Downsized newspapers flee their longtime headquarters
John Reinan lists the many newspapers that have recently moved out of their longtime headquarters and says that…
I can’t help but view these real-estate changes as a metaphor for the overall role of newspapers in our society. They once were commanding civic institutions, owned by local businesspeople who expressed their pride and influence by constructing grand buildings to house their media properties.
Now they’re pieces of far-flung corporate empires, staggered by recession and rapid transformation in their industry, run by absentee owners focused on the bottom line above all else. No longer a symbol of local power and influence, the newspaper building is merely an economic asset on a balance sheet, to be disposed of when it becomes a drain on profits.
* Buildings’ fate tells the tale of newspaper industry’s decline (MinnPost.com)
