terça-feira, 17 de março de 2009

O que seria dos EUA sem jornais?




Num comentário ao post da Inês Dentinho sobre a manifestação da CGTP, CCInêz (presença assídua e valorizadora deste blog), teceu duras críticas aos media, terminando, inclusivé, a sua intervenção dizendo: «Graças a Deus também que os (estes, que merecem o r) "me(r)dia", estão a ir à falência com a Internet».
Não me fica bem - por ser evidente o conflito de interesses - usar este espaço em defesa dos media. Muito menos dos media portugueses.
Mas não resisto a publicar este excerto de um artigo do «The New York Times»:

«Over the last few weeks, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline. The parent of the papers in Philadelphia declared bankruptcy as did the Journal Register chain. The Rocky Mountain News closed and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, owned by Hearst, will almost certainly close or only publish online. Hearst has said it will also close The San Francisco Chronicle if it cannot make massive cuts at the paper. The most recent rumor is that the company will fire half of the editorial staff. That action still may not be enough to make the property profitable.
24/7 Wall St. has created its list of the ten major daily papers that are most likely to fold or shut their print operations and only publish online. The properties were chosen based on the financial strength of their parent companies, the amount of direct competition that they face in their markets, and industry information on how much money they are losing. Based on this analysis, it is possible that eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the United States could cease publication in the next eighteen months. (Read: "The Race for a Better Read")
1. The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Daily News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.
2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The paper may not make money this year even without the costs of debt coverage. The company said it made $26 million last year, about half of what it made in 2007. The odds are that the Star Tribune will lose money this year if its ad revenue drops another 20%. There is no point for creditors to keep the paper open if it cannot generate cash. It could become an all-digital property, but supporting a daily circulation of over 300,000 is too much of a burden. It could survive if its rival the St. Paul Pioneer Press folds. A grim race.
3. The Miami Herald, which has a daily circulation of about 220,000. It is owned by McClatchy, a publicly traded company which could be the next chain to go into Chapter 11. The Herald has been on the market since December, and but no serious bidders have emerged. Newspaper advertising has been especially hard hit in Florida because of the tremendous loss in real estate advertising. The online version of the paper is already well-read in the Miami area and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Herald has strong competition north of it in Fort Lauderdale. There is a very small chance it could merge with the Sun-Sentinel, but it is more likely that the Herald will go online-only with two editions, one for English-speaking readers and one for Spanish.
4. The Detroit News is one of two daily papers in the big American city badly hit by the economic downturn. It is unlikely that it can merge with the larger Detroit Free Press which is owned by Gannett. It is hard to see what would be in it for Gannett. With the fortunes of Detroit getting worse each day, cutting back the number of days that the paper is delivered will not save enough money to keep the paper open.
5. The Boston Globe is, based on several accounts, losing $1 million a week. One investment bank recently said that the paper is only worth $20 million. The paper is the flagship of what the Globe's parent, The New York Times, calls the New England Media Group. NYT has substantial financial problems of its own. Last year, ad revenue for the New England properties was down 18%. That is likely to continue or get worse this year. Supporting larger losses at the Globe will become nearly impossible. Boston.com, the online site that includes the digital aspects of the Globe, will probably be all that will be left of the operation.
6. The San Francisco Chronicle. Parent company Hearst has already set a deadline for shutting the paper if it cannot make tremendous cost cuts. The Chronicle lost as much as $70 million last year. Even if the company could lower its costs, the northern California economy is in bad shape. The online version of the paper could be the only version by the middle of the 2009.
7. The Chicago Sun Times is the smaller of two newspapers in the city. Its parent company, Sun-Times Media Group trades for $.03 a share. Davidson Kempner, a large shareholder in the firm, has dumped the CEO and most of the board. The paper has no chance of competing with The Chicago Tribune.
8. NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level
9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram is another one of the big dailies that competes with a larger paper in a neighboring market - Dallas. The parent of The Dallas Morning News, Belo, is arguably a stronger company that the Star Telegram's parent, McClatchy. The Morning News has a circulation of about 350,000 and the Star Telegram has just over 200,000. The Star Telegram will have to shut down or become an edition of its rival. Putting them together would save tens of millions of dollars a year.
10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is in one of the economically weakest markets in the country. Its parent, Advance Publications, has already threatened to close its paper in Newark. Employees gave up enough in terms of concessions to keep the paper open. Advance, owned by the Newhouse family, is carrying the burden of its paper plus Conde Nast, its magazine group which is losing advertising revenue. The Plain Dealer will be shut or go digital by the end of next year.»


