Online advertising revenue covers paychecks at the LA Times

Posted by Emma Heald on January 12, 2009 at 10:06 AM

Jeff Jarvis wrote that the Los Angeles Times has made "history" with its announcement that the paper's online advertising revenue is now enough to cover its entire editorial payroll, both print and online.

As Internet news becomes more and more popular and print revenue from advertising falls, this development is extremely significant for newspapers around the world as they look for ways to recover income.

According to Jarvis, "we are on the cusp of the moment when online revenue could sustain a substantial digital journalistic enterprise without the onerous cost of printing and distribution."

The LA Times has had to make sacrifices to reach this point, with just 660 staff compared to 1,200 before cuts started. And there are obviously other costs as on top of payroll, such as rent.

The paper has been selling much of its online advertising in packages with print, but this progress does, Jarvis believes, offer hope of "the possibility that online revenue could support digital journalism for a city." He speculates that it could be a newcomer to the industry who finally builds "a profitable online news franchise at low cost," which could "operate more efficiently by working in collaborative networks with the community."

Source: Guardian