Here we go with the continuing saga of major newspaper operations around the country virtually going bankrupt thru a significant turndown of advertising revenue and a major drop off in readership. The Washington Post’s news operations, which include the relatively unpopular local newspaper the Everett Herald, are being supported financially by the revenue of the Post’s educational business the Kaplan Group which brought in a very profitable 2 Billion plus dollars in Revenue last year. Andy Rosen the CEO of Kaplan now has vast power at the Washington Post Company since he now oversees more than ONE HALF of the total revenue of the company.

Rumors have surfaced within the last week that Rosen wants more resources to expand Kaplan and word is leaking out that his position is “Why waste money on a losing proposition?” (I.e.: newspaper and internet news operations). If this rumor is true and Kaplan prevails, look for major layoffs at the Washington Post, Newsweek, and the Everett Herald in the coming months and significant cutbacks in news content in these publications.

Various news reports have been leaking out recently that may shed some light on the immediate future of job security at the Post. These reports include layoffs and buyouts, cuts in operations and reorganization.

One of the problems at the Post has been the continuing poor results from the laggard Everett Herald. Since 2000 more than 100,000 new families have moved into their readership area of Snohomish County, yet readership have been lackluster and in some cases declined from year to year, because most of these prospective new subscribers are getting their news from the Internet or subscribing to the locally owned and operated Seattle Times.

The Herald’s major problem is it’s refusal to listen to community leaders who have complained for several years about an editorial policy that is out of touch with a county that is dominated by an agricultural economy and reporting that seems more suited to a major city newspaper. One case in point was a major series of pieces about the mental health of illegal aliens and their fears as they either wait to be deported or are hiding from the INS. While the story does have a human interest angle, the small Hispanic community in Snohomish County makes the story seem out of place when major issues such as traffic congestion, the local economy, radical anti-business actions by the County Council and crime in the streets of downtown Everett go unreported for the most part.

There is a general consensus in the local community that the Everett Herald may go the way of the Seattle PI, but my view is that the Washington Post will eventually sell the Herald, because there are a NUMBER of interested parties in the local area that might be interested in a newspaper that not only could be made vastly more profitable but a circulation winner by a simple re-staffing of its operations and a shift in its editorial policies.