Speaking of Times Square you probably heard the New York Times announcement this week that they hoped to raise $225 million to cover debt payments by possibly selling their headquarters building and leasing it back from the new owners. 

The Tribune Company (parent company of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and many other papers) dropped an even bigger bombshell Monday by filing for bankruptcy this week. Dave Morgan mulled over what that move meant in his Media Post Online Spin column today, serving up five bulleted items detailing his predictions on where things will go from here. 

I found this passage especially relevant to domain owners whose revenues come primarily from online ad spending: "Many advertisers buy newspapers only 

grudgingly. They were always must-buys for local promotion and budgets were frequently kept in place by reasons of history and loyalty. But as we saw with classifieds, once offered a better and much lower cost alternative with Internet services like Craigslist and Google, advertisers will abandon ship," Morgan wrote. He added "Unfortunately for newspapers, I think that the Tribune event and the pressure of this recession will finally break the inertia that has kept many local advertisers loyal. The notion that the local newspaper will always be there - no matter what - is no more."
(Posted Dec. 11, 2008)