Here is the Washington Post on the Washington Post in a very straightforward and concise article about its financial condition and results. Click here to read this piece. Well done Frank Ahrens.

It is interesting to note that the newspaper itself is now such a small part of the revenues of the company with Kaplan now representing 58 percent of the company’s revenues for the quarter. The actual newspaper itself continued to shrink in terms of ad sales, circulation and people. It continues to lose lots of money but less than last quarter. The Washington Post newspaper itself now represents only 15 percent of company revenues.

I consider the Washington Post to be the best managed paper in the country. If it is struggling and its sales are down – in some places 20 percent - I can just imagine what will be reported at some other institutions. The newspaper business is dragging down the results of the company yet it is what the company is known for and named after. It is the money loser. The paper can’t cut costs faster than it is losing money. Where is the bottom here?

The recession is taking its toll on advertisers. The Internet is a better and more accountable way for advertisers to reach buyers. Consumers use other ways to place their personal and classified ads now. Young people read newspapers less and less. It costs more and more to produce a physical news paper so costs are tough to control. I am happy to see that the Washington Post still has a daily circulation of more than 600 thousand but circulation will continue to go down.

Watching the Washington Post Company manage its way out of these issues will be a case study in reinvention. If they can’t do it and reinvent the newspaper, then no one else can. We are all rooting for the Washington Post. Cities are defined by a few iconic brands and institutions such as universities, sports teams, media companies, parks and key buildings. Think of New York City.  What do you think of? Central Park? Empire State Building? Lady Liberty? New York Yankees? New York Giants? New York Times? Columbia University? You get the point.