The South African Civil Society Information Service

Michael Moore Says Capitalism Killed US Newspaper Industry
25 Sep 2009

Speaking at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, which ran from 10-19 September 2009, Michael Moore commented on the decline of American newspapers, comparing them to the industry in Europe, which still appears to be thriving.

In Europe, Japan and many other countries, the primary source of funding for newspapers is circulation. Advertising is the secondary source of funding. However, in America, advertising is the primary source of funding and circulation, second.

Moore argues, "Any time you say that the people who read your newspaper are secondary to the business community, you've lost. And eventually you're not going to survive, at that point, when your primary concern is the advertiser."

"In Europe, they know in order to keep circulation up, they better put out a damn good newspaper - they better put out something that people read and they better not cut too many reporters because if certain beats aren't being covered, people aren't going to read the paper."

Read more articles tagged with: media, capitalism.

You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/173.19.