TheStreet.com Staff
Newspaper advertisers can't reach the people they want -- the younger people, Jim Cramer said on TheStreet.com TV's Wall Street Confidential Web video Friday, in response to word from publisher Gannett (GCI Quote - Cramer on GCI - Stock Picks) last night that advertising is not so hot.
Advertisers want a particular demographic -- 18 to 35 years of age -- "and that cohort has stopped reading newspapers," Cramer told Gregg Greenberg, the host of Wall St. Confidential. What people keep expecting is that somehow if the circulation, which tends not to be going down, stays steady, then advertising will stay steady, as well, Cramer said. "But the opposite is occurring ... because younger people don't read newspapers anymore." Meanwhile, the people running these organizations, who tend to be in their 40s, 50s and 60s, are unaware of that. They're of the mindset that they can make deals "not recognizing the tremendous demographic shift away from newspapers," he continued. They think if they change and produce edgier content, they'll be able to attract younger readers, Cramer said. But they need to realize that this shift "has directly to do with the fact that [newspapers are] not the means that people [use to] get information anymore." "Newspapers are not businesses," he told Greenberg. "A business is something that grows and grows off of cash flow. When a business shrinks and has diminishing cash flow, it is not a business."
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