Cincinnati Enquirer Eliminating Print Classifieds – In Line With 2007 Mission

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According to this Bizjournals.com article The Cincinnati Enquirer “will cut the number of days it runs classified ads” to reduce costs!! For the life of me, I cannot find the original “letter to readers” from the Cincinnati Enquirer. If any has a link please share it.

Keep the following in mind when considering this announcement from Cincinnati:

2007 Annual Report • Become the digital destination for local news and information in all our markets. • Create new business opportunities in the digital space through internal innovation, acquisitions or affiliations. • Maintain strong financial discipline throughout our operations. • Strengthen the foundation of the company by finding, developing and retaining the best and brightest employees through a robust Leadership and Diversity program.

The word ‘paper’ does not appear once, so it’s no secret the direction that Gannett is taking.

Purpose of the Cuts:
The newspaper says the elimination is to reduce costs, because of less advertising. My thought is that it also sets up the readers for a time when the printed paper will be completely eliminated.

PROBLEM 1:
Cincinnati.Craigslist.org is already filling this need. What new value is The Cincinnati Enquirer filling?

PROBLEM 2:
Cincinnati Enquirer’s online classifieds are not purely owned by them or parent company Gannett.
CareerBuilder owns CareerBuilder.com
Classified Ventures LLC owns cars.com + apartments.com + HOMEfinder

According to this MSNBC article, CareerBuilder’s ownership breaks down as such:
Gannett _____40.8%
Tribune _____40.8%
McClatchy___14.4%
Microsoft_____4.0%

According to the Classified Ventures website, the ownership is shared as such:
Belo Corporation, Gannett Company, The McClatchy Company, Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company

According to the ShopLocal website, the business is solely owned by Gannett

I’d like to get Gannett Blog’s take on this elimination and their take on the performance of Gannett’s attempts at online success to date.

Related posts:

  1. Why Did The Afternoon Cincinnati Post Go Out Of Business? Uh… Yeah.
  2. Facebook Classifieds – “Marketplace”
  3. 2007 Mid Year Media Review Stocks In Review
  4. 2007 NAA Mid-Year Media Review: Newspapers Report Audience Up, Circulation Down . Internet Continues Growing Strongly.
  5. NY Times Eliminating Paid “TimesSelect” Feature

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