Toph Speaks

(Toph’s note:  I’ve written on this before HERE. I have repeated a lot of things from the first time I wrote on it, but I will say it’s worth repeating. I’m not passionate about many things, but this topic gets me fired up for some reason. Maybe because I devoted so much time to it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy a real post from me. Late.)

With the continued decline of American Newspapers, I though I should revisit this. Actually, because I know you’re curious, I’ve been meaning to follow-up on it knowing what has happened to the San Francisco Chronicle. Maybe you’re not aware, but the Chronicle has eliminated its Classifieds Department and is now outsourcing to a company in Buffalo. Of course, most people are also aware that the Chron lost the opportunity to partner with Monster for their job postings and had to settle with Yahoo! Hot Jobs. Hot Jobs has no where the influence that Monster has, but as the Chronicle spun it, it’s #1 in the Bay Area. Well, I suppose that’s true if you’re not counting Craigslist. On a personal note, my department, which I served as a Senior Rep was shut down.

I’d like to just do the math, if I may, on them closing this department. My advertisers, which I cold-called and sourced on my own, were bringing in a between $80K and $120K per month. I, of course, was not making anywhere near this much annually, much less monthly. My advertisers were bringing in approximately million a year, while I was making horse poo. Granted, I got a percentage of commission out of this, but I was an inside sales rep. They did not have to reimburse me gas (which is gone to record highs), expenses or send me anywhere. On that same note, I’m incredibly sexy and have a sexy voice (feel free to find humor or truth in that… which ever you’d like. Give me a call and find out). However, it makes more sense to an organization, which is hemorrhaging money, to continue to pay for “door-to-door” salespeople.

As I’ve said before, I was in newspaper advertising for a few years before crossing over to the evil internet. I, personally, feel like newspapers give validity to the news. Granted, we’ve even seen a further shift to stories coming of the AP Wire and Reuters than ever before, but that doesn’t change my belief in them as credible news sources. The problem with the industry is that we’ve see circulation go down and advertising rates go up. This is completely killing the little guy, and no one seems to care. Mom and Pop America cannot afford to brand their companies when they can’t afford to compete. This creates a bad brand identity. When people see the paper they have ill-will towards it. Yet, it keeps raising the ad rates, giving mediocre news that is available online for free and losing customers. You realize that the average is around $300 per column inch (that’s one column across and 1 inch down). A 3 column - 7 inch ad is roughly a quarter of a page. This is a $6,300 ad for one day! How does this make sense?

While I was at the Chronicle, we had Monday morning meetings every week. These might have to of been the most depressing things I had ever been involved in. Allow me to paint a picture for you - You’re sitting amongst people who have not made their goal in months, but can’t be fired because of the union. Naturally, they have been here since the 80’s (most still dress as if it is the 80’s), and at this point are almost to the point of jumping off the building (which people have done at the Oakland Tribune). Problem is, the Chron is only 3 stories high. If they do jump, then they might actually live and it’s just not worth it. Of course, at this point, they’ve gotten rid of anyone who could make a difference or have any fresh ideas. Newspapers don’t seem to want to do anything to change their massive decline. You get introduced to the meeting with a big, “Good Morning!” For some reason, they expect you to give a boisterous return salutation and are disappointed to get a half-hearted, “Sup” in reply. These people don’t care. They’re salaries are so high, they don’t have to care. This the point when the Numbers Guy, who probably has a better title than that, proceeds to tell us that we’re down in every category across the board except internet. It was honestly both sad and comical at the same time. “National advertising is down 10%. Local advertising is down 18%. Classifieds are down 30%. Internet is up 130%.” I’m not sure how that happened, unless they forgot to count SFGate the past year, SFGate was that bad last year or they’re fudging the numbers. Now, upon hearing that do you think people wanted to go out and sell the shit out of some newspaper ads? Hell no, they wanted to figure out what this “internet” was and how they could get in on it. Keep in mind, most of them are still in the 80’s and typing the classified ads on a typewriter and sending them down a chute. This is the point when the VP of advertising gets up and begins to lay the failure of the company on the sales reps. It’s our fault that journalist are getting laid-off, you know. (Update… she quit. Go figure.)
Let’s take a look at some Editorial layoffs from around the nation (these are just from the month of January!) -

Charlotte ‘Observer’ Announces Job Cuts

Sun-Times Trims 29 in Layoffs, Buyouts

The Seattle Times cuts 86 jobs

Newspaper Editor’s Departure Is Troubling

And here’s a farewell letter from the LA Times editor that’s interesting 

My favorite thing we were told in newspaper ad sales. It’s the salespeople’s fault that the journalist are being laid off. Listen, no one respects or admires journalist more than I do. Some of my best friends are reformed journalists. One of which had to work for the most insane Bay Area daily, and had to cover a Chinese Chuck Wagon (yeah, you can read it). I understand what it takes to produce something that people read, but I also understand that it’s only half of the equation. In order for print media to work, they have to start raising the bar somewhere, right? I’ve written this 100 times, and will probably write it 100 more. The point is, isn’t there a moment when you realize that it’s just not working and you need to explore new avenues? I’m not suggesting that newspapers blow it up and start over. Actually, that’s exactly what I am suggesting. How can you still rest on what has worked in the past? Newspapers must realize that they’re not the only media anymore, and they must conform to the world around them.

The best idea I’ve seen so far was when I was working at The Dallas Morning News and they introduced the Quick publication. Check out the website, and realize that it’s produced by Belo. It’s a daily that takes TDMN and breaks it down into shorter, quicker stories. Sure, you’re not getting the hard hitting journalism a national powerhouse newspaper is delivering, but people are actually reading. Why not succumb to the fact that people want their news in their RSS, and your subscriptions will be based on showing up in their reader? With Quick, you’re putting your publication in the hands of young people. Last time I checked young people become old people with money and education. People with money and education are still subscribing to newspapers. You know what? They’re also getting their news online when they get to work. Why not be the first thing they read. Quick is free and has full color. It’s the same with the Examiner here. Free! How have newspapers not hired street teams to pass the paper out at every bus stop, train station, in front of every gym and Starbucks. Where are the advertisements?! I’m almost positive I haven’t seen a Chronicle advertisement outside of the Chronicle since I moved here. This is the heart of the tech world! Shouldn’t they be able to find people who can solve their online problems? Their advertising problems?

I realized things weren’t going to change when Old Crazy still worked at the Chron. We’ll call him Old Crazy because… well… he was a crazy dude, but he wanted to fix the paper. Problem was no one wanted to listen. He gathered ideas and took them to the publisher only to be told they were ridiculous. Granted, Old Crazy had some ridiculous ideas, but he had some good ones, too. I read a story this morning that basically said (and I paraphrase), old school advertising practices are outdated. Here’s why: Seeing a return on investment in a much faster pace allows for you to spend more money, because you’re making it back. Essentially, this allows you to never stop advertising or coming up with new ideas, because you’re gain back (or finding what works and what doesn’t much faster) the money you’re spending. Newspapers are pretty much the only form of media who hasn’t grasped how to take control of this. I’m sorry I can’t provide you with a link, but the logic is pretty practical that you understand. I spend mone, I want to know how much it earned me. You spend money to make money. You don’t spend money and think, “I hoped that worked. How about I spend another $6,300 and see what happens!”

How has old media not caught on to this practice? What point do you realize you’re on a sinking ship and something must be done to correct it? How many questions can I leave you with before I just hit publish and start talking about hot chicks again?!