New Year, same problems

As the new year began, the litany of problems in the newspaper industry seemed only to accelerate. Familiar media chains facing mountains of debts and nearing bankruptcy. Others cutting back on staff of benefits like contributions to 401(k)s for their employees. Still more migrating toward the Web and away from print.

But it doesn't point to the death of an industry, just some very rapid and jarring changes.

This paragraph from Adam Reilly's Dec. 30 blog in the Boston Phoenix puts it pretty well:

"But the term "newspaper" has another meaning, too: it's an organization staffed with men and women who report and analyze the news for the public. Newspapers in this sense aren't about to go extinct. They are being reinvented, however. And judging from the almost unthinkable changes that transpired on the media landscape this past year — particularly over the past few months — this reinvention will reach unprecedented heights in 2009, with once-sacrosanct forms and practices being abruptly jettisoned and new models and methods assuming starring roles. As with biological evolution, some of this change will be beautiful, some of it will be ugly, and some of it will just . . . be."

The midsize daily I work for is for sale, and all indications are that a sale will be completed early this year. We don't know who the purchaser may be, but I certainly expect some changes.

One media expert quoted in Reilly's column said the first thing he would do if he took the reins of a midsize daily would be to cut staff severely, then hire people back or hire new people as additional revenue made that possible. That certainly makes sense from a business standpoint, but it emphasizes the cringe factor for those of us awaiting a sale.

Bottom line for 2009: The industry will continue to evolve rapidly this year, but most newspapers will survive in some form. I'm not sure whether my job will.