Alabama’s Three Largest Newspapers to Stop Printing Next Year
Advance Publications to make Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Press-Register digital-only
By Alexandra BruellFollow
Updated Nov. 3, 2022 10:43 am ET
One of the nation’s biggest publishers has decided to stop printing Alabama’s three largest newspapers and make them digital-only, the latest in a long string of local paper closures across America.
Advance Publications, which owns 24 newspapers as well as the Condé Nast magazine-publishing empire, plans to announce it will end the print operations of the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times and Mobile’s Press-Register in February.
“The print side of our business does not make economic sense in Alabama,” said Tom Bates, president of the Alabama division of Advance Local, the group that oversees Advance’s newspapers, in an interview.
The print readership of all three papers has been shrinking rapidly, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. Their expected combined circulation of about 30,000 early next year is a fraction of the 260,000 the papers boasted just a decade ago, Mr. Bates said.
Other publishers have moved to transition local papers to digital news operations, including USA Today parent Gannett Co., which in May ended print operations for several Massachusetts newspapers, opting instead to focus on their digital news operations.
Since 2005, the U.S. has lost more than a fourth of its newspapers and is on track to lose a third by 2025, according to a report Northwestern University released in June this year.
The company has no plans to lay off journalists, Mr. Bates said, but it will shut down its Mobile-based printing operation and lay off 110 people, including 74 employees in print production, and 36 people focused on print sales, operations and circulation, he said.
All content will continue to be available on a single platform, AL.com, though the company will keep publishing individual e-editions for each paper that will still charge subscribers, said Mr. Bates. AL.com doesn’t have a paywall.
Steve Newhouse, co-president of Advance Publications, said the company was “investing precious journalistic resources where they reach the most people in Alabama rather than supporting the much smaller and declining print platform.”
The cost of printing a newspaper has increased in the past year. Lee Enterprises Inc., one of the largest local newspaper owners in the country, said during a recent earnings call that newsprint prices increased 30% in the company’s fiscal year. Lee is in the midst of an effort to reduce costs annually by $45 million.
Advance Local, which is profitable, doesn’t plan to stop producing printed newspapers in its other regions next year, said Caroline Harrison, CEO of Advance Local. She didn’t rule out the possibility in the future. The organization also owns newspapers in other areas including Oregon, New Jersey and New York.
“Where print continues to be profitable we’re all in,” she said. “We’re going to go where the audience tells us.”
"... But single women and voters under 40 have been captured by Democrats. So we need these ladies to get married. And it's time to fall in love and just settle down. Guys, go put a ring on it."
"... But single women and voters under 40 have been captured by Democrats. So we need these ladies to get married. And it's time to fall in love and just settle down. Guys, go put a ring on it."
I guess this is proof Neanderthals aren't extinct after all.
Re: media matters
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2022 6:57 pm
by njbill
Yes, ladies, go find yourselves a nice married man who lets the air out of the tires of your car as a way to meet you. A sure path to true and lasting love. After he dumps his first wife, that is.
I should add, even Judge Jeanine was creeped out when Jesse told this story on The Five.
Even. Judge. Jeanine.
Bill O’Reilly, Jesse’s former boss, texted him afterwards, “you’re my hero, Jesse.”
Re: media matters
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2022 7:57 pm
by NattyBohChamps04
It's almost like Republicans are consistently trying and sometimes succeeding at taking away their rights or something...
Re: media matters
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 8:48 am
by youthathletics
Stumbled on this while in a YouTube vortex. How the CIA plants lies in the media:
Re: media matters
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 11:17 am
by cradleandshoot
youthathletics wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 8:48 am
Stumbled on this while in a YouTube vortex. How the CIA plants lies in the media:
Great read YA. The art of disinformation directed towards the press is fascinating. They knew what members of the press to leak just enough info to get the MSM to have to report on it. It is comforting to know these tactics are NEVER USED anymore by our government.
