US: local Journal cuts business section

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on August 24, 2007 at 9:59 AM

In a move possibly representative of the latest trends in news consumption and news gathering, the Winston-Salem Journal is to phase out its separate daily business-news section, except on Sundays.

“As we all know, our industry is experiencing rapid changes in how consumers gather their news and information, and advertiser spending in traditional media is undergoing fundamental shifts,” said Mike Miller, the Journal’s president and publisher.

Instead of the Journal’s daily business-news section, two pages will be added to the Local section. In addition, the Living and the Arts section on Sunday will be combined into a single section with focus on art.

The Journal also laid off five employees, including two in the newsroom.

As consumers increasingly seek punctual and up-to-date business news online, more papers may follow the Journal’s example, trying to cut costs.

However, as suggested by a comment, minimizing business coverage will certainly be regretted by many readers, and might not be a sound strategy to attract advertisers.

Source: Journalnow.com through Poynter Institute