Belo's losses
The latest sign of the times in our business comes from the A.H. Belo Corp., owners of the Riverside Press Enterprise among others. Today, Belo reported that it would cut 14 percent of its work force after reporting a loss of $3.2 million, or 16 cents a share, during the quarter ending June 30. It was Dallas-based Belo's second quarterly loss in a row. Newspapers nationwide, including ours, have struggled to reinvent their business model in the face of declining revenues and a readership shift toward online.
I'm asked all the time if this means newspapers are dying. Absolutely not. In fact, the demand for information - especially on a local level - has never been greater. As with many industries, we face a daunting economic challenge, one that's not helped by the recession we're in. It's forcing us to do some things much differently than we have in the past, but there's an amazing level of talent, commitment and will at this newspaper and throughout our industry.
In simplest terms, we believe that what we do is worth fighting for, and we don't plan on stopping.