Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Hmm …

Journalists Make Rotten Businessmen - Just Ask These Two - Forbes. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

My experience of the business side of journalism is that the people in charge spend too much time trying to attract new readers. So, when seeking to economize, they usually decide that book coverage can be cut, because the readers they seek to attract aren't interested in books, forgetting that the people who are interested in books tend to be interested in reading other things as well. In this city, on Sunday's, The Inquirer's principal competition is the New York Times, in large part because the Times still has a stand-alone book section. But that section — for which I once wrote — is a shadow of its former self. The Inquirer could easily and inexpensively put out a competitive counterpart. 

2 comments:

  1. "Journalists make terrible businessmen. They’d rather spend money than make it, fill valuable space with words and pictures instead of lucrative advertising and their leadership skills leave a lot to be desired."

    Why would one bother to be a target for this lucrative advertising if the words and pictures on a newspaper website are not compelling? It is not as if I have to go looking for advertising: every day's mail brings me quantities, and nine of ten websites give me more.

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  2. Yes, it's not as if we have any shortage of advertising.

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