http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/05/01/buffett-mind-blowing-how-fast-newspapers-losing-ground/
May 1, 2010, 3:07 PM ET Buffett: Mind Blowing How Fast Newspapers Losing Ground By Scott Patterson Warren Buffett delivered more doom and gloom news for the state of the newspaper industry. Asked about his views on the struggling industry, which has seen a rising trend of diminishing revenues and distribution in recent years, the investor said he believes “the math is really tough.” One reason: About three-fourths of all newspaper’s revenues came from advertisers. Now, with competitors such as Google and online ad sites such as Craigslist (Buffett didn’t actually names these companies), newspapers are seeing their ad base rapidly dwindle. Buffett knows his newspapers. One of his first jobs was delivering newspapers in Omaha, and even helped deliver a Pulitzer Prize for a local Sun Newspapers of Omaha in the 1970s. Buffett is also a longtime investor in the Washington Post, and Berkshire Hathaway owns the Buffalo News in New York. When he made the investments decades ago, newspapers had a wide “moat,” in Buffett parlance, meaning that they had little competition (other than rival papers). Newspapers long were “the only game in town” for getting out information, as well as ads, Buffett said. With the rise of the Internet, that is now no longer the case. “It blows your mind how fast” the newspaper industry is losing ground, Buffett said. To be sure, he still owns the Buffalo News and he hasn’t dumped his Washington Post shares–yet. Buffett also said he recently considered purchasing the Philadelphia Inquirer, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Charlie Munger lamented the downfall of the newspaper industry. “It’s not good for the country,” he said. “We’re losing something” as local newspapers become more scarce. ------------------------------------ -- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTMedia mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE Share media news, discuss journalism issues and network with media professionals across South Asia on this mailing list. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTMedia by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
