William Yelles: It’s back to the future at the Union-Tribune

The last time I was at the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Mission Valley headquarters was on a junior high field trip. Back then, the bustling pre-Internet enterprise was a few years from becoming the U-T, still operating two separate newsrooms housing the morning Union and the evening Tribune.

This week, I visited again. Walking through the old fashioned wood paneled lobby and heading upstairs to publisher Ed Moss’s top-floor office felt like stepping back in time; things looked pretty much the same as I remembered it from decades ago. Moss’s quarters and the building itself are still ensconced in drab shades ranging from tan to brown, best suited to a 1960s TV landmark like the Drysdale Bank than a fast-paced, lean media company of the future.

I was surprised when the U-T’s public relations firm invited me to interview Moss, the paper’s new publisher.

Why is the dominant media outlet in town seeking attention from SDNN, a scrappy upstart? How desperate are they for some good publicity?

While SDNN has steadily grown to be one of the county’s largest news Web sites since our launch in March, and continues to grow (thanks!), the headlines out of Mission Valley have been different: Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity cut 192 employees within days of closing on its purchase of the U-T in May, followed by a second round of 112 cuts in August. Many high-profile newsroom staffers were shown the door, across all areas of coverage.

The moves followed years of declining advertising revenue and circulation, indicative of the overall troubled media landscape, especially in the print space. The U-T’s current circulation stands at about 260,000 weekdays, 330,000 on Sundays, as of March, down 9.5 percent from the previous six months alone. In 2004, daily circulation was 329,453 and Sundays, 422,037.

Remaining U-T readers have noticed the paper getting very thin as page counts declined, along with revenue. The Sunday paper’s size is in line with the daily edition from a few years ago; in fact, the paper prints half as many pages today as it did in 2003. Thursday’s edition had 64 pages in six sections, as stated on the front page; not that long ago the paper’s weekly Night&Day tabloid could approach that total by itself.

The paper’s troubles came at a time of widespread turmoil in the media landscape. Journalists nationwide have lost jobs at a faster clip than the general economy. Several papers have closed their doors altogether. Platinum’s deal followed a lengthy sale process that began in July 2008; few other prospective buyers came forward.

So it is understandable that Moss, an old-school newspaper guy with a 32-year industry career, installed by Platinum within days of the paper’s sale, would not want to sit idly by. Along comes a splashy media campaign with the tagline “we’re here to stay.” Additionally, on the front page of every paper is the declaration of “more than one million readers every week.”

The number comes from Scarborough Research data that calculates the number of people per household that receive the paper. In other words, Mom subscribes to the paper; Dad and two kids are also in the home. They are all technically counted as “readers” whether they actually flip through the paper or not.

If the print world is standing on thin ice, it might as well dance.

But to hear it from Moss, there is reason for optimism.

“The print product will be around for decades to come,” he told me in an interview this week in his office, citing the “40-plus” demographic will continue to be the majority for the foreseeable future. He characterized the perceived death of print as “way overblown.” The current economic downturn is the primary reason for the format’s hard times, Moss said. (This is despite the fact that readers were moving online well before the real estate market crashed — and associated lucrative ad dollars dried up.)

Among upcoming initiatives are a roll out of “product and design improvements” over the coming weeks and months. Although light on details, Moss pointed to “more local news” and an “increased story count” from the current roster of 175 newsroom staffers.

“Managers have clear goals and expectations. They have the resources necessary” to churn out more content, despite the recent layoffs, said Moss, who arrived from the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, where he was president and chief executive. Before that, he was president and publisher of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Moss characterized upcoming “microzoned” editions as a “huge change.” The paper will now be printed in 19 versions in order to hypertarget neighborhood advertising in areas like Poway and La Jolla.

But it is not clear if these editions include new pages, or additional revenue, or merely splitting up existing ad slots more ways among smaller advertisers.

Moss also pointed to a redesign of the paper’s SignOnSanDiego Web site planned for Nov. 1.

(Speaking of the Web site, why isn’t the U-T counting its online readers as part of its ad campaign? Sign On is still the largest Web site in town, drawing 489,000 visitors per week, according to the most recent figures on Quantcast, an audience measurement service. Downplaying success on the Web shows the U-T’s print-first orientation as to what matters most.)

Moss may seem like a throwback sitting in his wood-paneled office, but Tom Gores, who controls Platinum Equity, is no Beverly Hillbilly. He wants results and Moss needs to deliver. The paper expects to turn a $5 million profit this year compared to an expected $8 million loss when Platinum took over, largely because of cost savings from the layoffs and budget cutbacks. Now Gores and Platinum are eyeing other media outlets, and have already bid for the troubled Boston Globe.

Personally, I wish Moss well. I’m optimistic about SDNN’s inevitable path to world domination, but it’s sort of sad to see the hometown paper in its current state. I’d love to have a robust competitor to make life more interesting. I don’t expect us to beat them on everything with our newsroom of eight but we’ve been faster with posting numerous stories than SignOn lately so I’m encouraged taking on Goliath.

More so after meeting Ed Moss.

William Yelles is SDNN managing editor. Email him at william.yelles (at) sdnn.com.

Tags: ed moss, platinum equity, San Diego Union-Tribune, SDNN

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