Media News - Thursday, May 29, 2008

U.S. newspaper group cancels annual conference

A group that represents U.S. newspaper publishers canceled its annual presentation for financial analysts this year, as falling attendance reflected waning investor interest in the ailing sector. The Mid-Year Media Review, presented by the Newspaper Association of America, used to take place in June but this year, many publicly traded newspaper owners will instead speak at the Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications Conference in New York City, scheduled for June 9-10. The Mid-Year Media Review was an opportunity for newspaper executives to make their case to Wall Street about why their businesses were worth investing money in. Lately, that argument has become less convincing. U.S. newspaper stocks have tumbled, with McClatchy Co off almost 70 percent, and Journal Register Co getting delisted after its shares fell to as low as 16 cents. The biggest reason has been tanking advertising sales, particularly classifieds, on wider economic troubles and continuing drops in paid circulation as more readers get their news for free on the Internet. So far, publishers have been unable to use the Internet to compensate for their print losses, and profit margins have shriveled. Many have resorted to employee buyouts or layoffs to cut expenses, leaving investors with the perception that the business is dying. (Reuters)

Bookmark this : | Listen to this article | Sphere: Related Content

• Home |
• Seminars  |
• Events |
• Media Landscape |
• Newsroom|
• Media News|
• Resources

Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Copyright © 1992-2007 European Journalism Centre. All rights reserved.

Valid XHTML and CSS.

European Journalism Centre

Sonneville-lunet 10
6221KT Maastricht
The Netherlands

Tel. : +31 43 325 40 30
Fax : +32 2 400 42 20

E-mail: info[at]ejc.net