Yes, rolling news and the web mainly

hence my "industry that ate itself". Until they find a way to make money out of their websites, then revenues will drop.

The web came along, content was made free, and it's been draining money from paid-for copies ever since.

As I say, it's partly unavoidable. However, the dash for cash at Archant started many years ago in the boom years, before the web was a problem, and when marketers and accountants took over the top posts from journalists.

Archant decided that they wanted to increase their return on turnover to a higher per cent (they were doing well, but they wanted to do better).

To do better they needed either to boost sales, or cut costs. It was easier to cut costs, so we saw the number of journalists beginning to dwindle. 20 years ago there were 10-12 journalists based in Yarmouth. Now I think it's 5. I may be two or three in future.

As the number of reporters reduced, so did the quality and size. The web has been the final nail, unless they can make it pay, in a coffin that Archant began constructing for itself in the early 90s.

Posted By: duke of york on March 7th 2009 at 14:24:22

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