Adam:
You might want to pick a different example for your SP-is-hurting-trade-publishers argument. The Harlequin report you cite does not say what you claim it does. The only mention of self-publishing in the actual report - not the reports about the report that you cited - comes in boilerplate text on forward-looking statements that lists almost every factor that could potentially affect the business. That is not a statement that the rise of SP hurt revenues.
The relevant boilerplate (
http://www.torstar.com/images/file/2013/Q4 2013 Press Release Final v3.pdf):
"By their very nature, forward-looking statements require management to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is a significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that management’s assumptions may not be accurate and that actual results, performance or achievements may differ significantly from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release as a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, outlooks, expectations, goals, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements.
"These factors include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to operate in highly competitive industries; the Company’s ability to compete with other newspapers and other forms of media and media platforms; the Company’s ability to attract and retain advertisers; the Company’s ability to maintain adequate circulation/subscription levels; the Company’s ability to attract and retain readers; the Company’s ability to retain and grow its digital audience and profitably develop its digital businesses; general economic conditions in the principal markets in which the Company operates;
the Company’s ability to compete with book publishers, self-publishing and other providers of entertainment; the trend towards digital books and the Company’s ability to distribute its books through the changing distribution landscape; the popularity of its authors and its ability to retain popular authors; the contraction and concentration of the wholesale and retail print channels; the Company’s ability to accurately estimate the rate of book returns through the wholesale and retail channels; the decline of the Company’s direct-to- consumer book publishing operations; labour disruptions; the Company’s ability to reduce costs; loss of reputation; newsprint costs; foreign operations and foreign exchange fluctuations; credit risk; restrictions imposed by existing credit facilities, debt financing and availability of capital; changes in pension fund obligations; reliance on its printing operations; reliance on technology and information systems;; interest rates; availability of insurance; litigation; environmental, privacy, anti-spam, communications and e-commerce laws and regulations applicable generally to the Company’s businesses; dependence on key personnel; dependence on third party suppliers and service providers; intellectual property rights; results of impairment tests; risks related to business development and acquisition integration; product revenue and product liability; control of Torstar by the Voting Trust; and uncertainties associated with critical accounting estimates."
