The head of a major United of States newspaper company said that the Newspaper publishers must consider consolidating and outsourcing news operations even in outside the region ( overseas ) They should consider it in order to save money as revenues continue to shrink. The chairman of the board of The Associated Press, MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton, said that the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association that the papers should explore outsourcing in nearly every aspect of their operations because outsourcing is really important. CEO Dean Singleton also added into his speech that “In today’s world, whether your desk is down the hall or around the world, from a computer standpoint, it doesn’t matter.” Most of the publishers are cutting cost including combining many operations of its papers near San Francisco. MediaNews publishes The Denver Post, The Detroit News and 52 other daily newspapers. This is well known for cost-cutting efforts. Singleton said sending copy-editing and design jobs overseas may even be called for. Other publishers also have consolidated newsroom functions this year. Two Florida papers owned by The New York Times Co. said by August they were merging news and copy desk functions, design, layout and pagination. The McClatchy Co. is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States, a leading newspaper and digital publisher dedicated to the values of quality journalism, free expression and community service. Their papers in Raleigh and Charlotte are sharing sports and political reporting staff. Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell Inc. said that they are few have sent newsroom functions overseas, limiting off-shoring mostly to add production and other non-editorial functions. Thomson Reuters has been using journalists in Bangalore, India, to handle some basic news such as corporate earnings reports which has five regular contributors overseas who write about Pasadena, California using webcasts of council meetings and information provided by citizen volunteers. Macpherson said he saw no reason a larger publication couldn’t adopt similar techniques to save costs. “You might miss the nuance of a sneer on a councilman’s face but you know how he voted and what he said,” he said. “That’s factual and can be reported on from anywhere.” Despite of the financial crisis this year the lay-offs and revenue drops, Singleton said newspapers still have incredible reach in the country as it still profits but he said they must change in order to survive and remain steady. Singleton praised electronic versions of newspapers because they eliminate printing and delivery expenses. He also said newspapers could heal their bottom lines by building up their sales forces and producing more niche publications like wedding magazines to attract more advertising. Singleton said no decision has been made to outsource editorial functions overseas at any MediaNews publications, though it was recommended by consultants. He said publishers were trying to consolidate editing and design domestically, whether in one place or several, and see if they could match the savings they would see by going overseas. Singleton talked about outsourcing delivery of newspapers, relying more intensely on syndicates for non-local news, and moving circulation call centers offshore. He also mentioned outsourcing printing to competitors and centralizing the production and said that may be as cheap as going overseas. But he said most of the preproduction work for MediaNews’ papers in California is being done in India, a move he said cut costs by 65%. Outsourcing will the future of the journalists. It will help them in their jobs. it is really good.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2008-10-20-singleton_N.htm
