Omahacritic wrote: Thu Jan 30, 2020 7:32 am
If only there was good content.
Chicken/egg. As much as I decry 'news lite', that's what the public in general wants.
Attempting to meet those need is exactly why OWH is failing. Buffet forgot his basic tenets. He owned a local version of USA Today. Same thing you can get on a news-feed.
Some people want “quick” news. But there a tons of others than want depth in the news coverage.
For all the talk Buffet gives about being under-taxed, and giving his money to charity .... he can’t stand to operate a newspaper for the public good ... at a loss. I like the man, but in that respect he is a sham artist.
Buffet is a greedy, bloodsucking vulture. Hiring a company to gut the paper and then sell it to them at a nice profit.
These completely moral-less conglomerate investment companies need to be way more regulated. They don’t serve any public good.
Omahacritic wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 1:25 amFor all the talk Buffet gives about being under-taxed, and giving his money to charity .... he can’t stand to operate a newspaper for the public good ... at a loss. I like the man, but in that respect he is a sham artist.
He answers to his investors! The bottom line is the bottom line.
Omahacritic wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 1:25 amFor all the talk Buffet gives about being under-taxed, and giving his money to charity .... he can’t stand to operate a newspaper for the public good ... at a loss. I like the man, but in that respect he is a sham artist.
He answers to his investors! The bottom line is the bottom line.
When he bought a either 25 or 50% interest in the Royals he did that with his own money and I doubt he did that out of concern for local baseball. It was cheap & it was good for his image. As for operating a newspaper for the public good, do you really expect him to do that? I can't really accept the naming as a sham artist. He gave the donation to the Gates foundation. They are trying to solve some of society's largest problems. To want him to run a local newspaper just so you can have local ownership is at best greedy on your part & unfair to him. He sold it to a news group that isn't Gannett or some such company. You might not like chain newspapers but I really can't say he's a sham. This is just my opinion.
Cermak wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 11:54 pm
I wonder if he made money with today’s sale ?.
I posted earlier in this thread that he will make more off the 9% interest he is charging them, than he did with the revenue from the paper.
IF I did my math right, 576,000,000 at 9% over 20 years (assumed) he will end up selling it for $1,243,781,161.37 ($667,781,161.37 in interest).
I'm not a banker so I am not sure how exactly it would work.
If the financing is like a bond, Berkshire will get $1.04 billion in cash interest payments over the 20 year maturity period. If it's more like a note, then you may deal with accrued interest, and that's a more complicated calculation.
Linkin5 wrote: Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:53 am
These completely moral-less conglomerate investment companies need to be way more regulated. They don’t serve any public good.
Newspapers are unnecessary to serve the public good in this day/age. Again, this is chicken/egg because the public doesn't want what's good for them in the first place. Both left and right get their news from the web, and ignore the network news. (Unless we're talking Hearst and their local KETV, I can't really see an overarching bias in local news, just indifference and/or incompetence.)
Print is reserved for the Old Man Yelling At Clouds demographic, and bluehairs like my mom who can't be convinced that the OWH is biased, because...because.
First .. print is dead because the vision was lost. The reason your “Old Man” or your mom like the print is because it’s way easier to navigate. I read the WSJ, both print and on-line versions. The print isn’t interrupting me with ads every time I scroll.
The print doesn’t buffer or look for Wi-Fi hotspots. And you can’t hide your face from your spouse while looking at an I-pad.
I love digital editions, but there is a place for print.
Buffett and charity ... a local newspaper is every bit a charitable good as anything else. Want to fight world hunger ... throw some food in the food bank basket at your local supermarket.
Yes, he has to answer to his Board. But he still could do things with his personal fortune.
How many jobs were lost as his ownership saw the paper lose ? And communities like Omaha need a strong newspaper.
IMO there is an opportunity for a local news source that is 100% online. There's no printing or distribution costs (or large office space to rent), and if you have a reasonable monthly subscription on Patreon, then it seems to me that it could be very popular. I think the trick would be to keep certain content unavailable to be screen grabbed and posted on Facebook or Twitter. Local TV news stations have an opportunity to fill this void, but I doubt they will given their advertising model. Any other takers??
daveoma wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2020 10:39 am
IMO there is an opportunity for a local news source that is 100% online. There's no printing or distribution costs (or large office space to rent), and if you have a reasonable monthly subscription on Patreon, then it seems to me that it could be very popular. I think the trick would be to keep certain content unavailable to be screen grabbed and posted on Facebook or Twitter. Local TV news stations have an opportunity to fill this void, but I doubt they will given their advertising model. Any other takers??
