With today’s publication of the final issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, Herald readers might be wondering about the future of their own newspaper.
Admittedly, these are tough times for all newspapers, including The Herald. And we take no pleasure in the demise of others — we are fans of newspapers ourselves. But we think The Herald’s story is leavened with optimism.
First of all, The Herald has the sort of steady readership statistics that most daily Ânewspapers envy, and it has a robust and rapidly growing online audience for Heraldnet.com.
Second, The Herald is not burdened with the complicated partnerships that sunk the Rocky Mountain News and the Post-Intelligencer. Both were second papers in their markets and were locked into uneconomical Joint Operating Agreements with their former competitors, the Denver Post and the Seattle Times. Given the losses all parties were said to have endured, something had to give.
Finally, The Herald is clear of the big problem that pushed several other newspaper companies into bankruptcy and has others teetering on the brink. Those companies have debt — lots of it. From what we hear, many individual newspapers operated by these companies remained profitable, but payments on the corporate debt overwhelmed their cash flow.
The Herald is neither a second daily nor is it saddled with debt. In fact, it is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co., which over the past 15 years has shaped itself into a diversified media and education company. Its recent financial filings show that earnings are down, but The Post remains solidly profitable and fully capable of servicing its debt.
The Herald was profitable in 2008, although at a diminished level. For the past 18 months, as the local and national economy deteriorated, we have made a number of hard choices in order to preserve our competitive position in the market and our long-term potential for increasing shareholder value. In other words, we have kept a firm eye on the long term, while doing everything possible in the near term to bring you the best newspaper we can.
Are we worried about 2009? What company isn’t? But thanks to you, your local daily newspaper remains as viable as ever.
The Herald remains committed to publishing a valuable, highly local product every day. We don’t think our readers should expect anything less. Thank you for hanging in there with us these past few months. We promise more good news ahead.
Allen Funk is president and publisher of The Daily Herald Co.
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