Buffalo Evening News
Profits at the News in 1984 were considerably greater than we expected. As at See's, excellent progress was made in controlling costs. Excluding hours worked in the newsroom, total hours worked decreased by about 2.8%. With this productivity improvement, overall costs increased only 4.9%. This performance by Stan Lipsey and his management team was one of the best in the industry.
1984年，News的利润远超我们的预期。与See's一样，成本控制方面取得了出色进展。不计编辑室工时，总工时减少了约2.8%。得益于这一生产率提升，总体成本仅上涨了4.9%。Stan Lipsey和他的管理团队的这一表现，堪称行业内最优秀之列。
However, we now face an acceleration in costs. In mid-1984 we entered into new multi-year union contracts that provided for a large "catch-up" wage increase. This catch-up is entirely appropriate: the cooperative spirit of our unions during the unprofitable 1977-1982 period was an important factor in our success in remaining cost competitive with The Courier-Express. Had we not kept costs down, the outcome of that struggle might well have been different.
然而，我们现在面临成本加速上升的压力。1984年中期，我们签订了新的多年期工会合同，合同规定了大幅的"补偿性"工资增长。这种补偿完全合情合理：在1977年至1982年亏损期间，工会展现出的合作精神，是我们得以在与The Courier-Express的竞争中保持成本竞争力的重要因素。若非当时将成本压住，那场竞争的结局未必会是今天这个样子。
Because our new union contracts took effect at varying dates, little of the catch-up increase was reflected in our 1984 costs. But the increase will be almost totally effective in 1985 and, therefore, our unit labor costs will rise this year at a rate considerably greater than that of the industry. We expect to mitigate this increase by continued small gains in productivity, but we cannot avoid significantly higher wage costs this year. Newsprint price trends also are less favorable now than they were in 1984. Primarily because of these two factors, we expect at least a minor contraction in margins at the News.
由于新工会合同的生效日期参差不齐，补偿性增长对1984年成本的影响甚微。但这一增长将在1985年几乎全面生效，因此今年我们的单位劳动力成本上升幅度将远高于行业水平。我们期望通过持续小幅提升生产率来部分抵消这一增长，但今年大幅上升的人工成本在所难免。新闻纸的价格走势也比1984年时更为不利。主要由于这两个因素，我们预计News的利润率今年至少会有小幅收窄。
Working in our favor at the News are two factors of major economic importance:
对我们有利的，是News具备两项具有重大经济价值的优势：
(1)Our circulation is concentrated to an unusual degree in the area of maximum utility to our advertisers. "Regional" newspapers with wide-ranging circulation, on the other hand, have a significant portion of their circulation in areas that are of negligible utility to most advertisers. A subscriber several hundred miles away is not much of a prospect for the puppy you are offering to sell via a classified ad—nor for the grocer with stores only in the metropolitan area. "Wasted" circulation—as the advertisers call it—hurts profitability: expenses of a newspaper are determined largely by gross circulation while advertising revenues (usually 70%—80% of total revenues) are responsive only to useful circulation;
我们的发行量在对广告商最具价值的地区高度集中，这一程度实属罕见。相比之下，发行范围广泛的"区域性"报纸，有相当一部分发行量覆盖在对大多数广告商几乎没有价值的地区。一个远在几百英里之外的订户，对于你通过分类广告出售的小狗来说算不上什么潜在买家——对于只在都市圈内开店的杂货商来说也是如此。广告商所说的"无效发行量"会损害盈利能力：报纸的成本主要由总发行量决定，而广告收入（通常占总收入的70%至80%）却只对有效发行量有所响应。
(2)Our penetration of the Buffalo retail market is exceptional; advertisers can reach almost all of their potential customers using only the News.
我们对Buffalo零售市场的渗透率出类拔萃；广告商只需借助News，便几乎可以触达其所有潜在客户。
Last year I told you about this unusual reader acceptance: among the 100 largest newspapers in the country, we were then number one, daily, and number three, Sunday, in penetration. The most recent figures show us number one in penetration on weekdays and number two on Sunday. (Even so, the number of households in Buffalo has declined, so our current weekday circulation is down slightly; on Sundays it is unchanged.)
去年我向大家介绍过这种非同寻常的读者认可度：在全美百大报纸中，我们当时日报渗透率排名第一，周日版排名第三。最新数据显示，我们工作日渗透率仍居第一，周日版跃升至第二。（即便如此，由于Buffalo的家庭户数有所减少，我们目前的工作日发行量略有下滑；周日版则保持不变。）
I told you also that one of the major reasons for this unusual acceptance by readers was the unusual quantity of news that we delivered to them: a greater percentage of our paper is devoted to news than is the case at any other dominant paper in our size range. In 1984 our "news hole" ratio was 50.9%, (versus 50.4% in 1983), a level far above the typical 35%-40%. We will continue to maintain this ratio in the 50% area. Also, though we last year reduced total hours worked in other departments, we maintained the level of employment in the newsroom and, again, will continue to do so. Newsroom costs advanced 9.1% in 1984, a rise far exceeding our overall cost increase of 4.9%.
