Tomorrow marks the 14th anniversary of the darkest day in Livingston County news history. It’s the 14th anniversary of the start of the seemingly never-ending decline of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus; it’s the day that a dozen or so people — including me and Buddy Moorehouse — lost their jobs putting out the influential newspaper every day.
Since then, the daily paper’s editorial staff has shrunk nearly 90%. When I was laid off, I was managing a staff of 22; today, as far as I can tell, there are just two or three people covering the county. The paper, which once proudly boasted its robust and engaging hyper-local coverage, is just as likely to carry stories from Battle Creek or Lansing or Port Huron — even other states — as it is stories from Livingston County, and the stories that are local are produced with no local editors.
Could the scenario at another Gannett daily paper foreshadow the future of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus? In a story in the Los Angeles Times this week, it was reported that the Salinas Californian newspaper had whittled what had been a 35-person staff in 1999 to zero — ZERO — after its last-remaining staffer left, and that the “only original content from Salinas comes in the form of paid obituaries.”
“Death (is) virtually the only sign of life at an institution once considered a must-read by many Salinans,” the story read.
How’s that for Gannett’s commitment to local news? It makes me wonder about the future of the Daily Press & Argus, especially in light of remarks made by Gannett’s CEO at a media conference this week.
In late summer 2019, New Media Investment Group — owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. — bought Gannett for $1.4 billion. New Media and its operating subsidiary GateHouse Media were rebranded and now operate under the name “Gannett.” Mike Reed, CEO of GateHouse, became the CEO of Gannett after the merger. Click here for details.
Reed was part of the “Pulse of the Media Industry” panel this week at Mather Economics’ annual Media Revenue Symposium in Atlanta.
At the symposium, Reed spoke to Gannett’s strategy of shedding assets: Since the 2019 merger, Gannett has lost roughly half its workforce, and Reed said at the symposium that 90% of Gannett’s revenue comes from its top 100 newspaper markets. As the corporation keeps slashing costs, Reed said that it would continue to sell off publications with the goal of ultimately ending up somewhere between the 217 markets it’s currently in and those 100 top-performers.
Gannett — while paying Reed a salary of nearly $8 million a year — posted a third-quarter loss of $54 million in 2022; it said its cost-cutting measures were improving its finances, a trend it expects to continue throughout 2023. Those cost-cutting measures included suspending its 401 (k) matches; offering voluntary buyouts; offering a voluntary reduction of works hours to reflect a pay cut of 20%; and mandating that all employees take a five-day unpaid furlough in December (happy holidays from Gannett, eh?).
Now that Gannett has sold its downtown Howell building and moved its skeleton staff into an office at the Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce, the print publication has become a ghost of its former self. One can only wonder how long it will be until the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus goes the way of the Salinas Californian.
Think it can’t happen? Think it isn’t happening already? Compare the website of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus to that of the Salinas Californian. It’s difficult to distinguish between the two, and if a newspaper-without-reporters can happen in California, why not Michigan? With Reed saying Gannett is still looking to shed newspapers, I can’t help but wonder what will happen to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. In the Michigan market, with the still well-staffed Detroit Free Press and the Lansing State Journal (which manages the DPA) in the mix, is Gannett eyeing Livingston County’s newspaper for sale? Or will it become a newspaper without reporters?
