First week reading reflections

I really enjoyed this week's reading as many of the topics covered are often on my mind. Here are a few thoughts on the readings.

-I think Picard brings up an interesting point stating that newsrooms get a really low return on investment from most of their staffs. Thinking along those lines, the brass at Deseret News completely redesigned their business model, realizing the status quo was pulling them under. They created a two tiered business model which addressed how to survive now and how to survive in the future. They actually saw growth when many newspapers were closing shop. There is an excellent article about it in the Harvard Business Review (http://hbr.org/2012/12/two-routes-to-resilience/ar/1). 

-In addition Patterson and Picard reading, I think it's worth reading Warren Buffett's press release about why he purchased 28 newspapers for $344 million.  He essentially says that newspapers have a large amount of substitutes for the services they once offered such as Craigslist rendering classified ads useless. Additionally papers started giving away content for free and, "while charging meaningful sums for the physical specimen. How could this lead to anything other than a sharp and steady drop in sales of the printed product? Falling circulation, moreover, makes a paper less essential to advertisers." He states local newspapers offering in-depth coverage are value added to tightly knit communities throughout the US. They offer information that helps the lives of their readers, offering in-depth coverage on things larger papers gloss over, which helps maintain readerships. In a sense, he's saying they offer knowledge-based news and as a result maintain circulation, making them a good investment.