It will be difficult. Newspapers made the mistake 20-25 years ago of not putting their web content up behind a paywall when the print business subsidized the website. It conditioned people to expect that local news on the internet should be free. The Wall Street Journal has had a paywall up since the 90's, and it's very successful today.
I don't think TV news can replace the quality of reporting you get in written media.
The O W-H must be doing ok for money, as I submitted a payment online 2 weeks ago for my Sunday only subscription, and they still haven't taken it out of my checking account. This is the third time it has taken at least 2 weeks for them to take my payment lol.
Ok, I'm a sucker. I just spent a whole $1 for an 8 week digital subscription. My goal was the archives search. Anyway, they have one more dollar than they had.
It might be a billing error, but the price for my annual online subscription jumped over 30% from last year. They're charging me full price as if I was paying monthly.
Edit: Customer service got back to me very quickly and confirmed that the price increase was legitimate.
jessep28 wrote: Tue Feb 25, 2020 6:11 pm
It might be a billing error, but the price for my annual online subscription jumped over 30% from last year. They're charging me full price as if I was paying monthly.
Edit: Customer service got back to me very quickly and confirmed that the price increase was legitimate.
I consume their news product, so I don't mind paying for it. A small discount for paying in full up front would have been nice. Oh well, I guess I'm insulated from any price increases for the next year.
jessep28 wrote: Tue Feb 25, 2020 7:43 pm
I consume their news product, so I don't mind paying for it. A small discount for paying in full up front would have been nice. Oh well, I guess I'm insulated from any price increases for the next year.
But you are not insulated from decreased content
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
I think the World Herald is bored. In yesterdays print edition they had at least 3-4 very large pictures showing empty parking lots at shopping centers. I think one picture would have been sufficient to get the point across.
skinzfan23 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 2:16 pm
I think the World Herald is bored. In yesterdays print edition they had at least 3-4 very large pictures showing empty parking lots at shopping centers. I think one picture would have been sufficient to get the point across.
Just trying to shove a narrative down the throats of the impressionable.
In the interest of fairness, they should have rolled up to The Home Depot @ 120th and L Sat noon. Parking lot was mob deep.
skinzfan23 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 2:16 pm
I think the World Herald is bored. In yesterdays print edition they had at least 3-4 very large pictures showing empty parking lots at shopping centers. I think one picture would have been sufficient to get the point across.
The Tampa Bay Times a few weeks ago went to just a Sunday and Wednesday print edition. They said they were upping the content on their online edition - part of the reason was cost because the businesses, of course, weren’t buying ads.
jag42 wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:33 pm
The Koterba cartoon in yesterday's Sunday World Herald (4-26) was dumb, and I don't even consider myself much of a Trump fan.
I've never liked him; relies on play-on-words way too much and goes for cheap jokes.
Sadly, this isn’t a joke. My neighbor had his newspaper delivered this morning (July 3). I know it’s a holiday, but geez. A worldwide pandemic, election year, economic recession, China, Russia, tearing down statues .
Yup...I still predict in the next 2-3 years, they don't print a hard copy every day. Which days they don't print every day, I don't know though. And whichever days they do print it'll be $3 for a single copy and $6 on Sundays.
One area newspaper is taking the first step to online only.
The Sioux City Journal is going online-only fo the Monday and Tuesday paper and Print and online for the rest of the week. This starts on Aug 10. Wonder how long before more days are added as online-only?
During the past few months we have seen the global coronavirus pandemic affect many aspects of our lives -- our schools, government, entertainment, health care and churches – and the Sioux City Journal is no exception.
We have been looking for ways to continue providing you with the best local news, sports and editorial content without diminishing our product.
So, beginning Aug. 10, we will deliver our Monday and Tuesday editions in an online-only format. We will continue to publish print and online editions Wednesday through Sunday. This will position us to stay strong in an ever-changing marketplace.....................
