Blog: More bad times in store for newspapers

The blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur, written by former San Francisco Chronicle and Chicago Sun-Times editor Alan Mutter, paints a gloomy picture of the coming year for the newspaper industry:

In the best of cases, publishers will continue aggressively nipping and tucking at staffing, benefits, newshole, and the footprint of their circulation areas. In the worst cases, some newspapers will be shut down – or endure only as skeleton-staffed online operations.

The only revenue source that has not dried up for most newspapers, according to Mutter is display advertising and its time is coming:

But publishers are predicting that retail ad demand will collapse in the new year, as the recession shakes out the weakest merchants and simultaneously forces the survivors to tighten their belts. More than a dozen national and regional retail chains already are in liquidation, including Mervyn’s, Linens ’N’ Things and Whitehall Jewelers. Others, like Circuit City, are hanging on by a thread.

Mutter promises to look at specific newspaper companies in his next post.