PerthNorg

Newspapers are a SELL, Kerry

The New York Times is trading 70% down on its price 30 months ago. The top nine US newspaper stocks lost $3.9b in the first ten days of July (it looks to have worsened since then). Is that amount significant? Yes, it means they are now worth in total $3.6b.

Which makes you wonder why the Seven Network is increasing its investment in The West Australian. Yes, it's poorly run and has trod on Kerry's toes but it would seem to be at least as vulnerable to the pressures of Internet classifieds as other papers.

You can no longer describe The West as a monopoly. Real estate and car web sites will bleed the paper of substantial revenue. The real estate thing will also hurt their local newspaper franchises. Display ads will hold up better - no competition.

If I was a shareholder in Seven I would be asking my board, is this a vendetta or a business decision?