我还告诉过你们，读者对我们给予这种非同寻常认可的一个主要原因，是我们向他们传递的新闻量之大实属罕见：我们报纸中用于新闻内容的比例，高于同规模范围内任何一家主导性报纸。1984年，我们的"新闻版面"比率为50.9%（1983年为50.4%），远高于典型的35%-40%。我们将继续将这一比率维持在50%左右。此外，尽管去年我们减少了其他部门的总工时，但编辑室的用工水平保持不变，今后也将继续如此。1984年编辑室成本上升了9.1%，涨幅远超我们4.9%的总体成本增幅。
Our news hole policy costs us significant extra money for newsprint. As a result, our news costs (newsprint for the news hole plus payroll and expenses of the newsroom) as a percentage of revenue run higher than those of most dominant papers of our size. There is adequate room, however, for our paper or any other dominant paper to sustain these costs: the difference between "high" and "low" news costs at papers of comparable size runs perhaps three percentage points while pre-tax profit margins are often ten times that amount.
我们的新闻版面政策使我们在新闻纸上额外付出了相当可观的成本。因此，我们的新闻成本（新闻版面所用新闻纸，加上编辑室薪资及费用）占收入的比例，高于大多数同规模主导性报纸。然而，我们的报纸或任何其他主导性报纸，都有足够的空间来承担这些成本：同等规模报纸中，新闻成本"高"与"低"之间的差距或许只有三个百分点，而税前利润率往往是这一差距的十倍。
The economics of a dominant newspaper are excellent, among the very best in the business world. Owners, naturally, would like to believe that their wonderful profitability is achieved only because they unfailingly turn out a wonderful product. That comfortable theory wilts before an uncomfortable fact. While first-class newspapers make excellent profits, the profits of third-rate papers are as good or better—as long as either class of paper is dominant within its community. Of course, product quality may have been crucial to the paper in achieving dominance. We believe this was the case at the News, in very large part because of people such as Alfred Kirchhofer who preceded us.
一份主导性报纸的经济特质极为优秀，堪称商界翘楚之列。业主自然愿意相信，他们那令人称羡的盈利能力，全然源于他们始终如一地出品卓越产品。然而，这个令人舒适的理论，在一个令人不舒适的事实面前不攻自破。一流报纸固然利润丰厚，但三流报纸的利润同样不相上下，甚至有过之而无不及——只要这两类报纸中的任何一种在其所在社区占据主导地位。当然，产品质量或许对一份报纸取得主导地位至关重要。我们相信News正是如此，在很大程度上要归功于在我们之前像Alfred Kirchhofer这样的人。
Once dominant, the newspaper itself, not the marketplace, determines just how good or how bad the paper will be. Good or bad, it will prosper. That is not true of most businesses: inferior quality generally produces inferior economics. But even a poor newspaper is a bargain to most citizens simply because of its "bulletin board" value. Other things being equal, a poor product will not achieve quite the level of readership achieved by a first-class product. A poor product, however, will still remain essential to most citizens, and what commands their attention will command the attention of advertisers.
一旦取得主导地位，决定这份报纸好坏的，便是报纸自身，而非市场。无论好坏，它都将继续繁荣。这一点在大多数行业并不成立：质量低劣通常产生低劣的经济效益。但即便是一份糟糕的报纸，对大多数市民而言也物有所值，原因仅仅在于它的"公告栏"价值。在其他条件相同的情况下，劣质产品固然无法达到一流产品所能获得的读者规模，然而劣质产品对大多数市民来说仍不可或缺，而能够吸引读者注意力的东西，同样能够吸引广告商的注意力。
Since high standards are not imposed by the marketplace, management must impose its own. Our commitment to an above-average expenditure for news represents an important quantitative standard. We have confidence that Stan Lipsey and Murray Light will continue to apply the far-more important qualitative standards. Charlie and I believe that newspapers are very special institutions in society. We are proud of the News, and intend an even greater pride to be justified in the years ahead.
既然市场不会强制要求高标准，管理层就必须自我施加。我们承诺在新闻上投入高于平均水平的支出，这代表着一项重要的量化标准。我们相信Stan Lipsey和Murray Light将继续贯彻那些远比量化标准更为重要的定性标准。Charlie和我都相信，报纸在社会中是极为特殊的机构。我们为News感到自豪，并打算在未来的岁月里让这份自豪更加名副其实。