Bids on eBay last night were up to $400 for a single copy of Wednesday’s New York Times — banner headline: “Obama” — although by this morning, market saturation seems to have knocked that price down to about $100. Lesser but still substantial ransoms were being asked for keepsake editions of lesser but still substantial metro dailies.
Who said print is dead?
From Reuters:
Newspapers in San Francisco, Denver and Chicago reported selling out and also printed special editions. Thousands of extra copies were printed in Baltimore, Hartford, Connecticut, and Orlando, Florida.
The Washington Post’s “Obama Makes History” edition was bid up to $41. Obama’s hometown papers the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times were offered together on eBay at a comparative bargain price of $50. The Tribune featured a nearly full-page color photo of Obama with the headline “Obama, Our Next President” and the Sun-Times showed a full-page photograph of Obama that said simply “Mr. President.”
I should be able to say that I saw this coming, given the fact that I spent half my life in the newspaper business and have seen this kind of thing happen before. However, the newsprint gold rush was lost on me until late yesterday afternoon when I glanced into an empty news rack at the checkout counter of my local grocery. “Oh, right,” I said to myself as the light came on.
Considering all the abuse heaped upon newspapers these days, it’s nice to see them bask in a bit of reflected glow from Obama’s historic accomplishment. They, of course, will be happier about the additional revenue.
And at least one newspaper executive has failed to grasp the difference.
“This kind of demand for our newspapers is unlike anything we’ve experienced in recent history,” Tribune Co Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels said in a statement. “This is a clear demonstration that people continue turning to their local newspaper to help them understand and interpret the news of the day, and that is especially true when big events happen.”
No, this is a clear demonstration that readers cannot stash a Web site into a keepsake drawer.
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