Re: media matters
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:42 am
by Farfromgeneva
Good morning. We’re less than two weeks away from the DealBook Summit (Nov. 30). You can register here to apply to attend. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)
Any questions?
On Nov. 30, leaders in business, culture and politics will gather at the DealBook Summit. We want to hear from you: What questions do you have for our speakers?
They include President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine; Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder, chairman and C.E.O.; Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s C.E.O.; Mike Pence, the former vice president of the United States; Andy Jassy, Amazon’s C.E.O.; Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder and co-C.E.O.; Mayor Eric Adams of New York; and Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and C.E.O.
There is a lot to talk about: Labor. Inflation. E.S.G. (and the backlash). Crypto. The metaverse. China. The war in Ukraine. Protectionism. Industrial policy. The future of politics. Taiwan. Sports rights. The future of work.
Let us know what we should ask onstage here. We will read all of your submissions and hope to ask some of the best ones.
Ahead of the conference, we asked some key participants to share what’s on their minds. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
David Remnick: The biggest role the press can play is pressure on power.
Remnick is the longtime editor of The New Yorker and the recipient of both a Pulitzer Prize and a George Polk Award for his reporting on the fall of the Soviet Union.
DealBook: In a tweet last month, Elon Musk said he had acquired Twitter because a common digital town square was important to the future of civilization. He said the media was losing the opportunity for dialogue by catering to polarized extremes in the relentless pursuit of clicks.
Remnick: We have a severe problem in American life today called the assault on truth. I do not romanticize in any way the perfection of The New York Times or The New Yorker or any number of other outlets. But we have seen for all the reasons we know — political, cultural, technological — an acceleration, an explosion of lying in the public sphere, and it’s been exploited in all the political ways we know. And so I think there’s a difference between healthy and rigorous and constant self-criticism, but when it edges over into both-siderisms or self-flagellation and saying things that we don’t really mean about ourselves, then I think that’s not terribly useful, and it’s unhelpful.
What can news organizations do to get back to a time of trust in the media? Is it even possible?
The dilemma here is that in the Trump era, there was great journalism — a lot of great journalism. And the bewilderment, the frustration, I think among so many people is why it didn’t have even greater effect.
The biggest role the press can play is pressure on power. The scrutiny of power. And so when local papers either disappear or they’re weakened immeasurably, as has happened across the country, and it’s not replaced simply by a digital version of its earlier self with equal rigor or even better, but is replaced by either nothing or bad or destructive digital replacements, the Republic suffers. Who’s going to send the crooked mayor or crooked judge to jail if the local newspaper is gone?
Re: media matters
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:25 am
by Kismet
Have to love the hypocrisy at Faux News
Laura Ingraham b*itches about the Biden Adminsitration jumping the gun on Christmas at 9:00PM - at 6:00PM on the same network they were covering Faux News All-American tree lighting at Fox Square (right outside her effing studio).
Re: media matters
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 9:44 am
by elonmuskrockefeller
Kismet wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:25 am
Have to love the hypocrisy at Faux News
Laura Ingraham b*itches about the Biden Adminsitration jumping the gun on Christmas at 9:00PM - at 6:00PM on the same network they were covering Faux News All-American tree lighting at Fox Square (right outside her effing studio).
Are you equally dismayed with every network not named Fox that immediately claimed the Colorado shooter was MAGA. since we learned last night that the shooter has been non-binary for some time and tried to kill his conservative mother to boot?
Kismet wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:25 am
Have to love the hypocrisy at Faux News
Laura Ingraham b*itches about the Biden Adminsitration jumping the gun on Christmas at 9:00PM - at 6:00PM on the same network they were covering Faux News All-American tree lighting at Fox Square (right outside her effing studio).
Are you equally dismayed with every network not named Fox that immediately claimed the Colorado shooter was MAGA. since we learned last night that the shooter has been non-binary for some time and tried to kill his conservative mother to boot?
The community says that anyone can identify however they want, whenever they want. However they feel that day.
