“Do more with less.”

That’s what companies tell the employees that are left after deep lay-offs and cost cutting measures.

The newspaper industry is certainly sending this message to reporters and journalists with the deep cuts that are being made.

Here are just a few clips from the headlines across the country:

In April, The Baltimore Sun got smaller with its own reduction in page size and a cut of about 25 percent in newsroom staff.

The Times Company is seeking concessions from Globe unions to save $20 million a year, including $10 million from the guild, which represents about 670 Globe employees in the newsroom, advertising and other departments.

The company [Gatehouse Media, Inc], which has acquired 416 newspapers nationwide since 1998, has reduced its workforce by 10 percent since the beginning of the year, Daniels said. He estimates the company has slashed 25 percent of its total staff in the last two years.

Similar headlines abound for the radio and television industries.  As advertising revenues either dissapear completely or move to the more measurable and less interruptive Internet medium, these traditional media outlets are scrambling to cut costs.

One of the ways that media outlets are dealing with the economic woes is through what is called “content sharing” and what translates into the public seeing the same regurgitated perspective of news items on multiple media channels.

Formerly bitter rivals that competed against one another to bring us the best content available in print are joining forces.  We know what happens when competition is removed from the equation.

From the editorsweblog.org:

It has become increasingly common to see newspapers that were once strong, even nasty, competitors sharing news content and collaborating as the financial crisis continues to suffocate them. Some examples are Tulsa World and the Oklahoman, Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer and Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News, the “Northeast Consortium” (five papers in the New Jersey and New York area), four papers in Tennessee, three papers in Florida, and the list goes on.

The same is happening in the television medium:

One of the ways that Jay Newman, general manager of Baltimore’s WJZ-TV, says he is trying to save money is through content-sharing agreements with The Baltimore Sun and with WUSA-TV in Washington.

News coverage at Binghamton’s ABC and NBC affiliates is cutting staff and combining operations with the NBC station in Elmira.

Another desperate measure being taken by newpapers is the jettisoning of portions of their media coverage in an effort to keep from sinking.

Here are some headlines:

The Winston-Salem Journal said Thursday that it is eliminating its daily separate Business section except on Sundays. Citing economic reasons, the newspaper said two pages for news and stocks will be added to the daily local section.

Just in the last year, The [Washington] Post has cut the Sunday Source section and Book World in addition to combining the Sunday Arts and Styles sections. Now, the paper plans on eliminating its business section six days out of the week and moving the important business stories to the “A” section.

The Downward Spiral

Advertisers keep the lights on and pay salaries at the radio, television and newspaper outlets.  Advertisers are looking for eyeballs.

Eyeballs are looking for good content.  As traditional media outlets continue “share” their content with other outlets, cut staff and remove entire sections of content, eyeballs move elsewhere for the content they need.

When the eyeballs move, the advertising spending moves right along with it.  This creates a need for more “content sharing” and more cuts from the newspapers, which leads to more eyeballs moving elsewhere.

And so on and so on.

Follow the Eyeballs

If you are wondering where consumers are going to get their content, wonder no more.

Blogs, social media, online video and organic search are all terms that marketing managers across the globe are learning very quickly.  And for good reason.

The clock is ticking and the downward spiral will continue as consumers continue to search for more and more new media.

What Does This Mean For Small Business?

If you are a late adopter to new advertising media and the Internet, don’t fret.  The Internet has never been easier to use, and most of the tools are available for free or at a fraction of the cost you were paying for traditional media.

My advice, start somewhere — start a blog for your business, it is the simplest and most healthy measure you can take for your company on the Internet.

Blogging will lead to mastery of the other bleeding edge Internet marketing tactics such as social media and online video.

Get over the fear and don’t ignore the handwriting on the wall.  Your buyers are tuning out traditional media and are opting for the Internet — come join them.

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