Buy Newspapers

[SOURCE: MarketWatch, AUTHOR: Thomas Kostigen]
Newspapers, despite all the commentary and seeming evidence to the contrary, are good investments. They are the biggest purveyors and producers of content, and their profit margins are big. Newspapers have profit margins that average between 20% and 30%. A report by the Newspaper Association of America points out that those numbers are "a bit less than Microsoft and Dell but higher even than pharmaceuticals." This is important to remember as people get inundated by the fanfare that the Internet is the future of growth and the slayer of all things print. Online news outlets are mature enough to be called distinct and separate businesses. Newspapers are still relevant, indeed even resilient. Wrappers aside, newspapers may even be fueled by the rise of technology. As George Soros may exemplify in his rumored purchase of the Dreamworks movie library -- and as Yahoo and Google are announcing with their news and entertainment alliances -- content reigns king. Newspapers aren't yet valued on their archives, essentially libraries of their articles, or on the prospects of their earnings streams. These could be giant assets whose potential will be borne out by what we're seeing now as models at The New York Times and ESPN.com -- paid-for premium content. If Google believes it can garner income from people willing to pay for second-run television shows shown on their PCs or hand-held devices, is it so far-fetched to believe people will pay for articles, columns and special reports?
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={0B759CFE-DBAA-4E8B-B762-814A3ACF798C