Not Sort of Like Detroit, Exactly Like Detroit

News executives from all the big players, including my alma mater Scripps, meet today to figure out how to make money again. Good luck.

SUBHED HERE 

Comment o' teh day:

Newspapers aren't dying. Advertising is dying. It's just taking newspapers with it.

Where do I start? They taught me this sometime in my late undergraduate career. I believed it just from my own anecdotal experience and the observed behavior of those around me. (Yes  I wanted a Rabbit because of its cool ad, but it was also the right car. Why do I buy what I buy? TV gets to me once in a while, I don't even see print ads, even the full page ones. And yes, I use ad block on the net. Maybe I'll go through my cupboards and closets, my refrigerator, and figure out how I made those decisions. Off the top of my head, I'd say price, habit, impulse (on-site, usually), desire, recommendation (definitely last.)
I am driven by information, but largely not by advertising information. Of course, I'm not a sports fan. That could make a difference to beer buyers.
And while I like that Kevin Spacy's voice is selling Hondas, I wouldn't buy one because of it, because I secretly want a Mini.
Even if it does give me a mindset, Graves' products at Target for instance, I didn't buy Graves' products there although I admired them. I bought what I was looking for, a lamp, a toothpaste, a wastebasket, a rug, a tee shirt.
Whoa, Nellie. There's a novel in here somewhere.
More on this from Fallows, and there's a link there to the Ad Age article, which I guess I'll go read now.
Is the world blowing up yet? What, advertising doesn't work? How can that be?