The Virginian-Pilot
©
The Virginian-Pilot and its affiliated companies are considering layoffs to make up for steep declines in advertising revenue, its publisher said Thursday.
“We have no sacred cows,” said Maurice Jones, the president and publisher of The Pilot. “Everything will be on the table.”
That, he said, includes laying off employees, raising the price of the newspaper, reducing the number of its pages, closing some businesses connected with The Pilot and decreasing circulation outside South Hampton Roads.
Jones said the decisions will be made by the end of the year. He declined to speculate on the likelihood of layoffs or say how many there might be.
The newspaper’s owner, Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, is negotiating to sell The Pilot to a potential buyer, Jones said. If the paper is sold, the buyer will be “the ultimate arbiter” on cost-cutting measures, he said.
The Pilot, like most newspapers, suffered a “significant loss” in advertising revenue this year, Jones said, and expects another decline in 2009. He declined to provide dollar figures.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
The far right's definition of a liberal
It's not a surprise that the far right considers newspapers "liberal." Who don't they consider liberal?
In their you-are-either-with-us-or-against-us world, everyone who disagrees with them is a liberal, a socialist, a comrade or a terrorist. They certainly aren't Americans. They are the enemy.
They ignore that the majority of American newspapers, including the Pilot, supported Bush in his first term over a future Nobel Prize winner. They ignore that the majority of newspapers supported Ronald Reagan. They will even ignore that the newspaper supported Thelma Drake in the past and Randy Forbes in the present.
They are so sick that when the newspaper supports a republican, that republican becomes the enemy - either a RINO, or worse, a moderate.
No one should take them seriously. They rant about the press all day long and then post the foulest lies and distortions. Thank God they are relegated to message boards where they are harmless and little more than entertainment.
Earth to Scotty....er, Captain...
The primary reason for conservatives to watch a liberal channel or read a liberal paper is to remain informed of the Marxist enemy talking points. There will be a shift in public sentiment after the euphoria of the election of NObama is over. It will become apparent that the NObama promises of free life without productivity is not achievable without robbing the wallets of the productive. It will become apparent that attempting to silence conservative talk radio is a blatant infringement on the 1st amendment. It will become apparent that a guestapo civil defense force is well, the guestapo NObama youth. Change will happen because the non-brain dead will suddenly realize what just happened.
Dreams of the far right and other extremists
The far right dreams of a day when a free press will be silenced and replaced by bloggers, rumor, innuendo and ideological pundits like Limbaugh, Hannity and Coulter. But they have mistaken a shift in technology for a shift in reader loyalty.
Most people still want a credible news source and most people still believe that source is their local newspaper and the major television networks. For example, on election night, the most-watched network was ABC. The least-watched network was Fox. That speaks volumes about where viewers felt they would receive the most accurate reports.
Print journalism is being replaced by digital journalism. Fewer people will get their news in print. But the medium is hardly becoming extinct. It's just changing. This website looks pretty successful to me.
The Internet has amplified the far right's ability to sow confusion. But I am encouraged by the fact that most Americans ignored a barrage of lies and distortions pumped out by the right wing and elected Obama.
I believe this election marked a turning point in the far right's ability to discredit a free press and replace it with their message of fear and division. Tom Jefferson would be proud.
Litmus test
The Pilot should start by collecting writing samples as a grammar and usage test to employees. Some reporters do a wonderful job of writing cohesive articles but all too often details are missing or the articles wander off point from the stated headline.
Just don't follow in the Portfolio Weekly's recent footsteps. Their retooling to eliminate their social commentary and analysis of the local economy and infastructure to lure a more conservative readership has made the publication quite dumbed down and forgetable.
Pilot
I agree with what profkool posted. With people going to other sources for their news, the newspaper is nearly obsolete. We are getting news when and where we want it via internet on computers, cellphones, PDAs. Not much room in our lives for the newspaper.
There is nothing close
There is nothing close minded about pointing out flaws in a presidential candidate or president elect. There is nothing close minded about pointing out the blatant bias that this paper has not only shown but trumpeted from the roof tops. This is not a magazine that caters to one point of view but the only local paper in this area. It is a travesty that the editors have encouraged such a lack of ethics.
The happest day of my life will be if one of them comes to me looking for a job.
The Way It Is
What the pilot is experiencing is the same thing every other newspaper is experiencing - lost revenue from advertising and customers going to other sources (Internet) for news and info, causing sales to go down. It's not from being too conservative or liberal - it's just new technologies bringing info to people faster and cheaper and over a wider area. The smart papers have or will eventually go to Web only, while others will vanish. Weekly papers, those serving small (and remote) areas and those with a majority of older readers will not be as hard hit, though they will also have to change. As someone who works for a small newspaper on the Eastern Shore, I've experienced it.
Those who see this as proof of one political view or another, they are mistaken.
As Nelson Muntz on "The Simpsons" told an anguished newspaper man: "Ha, ha! Your medium is dying!"
You "conservative" comment
You "conservative" comment posters are just so out of touch. The newspapers role is not to cater to your closed-minded whims. Aside from standard wire stories the newspaper should cause you to think. Why is thinking such a foreign concept for you? A right or left slant on a story shouldn't matter if the reader approaches it as something to make him think. Anyway, I love the ideas given by the individual who says focus more on the web presence.
Business Plan?
Perhaps if the Virginian-Pilot decided to 'flavor' their product to the tastes of the consumers rather than stuff biased opinions down the throat of a largely conservative base? Think trying to sell pork loin wrapped in bacon to Islamic extremists if that helps. Case in point, when you have a bold headline stating "Noncitizen care sparks debate"(Sunday News2, page 3, 11.02.08), how about trying "$500,000 spent on dialysis for 17 year ILLEGAL ALIEN"? Much more of an eye-catching headline, should even be above the fold in 42 point type on the front page, and it is the actual truth buried in the story. That might fix your problem.
Potential gold mine right here
This high visibility web site is a potential gold mine. It used to be the money was in print and the web site was an secondary service. These days it's exactly the opposite. Here's just a few things I think would increase the hit counts and the ad revenue:
- More local articles, more detail, and more photos. Articles don't need to be designed to fit into limited page space on the web.
- Hire some slush readers and open things up to unsolicited article submissions. That creates variety and makes the community feel more involved in the site.
- Take the focus off news wire stories. Everyone has those and they're not a reason to come here.
- Be more attentive to web users experience. I bet this will sit unposted for hours in "Waiting for approval". That puts off web users that get instant access everywhere else. If a post is rejected, an explanation of why needs to be included.