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
nebugeater wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:08 pm
One area newspaper is taking the first step to online only.
The Sioux City Journal is going online-only fo the Monday and Tuesday paper and Print and online for the rest of the week. This starts on Aug 10. Wonder how long before more days are added as online-only?
During the past few months we have seen the global coronavirus pandemic affect many aspects of our lives -- our schools, government, entertainment, health care and churches – and the Sioux City Journal is no exception.
We have been looking for ways to continue providing you with the best local news, sports and editorial content without diminishing our product.
So, beginning Aug. 10, we will deliver our Monday and Tuesday editions in an online-only format. We will continue to publish print and online editions Wednesday through Sunday. This will position us to stay strong in an ever-changing marketplace.....................
Posted this awhile ago but that Tampa Bay Times paper went Sunday and Wednesday a couple of months ago. Even if you only pay for Sunday you were getting Wednesday also -- the ads!
Yeah I get ads on Wednesday, and the paper Sunday only, and have the full access online M-F for the OWH. I still love reading the Sunday paper in print.
Greg S wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:58 pm
Yeah I get ads on Wednesday, and the paper Sunday only, and have the full access online M-F for the OWH. I still love reading the Sunday paper in print.
Greg
How much is that a Month or a Year? Haven't looked in a while. Going on 19 months since I ended a subscription that I had since 1988
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
Greg S wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:58 pm
Yeah I get ads on Wednesday, and the paper Sunday only, and have the full access online M-F for the OWH. I still love reading the Sunday paper in print.
Greg
How much is that a Month or a Year? Haven't looked in a while. Going on 19 months since I ended a subscription that I had since 1988
I think it's about $48 for every six months. I think right now for new subrscibers it's half off.
Just noticed that! It's a nice redesign and an upgrade, for sure, but it's kind of like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic -- content is king and there's less and less original content all the time thanks to Lee Enterprises' mis-management (in my opinion). I'll subscribe digitally as long as there's still a paper, because I think local journalism is important, but the number of articles I actually click into and read continues to shrink.
The new owners seem to be ignoring the exterior of physical production buildings. They’ve turned off most, if not all, irrigation. Shrubs are dying off. Grass too. Weeds not really trimmed down. Yes, Omaha is short on rain ... but they have irrigation installed for the landscaping.
Out of curiosity, did Berkshire sell the land and/or buildings or just the publishing?
Dark Eyes wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:08 am
Just got my OWH subscription renewal bill (7-day subscription). 40% increase over last year. Ridiculous.
Will be changing to Sunday only.
Good idea. Won't be long before they stop physically printing an edition every day.
I just got my Sunday-only subscription renewal notice in the mail. When you divide the price by the number of weeks, it's almost as much as a single copy at a gas station. No thanks. Used to be the subscription price was way less expensive than buying a single copy at the store as an incentive or enticement to subscribe.
jag42 wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:45 pm
I just got my Sunday-only subscription renewal notice in the mail. When you divide the price by the number of weeks, it's almost as much as a single copy at a gas station. No thanks. Used to be the subscription price was way less expensive than buying a single copy at the store as an incentive or enticement to subscribe.
I just took an offer from them for 5 months digital for $5. BUT will cancel after that.
jag42 wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:45 pm
I just got my Sunday-only subscription renewal notice in the mail. When you divide the price by the number of weeks, it's almost as much as a single copy at a gas station. No thanks. Used to be the subscription price was way less expensive than buying a single copy at the store as an incentive or enticement to subscribe.
I just took an offer from them for 5 months digital for $5. BUT will cancel after that.
Yeah, I just pay monthly for their online edition. I haven’t had their actual newspaper edition delivered for at least 3 years now...
Quick question, do you guys still get the grocery store ads delivered? My print subscription is up at the end of the month and I am trying to decide what to do.
skinzfan23 wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 4:48 pm
Quick question, do you guys still get the grocery store ads delivered? My print subscription is up at the end of the month and I am trying to decide what to do.
I stopped the WH about 2.5 years ago There was a good amount of time when I never saw a printed ad. About a year ago I started to get a bundle in the Mail on Wednesday's with all the grocery ads. FYI I am in Gretna.
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
