They've always done things differently at the New York Sun. The very act of opening a print-centric newspaper in the new millennium is anachronistic, not unlike designing a new horse carriage at the dawn of the automotive agealbeit one that has a tendency to veer to the right. Now, in its most desperate hour, the paper may have to consider its non-traditional roots and try something drastic to help keep it afloat.
"Our losses, which are substantial, have been covered so far by a group of investors whom we would call heroic. And they are prepared to continue to back the enterprise with new capital. But as costs rise and the advertising market for newspapers generally tightens, keeping the Sun alive and moving it toward self-sufficiency will require broadening the base of investors beyond the original group."
The paper's original investors are labeled "heroic" because they were willing to sink money into a losing project for several years. Now, the paper admits that rising print costs and dwindling ad prices are only going to make matters worse. Clearly, this is not a sound financial investment.
But the truth is that the paper isn't looking for investors; it's looking for benefactors. So why hide it? Actual investors would rather burn their money themselves than put it behind a fledgling newspaperunless it were some sort of vanity project. On the other hand, the Sun's readers, generally speaking, are a wealthy and passionate group that might respond well to a pledge-drive or other charity gimmick usually seen on public television or radio. Were they to make the transition to become a full-fledged charity, they wouldn't be alone as a not-for-profit newspaper. Thousands of college and high-school newspapers around the country are subsidized products. The St. Petersburg Times is owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute. ProPublica, while not actually a newspaper, is a news service providing investigative journalism in the public's interest, and has actually partnered with the Sun in the past.
It's a trying time for newspaperssomething the Sun knew from the day it was launchedand if a paper can't actually turn a profit, admitting that they're not really looking to turn one would be a service to themselves, their readers, and their, ahem, investors.
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