Unless the community says they can't?
So the community has come to grips with the fact that EVERY intentional murder is a hate crime. And doesn't need to be categorized as such. As long as there's a conviction. Because, well, murder is murder.
Re: media matters
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 2:37 pm
by a fan
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:49 am
The community says that anyone can identify however they want, whenever they want. However they feel that day.
Unless the community says they can't?
And it wasn't like this when you were a kid? Come on.
"Hi mr. Stevens"
"Please, Kramerica, call me Ted".
End of story. Boy, that's some complicated stuff. How did you manage this impossible situation when you were a kid, Kram? How could you tell that Mr. Stevens preferred that you address him as "Ted"? Boy, this is SO complicated, right?
And when he asked you to call him Ted, you threw a fit, and asked "how could I possibly know what to call you?! This whole social construct is insane!"
Right?
Or did you (drumroll) call him "Ted" going forward, and never think on it again?
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:49 am
The community says that anyone can identify however they want, whenever they want. However they feel that day.
Unless the community says they can't?
And it wasn't like this when you were a kid? Come on.
"Hi mr. Stevens"
"Please, Kramerica, call me Ted".
End of story. Boy, that's some complicated stuff. How did you manage this impossible situation when you were a kid, Kram? How could you tell that Mr. Stevens preferred that you address him as "Ted"? Boy, this is SO complicated, right?
And when he asked you to call him Ted, you threw a fit, and asked "how could I possibly know what to call you?! This whole social construct is insane!"
Right?
Or did you (drumroll) call him "Ted" going forward, and never think on it again?
In the weeks leading up to the US midterm elections, the message from Fox News was clear: violent crime is surging, cities are dangerous hellscapes and Democrats are responsible.
With the vote over, however, the rightwing news channel appeared to decide things weren’t that bad after all and decreased its coverage of violent crime by 50% compared with the pre-election average.
Media Matters for America, a media watchdog, found that each week from Labor Day until the Friday before the Tuesday 8 November vote, the network averaged 141 segments on crime across weekdays. The blanket crime coverage matched the Republican party’s efforts to depict violent crime as out of control and portray Democrats as responsible.
In the week of the midterms, however, once voting was over, Fox News aired just 71 segments on violent crime, Media Matters reported.
“I think this shows pretty clearly that the amount of Fox coverage of violent crime doesn’t really have anything to do with the level of violent crime in America – it has to do with the political benefits,” said Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters.
ring wing media terrorist propaganda - no surprise
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:49 am
The community says that anyone can identify however they want, whenever they want. However they feel that day.
Unless the community says they can't?
And it wasn't like this when you were a kid? Come on.
"Hi mr. Stevens"
"Please, Kramerica, call me Ted".
End of story. Boy, that's some complicated stuff. How did you manage this impossible situation when you were a kid, Kram? How could you tell that Mr. Stevens preferred that you address him as "Ted"? Boy, this is SO complicated, right?
And when he asked you to call him Ted, you threw a fit, and asked "how could I possibly know what to call you?! This whole social construct is insane!"
Right?
Or did you (drumroll) call him "Ted" going forward, and never think on it again?
Exactly. Neither he or I thought of it again. Whether we got it right or wrong, neither of us REALLY cared.
Mr. Stevens asked to go by Ken. He didn't ask me to remember he was a she/they and ask me to alter how I spoke or wrote going against all grammar standards. Nor did he change that preference ever again. The problem with this movement is that the people who care think others should care and participate. Which they don't.
I chalk much of this up to the generation and self-centered social media phenomenon.
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:49 am
The community says that anyone can identify however they want, whenever they want. However they feel that day.
Unless the community says they can't?
And it wasn't like this when you were a kid? Come on.
"Hi mr. Stevens"
"Please, Kramerica, call me Ted".
End of story. Boy, that's some complicated stuff. How did you manage this impossible situation when you were a kid, Kram? How could you tell that Mr. Stevens preferred that you address him as "Ted"? Boy, this is SO complicated, right?
