15 May 2012

The further declining Canberra Times

| johnboy
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CityNews is taking much joy in further reports of decline at the Canberra Times:

“The Canberra Times” fell below 30,000 paid sales for its Monday to Friday editions recording a 6.6 per cent drop (to 29,441 copies) and the flagship Saturday edition falling by 8.18 per cent (to 49,178) and Sunday dipped 5.55 per cent (to 31,377).

But when they bundle all of Fairfax’s online properties in the local market they can come up with a solid sounding online number!

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Gungahlin Al12:03 am 01 Jun 12

It could have something to do with earth-shattering journalistic exposes like this:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/strangers-touch-makes-women-feel-hot-20120531-1zjml.html

Codders111 said :

Chill out guys. The CT isn’t great but it does the job. What do you expect? The New York Times??? Hardly realistic for a smallish city..

If you read (and comprehended) the thread so-far, you’d see that what many of us want is what the Canberra Times used to be. When Canberra was an even smaller city. Much smaller in fact.

It’s turned into a pointless, expensive WOFTAM.

Chill out guys. The CT isn’t great but it does the job. What do you expect? The New York Times??? Hardly realistic for a smallish city.

Replacing it with the Daily Telegraph is an awful idea. If people want to read tacky gossip and thinly-veiled right-wing propaganda they can bugger off to America.

I started going down hill when they stopped naming and shaming drunk drivers in their court reports. Do they in fact have a court reporter these days?

Myles Peterson4:51 pm 31 May 12

I miss the sensational game reviews on the back of the TV Guide.

Sarcasm aside, there are some good people working at The Crimes who will be missed by the Canberra community if things do go completely pear-shaped. Won’t name them and tar them by association with myself, but I hope they are able to navigate this horrible phase and land on their feet. More than a few have already been snapped up by related industries.

Most professional journalists aren’t in it for the money, for obvious reasons, and their skills tend to score them much better paying jobs elsewhere.

SnapperJack said :

quality, unbiased journalism of News Ltd.

Comedy gold!!

SnapperJack said :

Canberra can join the real world in having access to the quality, unbiased journalism of News Ltd.

That will indeed be a boon.

SnapperJack said :

All their left wing journalists and cartoonists can be retrained for other employment. Garbagemen perhaps. Oh, hang on, that’s what they’re doing now 😀

\

Guess they’ll be joining you, then.

The strike at The Canberra Times is certainly good news because Fairfax might finally realise how unloved the paper really is and that if they close it Fairfax will be in a better financial position. All their left wing journalists and cartoonists can be retrained for other employment. Garbagemen perhaps. Oh, hang on, that’s what they’re doing now 😀

With The Canberra Times gone Canberra can join the real world in having access to the quality, unbiased journalism of News Ltd. The Daily Telegraph published a Canberra edition around 15 years ago, they will be able to fill the breach and nobody will be worse off.

bitzermaloney said :

on a positive… the quality of their journalism has just gone up until 6am tomorrow morning.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/canberra-journalists-join-fairfax-strike-20120531-1zkad.html

I’m pretty disappointed. I want to know who will in their absence will be proividing me with such quality stories with witty headlines as “Boss says massage oil not in sauce bottle” and “Old person smell not all bad”.

smiling politely2:47 pm 31 May 12

Their op-ed page is ok-ish most of the time, though I’m getting a bit sick of Neil James from ADA constantly popping up.

I will say this though – in David Pope they have one of the top 3 political cartoonists in the country at the moment. Deservedly won cartoonist of the year a little while back as voted by his peers at the Australian Cartoonists Association and continues to produce to a high standard.

bitzermaloney2:33 pm 31 May 12

on a positive… the quality of their journalism has just gone up until 6am tomorrow morning.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/canberra-journalists-join-fairfax-strike-20120531-1zkad.html

cross said :

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

Or they could go and get another job. There are planty of jobs around in Canberra if people pull their heads out of their arses and stop bleating on about how something is below them or they are too over-qualified for something.

Took me a week to find a new job in an industry that has a very small workforce in the ACT and is very competitive.

Agree with what Vicepope said. It used to be THE paper, everyone read it, it had good gossipy stuff, gossipy political stuff, good meaty stories, the best cartoonists in Australia…. What the hell happened?! Hate to say it, but I prefer that little colour thing on Sundays. That’s what it’s come to.

Thought I would disinter this thread, having contributed at #9. After much thinking, decided not to renew my CT subscription. Delivery is sometimes a mess (and I have given up calling about it). The paper is not what it was (I have been reading it since the late 1970s, before I came here and remember a newspaper that had to be taken seriously), or what we deserve. On the other hand, too many cancellations and we might lose a service that, while pretty poor, is way better than the commercial TV news if not as responsive as 666. So it was not easy to let go of an old friend, even though the friend had been taking me (and the rest of the place) for granted for some time.
Anyhow, the person at the end of the line didn’t even ask why, only about where to send the bill for the copies delivered since the previous subscription expired, I expect they’re just getting used to it and perhaps they’ve given up caring.

