Charlie Munger says newspaper industry is dying

Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc, on Wednesday said daily newspapers “are all going to die,” as technological advances cause revenue to dry up.

>>Reuters
Published : 12 Feb 2020, 08:38 PM
Updated : 12 Feb 2020, 08:38 PM

Munger, 96, spoke at the annual meeting of Daily Journal Corp, the Los Angeles newspaper publishing company he chairs, though he is better known for his more than four decades as a Berkshire vice chairman.

Wednesday’s meeting came two weeks after Berkshire threw in the towel on its own newspaper empire, selling 80 daily and weekly papers including its hometown Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska to Lee Enterprises Inc for $140 million.

“What’s happened is that technological change is destroying daily newspapers in America,” Munger said. “They’re all dying.”

Munger said a few newspapers, which Buffett has said include the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, will survive the shakeout.

Daily Journal’s meeting was being webcast by CNBC.