How To Save the Newspaper
Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 1:39PM
The talk of 2009 so far has been of the demise (or eventual demise) of the newspaper. But don't count out the Old Gray Lady yet. I believe she's still got some fight in her.
Profits from advertising on the print version of newspapers is still relatively high and considerably higher than their Web equivalents (4x in the case of the Financial Times and 10x in the case of The Daily News). The churn rate on two-year subscriptions to the New York Times is low and getting lower. However, these profits are shrinking and were decimated by the cash cow that newspapers had relied on for too long: classifieds. Classified ads are essentially a database of information, and what better way to handle databases and present them than the Web (e.g. Craigslist.com). Add to that profit margins on Web ads are higher than their print equivalents -- the writing is on the wall (perhaps the Facebook wall).
Two-thousand and eight was the wake up call for newspapers and saw the demise or reduction of many fine papers (Cincinnati Post, Albuquerque Tribune, Detroit Free Press). Like any potential victim of Darwinian progression, newspapers will have to evolve or perish. That evolution can take a few forms.
- They can start to cut back their focus on the print form and increase their focus online, as the Detroit Free Press is doing.
- Operationally, they can share services with other news gatherers. Do 5 TV, 6 radio, and 10 print journalists really all need to be at the same press conference? Philadelphia's WTXF and WCAU are sharing news crews to cover events (called Local News Service).
- They can charge for premium content online, like the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal does. This will be tougher for general news, which is seen as more of a commodity.
- Perhaps most importantly, they will need to emphasize and capitalize on the importance of thorough and investigative journalism. I believe this will be key to survival.
Anyone with a blog can write a story (and many are tremendous), but the true journalists of the world need to carve out their niche of hard journalism and investigative reporting that made princes out of the likes of Bob Woodword and Carl Bernstein. In the end, newspapers will only survive when they realize that they're not in the newspaper business -- they're in the news business.
lippe taylor, mattsnod, new york times, newspaper, print, wcau, wtxf in Digital Marketing 
Reader Comments (4)
There are two revolutions that are possible: either newspapers will figure out how to deliver their news in the 21st century, and forge new business models to make them profitable, or journalists will realize they don't newspapers anymore to get their stories out to the world.
When I hear of newspaper journalists complaining about how they can't beat the bloggers, I think, "Then why don't you just become a blogger?" Pack your old IBM Selectic in mothballs and get your ass online!
Honestly, I think most newspapers won't manage any kind of transition because of sheer stubbornness and pride. I disagree with you on only one point - newspapers are in the entertainment business. They are marketing companies that sell something interesting to look at. There's far less difference between the Times and PerezHilton.com than anyone really wants to admit. It's a truth I personally find difficult to come to terms with, but I believe it's truth nonetheless.
Sadly, Perez Hilton's reporting may be more in-depth at times. It's also sad, the prospect of the hallowed front page of the New York Times taking advertising space.
And as for broadcast television news, as CBS Producer Fred Friendly put it:
"Television makes so much money doing its worst it can't afford to do its best."
"the hallowed front page of the New York Times"
That's the mindset that the Times (and other newspapers) can't get past. That is the root of the problem. All history aside, for me today in 2009, the newspaper is probably the least efficient means of getting the news. In short, the front page of the New York Times is not "hallowed" to the vast majority of people.
They are The Mirror, The Times and an American magazine style newspaper, Newsweek. http://adcontextual.com/advertising-getting-in-touch-with-people-part-2/" rel="nofollow">Lila Touch