E não resisto a perguntar: alguém verdadeiramente acredita que a democracia americana fica mais sólida se se confirmar o desapareceimento destes títulos?

4 comentários:

Anónimo disse...

Agradecendo desde já ao ilustre blogger Pedro Norton de Matos o elogio, imerecido, aos meus comentários, permito-me ressalvar que as minhas críticas não foram e não são contra os Media em geral e como conceito, mas contra aqueles media (os tais que merecem o r) que, desvirtuando a sua função nobre de informar, se deixam sucumbir à tentação de se deixar, das mais diversas maneiras, instrumentalizar pelo partido A ou B.

Para estes, ( e para aqueles 8 entre os 50 principais jornais americanos referidos como estando em risco de falir, se forem desse tipo), creio que é uma boa notícia, fica o ambiente cultural mais limpo e ecológico e o ambiente físico também, já que são muitas àrvores que se poupam ao abate.

Com os melhores cumprimentos,
Carlos C. Inez

Diogo Vasconcelos disse...

Assino por baixo. E aproveito para acrecentar esta observação, muito oportuna:

“In an online exchange with his paper's readers this week, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller pointed out that "there is a diminishing supply of quality journalism, and a growing demand. By quality journalism, I mean the kind that involves experienced reporters going places, bearing witness, digging into records, developing sources, checking and double-checking, backed by editors who try to enforce high standards. I mean journalism that, however imperfect, labors hard to be trustworthy, to supply you with the information you need to be an engaged citizen. The supply of this kind of journalism is declining because it is hard, expensive, sometimes dangerous work."


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rutten4-2009feb04,0,4486364.column

Táxi Pluvioso disse...

Jornalistas yes they can... be damned.

O exemplo mais conhecido de definição de jornalismo é o Caso Watergate. Dois otários do Washington Post são utilizados para destituir Nixon (a doença mental tornara-o perigoso. Se não fosse o Kissinger a olhar pela casa white as coisas dariam para o torto).

Isso é o jornalista: um indivíduo que é usado para cumprir um objectivo qualquer. Na Lusitânia temos o exemplo máximo - Manuela Moura Guedes tão boa como o nosso Ronaldo.

Inez Dentinho disse...

1. Cada vez que tenho tempo para ler um jornal de fio a pavio descubro uma ou duas peças notáveis. Nem sempre é óbvio este encontro. Mas ele acontece, garanto.
2. Tive a sorte e a habilidade de surfar a onda da geração da privatizaçãp dos media. Saída da Faculdade em 1984, assisti ao nascimento da TSF em 1985 e demais rádios privadas (RFM, RC...).
3. No final dessa década nasceram múltiplas publicações como O Independente, o Público, a Sábado, O Liberal, O Europeu, a Visão etc e deram-se as privatizações dos vespertinos A Capital, o Diário de Lisboa e o Diário Popular.
4. Foi um festim. Uma lufada de ar fresco depois de décadas de tutela oficial, seja pela 1ª República, pelo Estado Novo, pelo PREC ou pelos socialistas. Apenas o Expresso e, a outro nível, o Tempo, o Semanário e A Tarde escaparam a esta regra.
5. Mal saciados deste excesso - que valorizava o produto, os jornalistas, o destinatário e a democracia - surgiram, logo em 1992, a SIC e a TVI, com uma nova exigência e competitividade na informação.
6. A década de 1985 a 1995 foi, assim, a época de ouro para exercer o jornalismo em Portugal. Vivi esse el dorado com gosto.
7. Só depois´se deram os inevitáveis processos de agrupamento empresariais e/ou falências, sobretudo na imprensa.
A morte lenta chegou a algumas redacções; a sobrevivência, a todas. Também vivi esse período de agonia n' O Independente, o mesmo jornal que ajudei a fundar. Saí.
8. Mas o ponto deste comentário não é uma auto-biografia assistida pela história. É um testemunho do movimento geral dos media nas 2,5 últimas décadas. E volto a dizer: é preciso ler com atenção. Garanto que se encontra graça e rigor nas peças jornalísticas que, todos os dias, se publicam, se ouvem ou se vêem em Portugal. Nesses momentos, não tenho nostalgia. Mas vivo o lado sombrio da despedida.