Razor-thin profits are cutting into newspapers’ chances at innovation

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Newspaper companies will continue to struggle with digital innovation without better cashflow — Newsonomics: Razor-thin profits are cutting into newspapers’ chances at innovation

Newsonomics: Razor-thin profits are cutting into newspapers’ chances at innovation
http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/05/newsonomics-razor-thin-profits-are-cutting-into-newspapers-chances-at-innovation/

It’s taken lots of cuts to keep American newspaper companies even slightly profitable. But without better cashflow, they’ll continue to struggle to build the next version of the industry.

If you want to talk about profits at the U.S.’s top newspaper companies, you don’t need big numbers any more.

Among these large public newspaper companies — 7 of the country’s 10 largest — the total net comes to about $21 million. Those not included — Digital First Media, Advance, and Berkshire Hathaway Media — aren’t talking about any better results. Figure that the top 10 newspaper companies, public and private, took in no more than $50 million in net in the first quarter.

How do we measure that sum? In 2005, a single U.S. newspaper company, Gannett, produced $1.8 billion in net income.