Interesting to read the report today at washingtonpost.com on comments by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive Warren Buffett made at a three hour news conference following their annual meeting.
“The economics for newspapers are worse now than they used to, and the prospects are worse,” said Buffett, a long-time director and large shareholder of The Washington Post Co.
Buffett said declines in circulation result from readers turning to alternative sources , such as free Web sites and television. And he said owning the dominant news Web site in a region is not enough to guarantee sustained profitability for newspaper firms.
Comments from Buffett cause whole industries to react. He has been lauded as an investment guru and visionary for decades. It will be interesting to see how others report his comments. The Washington Post article does not report answer to what would have been the most obvious question: if newspapers are declining, what’s next? He did discuss his investment in Buffalo where he has investment in a newspaper and a website and said “We’ve got the best position, but it isn’t remotely like owning the paper 30 years ago.”