In recent weeks there has been a slew of bad news in the media world. The Chicago-based news giant Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and KTLA Channel 5, filed for bankruptcy on the afternoon of December 8th; the New York Times has taken out a mortgage on its Manhattan headquarters to pay off impending debts; and Playboy’s chief executive is stepping down as news spreads of the media company’s possible bankruptcy. In the face of this turmoil, Chinese Americans involved in the media industry lament the destruction wreaked by this financial hurricane.
Jiang Tianduo, president of the Reporters Association of Southern California, is not surprised by these developments. He believes that American newspapers are too thick, increasing costs but not returns.
“American print media needs a change of direction for the future, a transformation,” says Jiang. For example, he notes that in the area of entertainment news, print media cannot compete with the fast pace of online news, and should consider reducing or cutting out entertainment coverage. Instead, print media should focus on local news and analyses with cultural and historical depth, and devote any space left over to business and consumer reports, then they will better suit the needs of modern readers.
Wang Jingcong, former president of North America Television, says that the newspaper industry has long been threatened by the rapid increase in Internet use, and the present financial crisis has exacerbated the problem, forcing the industry to economize in order to survive these dire straits.
Real estate tycoon Samuel Zell, who recently took over as Tribune Co. chairman, applauded the efforts of all his employees and colleagues in a recent declaration. Wang also believes that the Tribune Co. was not mismanaged, stating that “good management does not necessarily draw readers.”
Regarding the state of Chinese-language media, Wang says that it is now paying for its past mistakes. Its main misstep has been in charging too little for ads – less than half of what Korean papers charge. In addition, most ad-space in Chinese newspapers is bought up by small businesses and, unlike mainstream media, they do not have fixed ad budgets. Although Chinese readers and viewers are numerous, Chinese media outlets must operate for a very long time before they can recoup their initial costs, which is a difficult feat.
Fu Zhoushan, senior deputy for Ace Diversified Capital, is also not surprised by the media world’s recent turmoil. He says that investors have long been skittish about media companies such as News Group and Playboy, whose stock prices have plummeted from $25 to $9 and $9 to less than $2, respectively.
Fu says that media companies will soon have to endure an economic winter, and that in the next half year even more media companies will be hit hard. Print media will not be the only victims, he says – digital media companies also have a tough battle ahead of them. Google and Yahoo, for example, recently decreased their revenue projections, and their stock prices can also be expected to fall.
