Newspapers need cash now, they say
NEW YORK - US newspaper publishers, suffering advertising and circulation drops, may need government help to survive as their cash reserves dwindle, the Newspaper Association of America told Congress yesterday.
“Newspapers need cash now,’’ John Sturm, president of the trade group, told the Joint Economic Committee in Washington.
Congress could help through proposals to allow newspapers to become nonprofit organizations or to alter how they are taxed for net operating losses, he said.
Newspaper publishers have slashed jobs, cut pay, reduced the number sections, and raised newsstand prices to help cope with record declines in advertising sales.
At least five publishers, including Tribune Co., have sought bankruptcy protection since December.
New York Representative Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the committee, said the closings of newspapers in Seattle, Denver, and Tucson this year was “frightening’’ and imperiled an “important check on government.’’
Publishers including The New York Times Co. and Hearst Corp. have said they are considering charging for news content on the Web, either through subscriptions or fees per article.
The decline in industrywide ad sales accelerated last quarter to 29 percent from 28 percent in the first quarter, according to the Newspaper Association.
Combined sales of digital and print ads dropped to $6.82 billion, from $9.6 billion a year earlier.
Maloney last week introduced a bill in the House that would allow newspapers to declare nonprofit status, a version of a Senate bill filed in March.
