Rewording Press Releases Just Isn’t Enough Anymore…

Are the Hollywood trade papers on borrowed time? Reuters reports on the precarious state of Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, both of which stopped practicing anything close to genuine journalism years ago:

For more than 75 years, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have battled to be the movie industry's top newspaper, but recent layoffs due to the recession and competition from Internet blogs has Hollywood wondering if it will soon become a one paper town.
Publishers of the showbusiness newspapers say advertising has plunged, even during the current Oscar season when movie studios pay well to hype their films with cover page ads.
Moreover, the papers face increased competition from bloggers providing a daily diet of Hollywood news and gossip, such as Nikki Finke's DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com, Tina Brown's TheDailyBeast.com and David Poland's MovieCityNews.com.

There's no point to subscribing to Variety any more. Nikke Finke's blog reports more genuine news in one day than Variety does in a year…and without their blatantly biased "reporting." 

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