J-prof Kelly Toughill on why one analyst thinks news media organizations would be better off as privately-held entities.

From the Oct. 25 Toronto Star:

Lauren Rich Fine was the most powerful media-stock analyst on Wall Street for more than a decade. She built her career telling newspapers how to maximize profits to boost share price, then retired a year ago. Thursday she delivered an unusual message:

Make less money. Get off the stock exchange.

Her column at paidcontent.org was published the same day that Canada's largest media company became a penny stock. ...

Journalists who complain about cutbacks have been ignored or patronized, dismissed as fuzzy-minded idealists who don't understand that the money for their paycheques has to come from somewhere, and that the interests of stockholders count, too. Certainly some journalists are that naive, but not many.

The doyen of Wall Street echoed journalists' common concerns in her Thursday column. Lauren Rich Fine pointed out that most newspaper companies are still making money, though they are keeping far fewer pennies from every dollar they take in. Even McClatchy, the poster-child for the illness afflicting North American media companies, made a profit in the last quarter.

Adjusting to the new reality, according to Fine, requires that newspapers be liberated from the pressure for constant growth exerted by anonymous investors.

Her conclusion is worth repeating.

"For an industry that well understands it serves the greater good, come to terms with lower margins. And then go private!"