The Oracle

 

“Warren Buffett, the man behind a print-media empire that includes the Buffalo News and Omaha World-Herald, doesn’t think most newspapers can be saved.

“The decline of advertising gradually turned the newspaper industry ‘from monopoly to franchise to competitive,’ [he] said. And now most newspapers are ‘toast.’

“Readers sought out newspapers when they were packed with ads about bargains, jobs and apartments, Buffett said. But Craigslist and other sites have taken over that role.

“‘It upsets the people in the newsroom to talk that way, but the ads were the most important editorial content from the standpoint of the reader,’ Buffett said.” 

—Catherine Chiglinsky and Gerry Smith, “Warren Buffett Sees Most Newspapers as ‘Toast’ After Ad Decline,” April 23, 2019.

• Editorial Comment: I hate toast.

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