The PBJ wrote to draw my attention to an article behind the paywall: As venerated longtime retailer Meier & Frank becomes Macy's, Macy's ad plan could hurt 'O':
If [new M&F owner] Federated's print advertising drops to 40 percent of its budget -- as expected -- The Oregonian could lose more than $2 million in annual revenue. Sources in Portland's advertising community say the change is already taking place.
To put that in perspective, the Akron Beacon Journal laid off 39 newsroom employees -- a nearly 25 percent reduction -- in order to make up for the loss of $2.3 million in ad revenue, according to a recent story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The reason for the loss in revenue: The paper's biggest advertiser -- Kaufmann's -- had converted to Macy's. ...
Oregonian Publisher Fred Stickel, through an assistant, said the paper has been given no indication that Federated and its Macy's brand will advertise less than Meier & Frank. In fact, he remained confident the store would increase its local print advertising. The paper has long had an informal no-layoffs policy in its newsroom. ...
Analysts say it makes sense for Federated to spend more money on radio and television spots now that Macy's is a national brand.
"[Macy's] probably won't do as much [local advertising] as Meier & Frank did," said Kip Cassino, a media analyst and vice president at Va.-based Borrell Associates Inc. "They're a national retail company and they feel that their local advertising is buttressed by the national [radio and television] spots they buy." ...
Experts, such as Cassino, say newspapers no longer attract the young readers that retailers covet.
The article notes that despite declines in Oregonian print readership, OregonLive.com readership is up from 5% of Portland residents to 10% in the last year. (Attention Newhouse/Advance: Put the photos in the stories online and watch that percentage rise some more.)
The PBJ and the O are both owned by Newhouse/Advance.
(Attention Newhouse/Advance: Put the photos in the stories online and watch that percentage rise some more.)
It's crystal clear that the folks at the Oregonian consider their photographers to be second-class citizens. There's simply no other explanation for the failure to put their photos in the paper. (Which doesn't make sense to me -- I think their photogs do great work.)