Guardian loses £33 million in 2010 (I’m Just curious, is “Schadenfreude” a sin?)

I admit it.  I’m taking immense pleasure at the Guardian’s ongoing financial disaster – The Telegraph’s recent report that, On Thursday, Guardian News and Media (GNM) announced that The Guardian and its sister paper, The Observer, had lost £33m in cash terms last year after failing to staunch losses that ran to £34.4m the year before.

Noted The Telegraph:

“In May The Guardian’s average circulation was 262,937, down 12.5pc on year…Andrew Miller, the chief executive of GNM’s parent company, Guardian Media Group (GMG), warned staff in a series of meetings this week that the group could run out of cash in three to five years if he does not make radical changes, which could include up to 175 redundancies.”

Further:

“In truth, the only reason The Guardian has been able to carry on as long as it has done without making savage cuts is because it has been subsidised by large profits from Auto Trader, which is owned by [Guardian Media Group].”

Lorna Tilbian, a media analyst at Numis, said:

The Guardian is being artificially propped up by Auto Trader and they will have to change things because a good, vibrant business shouldn’t need to reinvest every penny it generates.

“The problem they’ve got is that they’re never going to get back the revenue they’ve lost from public sector advertising, circulation is on a long downward slope and they are giving away their digital content.

“I think they will have to start charging for their online content if they are to improve their finances.”

So many questions.

Would the Guardian’s rabid Israel haters who swarm like ants to the comment section of CiF at any mention of the word “Israel”, (and evidently don’t have day jobs), who make up the bulk of the online readership, pay for content?

Will Harriet Sherwood’s expense account be cut?

Will Marxists like Guardian Associate Editor Seamus Milne come to the rescue of his paper by conjuring a Soviet-style 5-year plan to solvency?

So much to mock. So little time. Please help me think this through. What are the implications of the Guardian’s financial woes?

Please comment.

What is the cause of the Guardian’s enormous financial loss?

What can they do to cut costs and increase revenue?

And, oh yeah, is Schadenfreude a sin?

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