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yep, like I predicted there was not a word about it in the paper this morning. They also ignored the story about Bianca Elmir missing the Olympics due to a doping ban. No wonder they’re losing circulation. Not even the public servants are reading it during their tea breaks anymore.

Gungahlin Al10:13 pm 15 May 12

No matter the problems of the Canberra Times, for City News to be crowing about them this way every few months is unseemly and reflects poorly on them instead.

VicePope said :

Once upon a time it was an unmissable paper, with serious content and some lovely whimsy. It should be doing a lot better in this town and its surrounds.

Indeed.

cross said :

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

Or maybe the CT could move into the 21st century and offer the Canberra community a decent product.

I’ve been getting a free Canberra Times delivered un-asked for to my house for the past month. Their sudoku is far superior to that in the SMH. Most of the news is not new but serves well at catching the crumbs from my toast in the morning.

cross said :

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

I vote that instead of putting taxes up to pay for increased dole recipients, we reduce the dole.

Do the circulation figures include the free CT I get every Saturday at the Belconnen Markets with my fruit and veg.? Does the shop owner buy the papers and then give them away or are they free to him/her? Whatever the case I remember Graham Downie coming to talk to our year 6 class as a CT journalist back in 1980!.

cross said :

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

Relax. The unions will save us all.

cross said :

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

Shhh Canberra times will not close down in our lifetimes.

Roundhead89 said :

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

Yeah lets celebrate the possible loss of 500 Canberra Times and 100’s of associated contractors and suppliers jobs, they can join Harvey Norman employees down at the dole office that should put your taxes up somewhat and really give you something to have a pissy little winge about.

I bet the CT will ignore this again tomorrow just like they did with the last lot of shocking circulation figures. I confidently predict that the paper will close within a year.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

I had a subscription but cancelled it because they didn’t deliver it for several days in a row, and I had to keep calling them to get one sent out.

Screw them and the horse they rode in on.

Yep. Shoddy organisation putting out a shoddy rag. If I wanted to read yesterday’s Tele, I would have bought it yesterday. Death knell can’t be far away.

Holden Caulfield2:34 pm 15 May 12

XO_VSOP said :

Holden Caulfield said :

XO_VSOP said :

City News should focus more on its declining page numbers and ad revenue Than taking a swipe at the Canberra times.

Reckon with their increasing real estate listings that they might be okay on the revenue front.

I think you’re thinking the Canberra Weekly mister! Citynews is lucky to have 4 page or more real estate pages a week.

Yes, you’re right, haha!

I’m not sure what is more sad, that they’re now having Woroni editors write their content, or that doing that means the story displays an eloquence often missing from their usual content. Maybe they should just outsource their newsroom and help support the local higher education sector. Can get the SoM and SoA students to write about culture and help their budget woes even!

The content is a joke. The video intro is a zoom of their logo, the music a royalty free track shipped with the video editor software as a free sample. The site puffed up with irrelevant Fairfax adverts and content. And the print edition, I swear they’re spacing out the content more to make it look bigger when in fact there’s less. Basically confucius’ style of journalism – less is more.

I have had the account for the next six months subscription for a while and remain undecided. Delivery is sporadic at times (non-existent or too late to be of any use) and I have given up calling to get the extra day credited. For the most part, its coverage of local stuff is lightweight and it picks up its better articles from the SMH, Age, Guardian, Independent etc. Once upon a time it was an unmissable paper, with serious content and some lovely whimsy. It should be doing a lot better in this town and its surrounds.

Their website is woeful now that they are syndicating the rest of Fairfax news as news items on their site – the only local content seems to be sports reports and reader submitted photos…

Holden Caulfield said :

XO_VSOP said :

City News should focus more on its declining page numbers and ad revenue Than taking a swipe at the Canberra times.

Reckon with their increasing real estate listings that they might be okay on the revenue front.

I think you’re thinking the Canberra Weekly mister! Citynews is lucky to have 4 page or more real estate pages a week.

CityNews is that arse-rag that they have for free lying around on the counter at Macca’s and such, for when the cleaning staff have neglected to refill the toilet paper dispensers isn’t it?

Considering that even The Chronicle would be a more informative source for the goings-on in Canberra than CityNews, it strikes me as a bit rich that they can start criticising the CT.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back1:38 pm 15 May 12

I had a subscription but cancelled it because they didn’t deliver it for several days in a row, and I had to keep calling them to get one sent out.

Screw them and the horse they rode in on.

Holden Caulfield1:34 pm 15 May 12

XO_VSOP said :

City News should focus more on its declining page numbers and ad revenue  Than taking a swipe at the Canberra times. 

Reckon with their increasing real estate listings that they might be okay on the revenue front.

I thought the city news was one of those insert magazines that came in the Canberra Times?

You’re thinking of In The City?

City News should focus more on its declining page numbers and ad revenue  Than taking a swipe at the Canberra times. 

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