MediaNews predicts 20 percent internet revenue gain by 2012

MediaNews Group, Inc., owner and publisher of the Oakland Tribune, the Denver Post and more than 50 daily and 35 non-daily newspapers plans to grow its web revenue by 20 percent over the next 5 years. The company has already began to consolidate and localize staff by cutting editorial jobs and combining printer and newsgathering efforts within specific locals.

”We have to find ways to grow revenue or become more efficient by eliminating fixed costs,” Lodovic said. “Why does every newspaper need copy editors? In this day and age, I think copy-editing can be done centrally for several newspapers.”

MediaNews plans to “attract young readers” through web sites that cater to them while relying on services, such as those provided by Yahoo! to streamline advertising initiatives for both print and web markets.

”The Internet is a small piece now, but obviously it’s growing at a faster rate than the print side,” Lodovic said. “The print side is struggling right now. Some of that is cyclical and some of that is not, but in the next five years we don’t see print growing.”

Read the full article, “Singleton’s MediaNews Plans to Triple Web Revenue (Update1).”

The Oakland Tribune, Now and Then

In today’s column Ghosts of newspaper’s past haunt Oakland’s Trib, Al Martinez revisits his old stomping ground. The Tribune, during its prime, was one of the most successful publications on the West Coast. However, times have changed. Staff has been cut, buildings have been abandoned and subscription rates have fallen, leaving the Tribune with the same problems that many in the industry are currently facing.

As I was reading Martinez’ column, I became entranced with the glamour of what the industry used to be like. His descriptions of journalists working with local law enforcement reminded me of a scene from Dick Tracy. Has journalism changed that much over the past few decades? Is there still passion in the industry on the local level? Are today’s readers bored of current trends?

We were a brotherhood of young lions back then, working hard through a half-dozen deadlines a day and drinking hard at the Hollow Leg, a bar across the street. The Leg ceased to exist years ago, after Nels the bartender died, taking the policy of every-third-drink-free with him. He left me his dog, a white German Shepherd named Pooh.