Buffett: Future Not Bright for Newspapers

Billionaire Warren Buffett recently said that the newspaper industry could face the reality of “nearly unending losses” during the annual shareholders meeting for Berkshire Hathaway. While his company owns a few newspapers, his comments paint the picture that he doesn’t see any type of short-term or even long-term turnaround.

The newspaper industry is facing a number of problems. First of all, the national economic woes has companies spending less on advertising, which means less money for newspaper advertising. Secondly, people around the country are opting to save money by canceling their newspaper subscriptions. Next, many other people have turned to the online world as their resource for news rather than newspapers. Finally, more and more advertisers are spending money online rather than newspapers and while newspapers have responded by dropping prices, that hasn’t been enough to curb the problems.

The latest major newspaper in a lot of trouble is the Boston Globe. This newspaper, which The New York Times company owns, is currently in negotiations with labor unions to save money. If no deals are reached, there is a very real possibility that the Boston Globe will cease to exist.

Is the Boston Globe seeing its final days (Image: Flickr)