And when he asked you to call him Ted, you threw a fit, and asked "how could I possibly know what to call you?! This whole social construct is insane!"
Right?
Or did you (drumroll) call him "Ted" going forward, and never think on it again?
Exactly. Neither he or I thought of it again. Whether we got it right or wrong, neither of us REALLY cared.
Sure. But it's about INTENT. What happens if he's serious, and doesn't want to be called Mr. Stevens.
What's your next move? You and I both know, you ain't calling him Ted anymore.
kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:46 pm
The problem with this movement is that the people who care think others should care and participate. Which they don't.
Nailed it. Yes. That's the whole thing: you don't respect these humans enough to give them the simplest and effort free courtesy. You, instead, prefer to show them what your intent is, which is that your respect for them is zero. Zippo.
Wanna get out? Address them by their formal name. Yet another fake problem solved. Or....ignore them completely, and act like they're not even there.
Whining and telling people you won't show the basic courtesy that everyone knows your parents taught you....all at the same time as millions of FoxViewers, and you all "just happen to be Republicans" shows that YOU are the victim of a self-centered media phenomenon, not the other way around. You see it as "sticking it to the libs".
I think you and everyone are LYING when you tell us your grandparents would approve of such things.
But I'll tell you what: if you think that how you address someone doesn't matter, and this is all made up liberal stuff, next time someone introduces you to their wife, call him "sir". It doesn't matter, right? And most importantly, don't stop doing it when someone corrects you. What the heck do you think will happen? You're telling me it's not a problem, right?
Or better still, call a black person you don't know "boy". See where intent gets you. After all, it's tradition to call black men "boy", right? So who cares if you do it? You shouldn't have to address a black man as anything but "boy" simply because the times have changed, and it's no longer acceptable to say that, right?
Let me know when you start calling black men "boy", and I'll buy what you're selling. Times change. And this isn't a big deal. This is more Republican virtue signaling where you can show you're "in the club" if you mention that our elections are fixed, vaccinations are fake, and the border is open.
Still waiting for all ex military folks to tell me that worrying about how you address someone is a silly liberal invention. Sure it is.
Re: media matters
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:38 pm
by DMac
a fan wrote
Still waiting for all ex military folks to tell me that worrying about how you address someone is a silly liberal invention.
Eliminate this from your argument, there is hardly a comparison there, it's a matter of protocol in the military and it's not optional.
a fan wrote
Still waiting for all ex military folks to tell me that worrying about how you address someone is a silly liberal invention.
Eliminate this from your argument, there is hardly a comparison there, it's a matter of protocol in the military and it's not optional.
Never said it wasn't. That's not the part I was arguing...... What I argued was: it ain't that hard to figure out how to address someone. If some 18 year old recruit who gets punished if he gets it wrong can add 1+1 and get 2? So can American adults. And my second point, CLEARLY how you address someone is important in America. Always has been.
Ever seen someone who's rude to a waiter or employee at a store? For me? That's it, man, we're not friends.....I have no interest in spending time with someone who just can't handle respecting their fellow humans, and think that they're a F'ing King.
This is bare-*ss minimum stuff to live in a polite society. I'm having a hard time believing that the same folks who believe in law and ORDER, emphasis on ORDER, are the one's who are complaining about how to address someone.
It's virtue signaling. And they're doing it because FoxNation has made this an "issue", instead of working on making America a better place.
Ten steak dinners says that when kram and OS meet someone who says "please address me as Sir".....they do it.
They're arguing to argue. I don't believe them. They're good, honest, polite Americans, just like the rest of us.
Re: media matters
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:37 pm
by DMac
All that said it's still not a good idea to use the military as an example. Of course it's not hard to figure it out but in the civilian world you have options whereas in the military it's a matter of structure, and again, protocol. You can accept from an ex military guy that's it's not a good comparison or not.
