are back, or even a
quarter of the way back (of course, Carr knows this, as he makes clear). What
some publishers seem to be realizing is that, for now at least, the only way to
make any money with local and regional news covered by large staffs is by
printing newspapers. Online ads sell for a tiny fraction of what print ads
generate. Of course, circulation and print-ad sales are generally falling, too,
but it's clear that, at the moment, most newspapers need to stick with print
until they can figure out how to make money online, if there is a way.
