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Newspaper problems are in advertising, not content

I commented on this post over in seekingAlpha today, as did the ever smart Jay Small.

The poster misses the boat as many do when talking about the newspaper industry crisis. It isn’t about the content, at least not completely. It IS about the advertising.

Classified ads are where the newspaper business model makes the money. Craigslist was a game changer, google adwords was the next gen product that dealt the knockdown blow. The put out was done by the recession, when the main the three verticals – real estate, cars, and jobs – all tanked.

Classifieds are never coming back. Just like radio theater died when television came on. Newspapers have to change. The AP is facing it now, because their business is an electronic to print distribution.