Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Creative newspaper idea of the day

Talk about thinking outside the box... the company that publishes The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News has started its own real estate brokerage company. Which puts it in the awkward position of competing with Realtors who advertise in the newspaper. The fireworks have already started. Complete story here.

Hat tip: Fitz and Jen
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd simply settle for "creative" unbiased news.

Anonymous said...

They can nearly guarantee the remaining realtors that had stuck with them will pull. They are in direct competition for listings. All of us AD's have had this thought at one time or another but none of us would ever have the gumption to actually do it. Seems like real estate revenue suicide to me.

Anonymous said...

Newspaper Industry Ad Revenue at 1965 Levels (Columbia Journalism Review) CREATIVE IDEA, A CHAPTER 11DIRT NAP

Inflation-adjusted numbers show papers are even worse off than you think

Martin Peers had a smart Heard on the Street in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal on the critical question of how much of the recent plunge in media companies’ fortunes has been a cyclical decline versus a secular one.

It’s obviously some of both, but the mix will decide what the next five years look like for magazines and newspapers, the critical providers of original reporting in the country. Alas, I’ve crunched some numbers on the industry and they’re beyond ugly.

First, some definitions. A cyclical decline is one due to the inevitable ups and downs of the broad economy. Most businesses get hurt in the recession part of a cycle but do well in the expansionary part and their fortunes more or less move up or down with the economy at large.