You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Online Newspaper' tag.
Berkshire Hathaway had their annual shareholder meeting on Saturday, May 5, 2007. You can read the PDF of the meeting schedule here. The WSJ highlighted a very interesting point:
Mr. Buffett suggested he isn’t planning to buy more newspapers, which he predicts will increasingly fall into the hands of owners who are willing to pay more for them than their economic value because of the notoriety or political cachet a newspaper can confer on an owner.
Woah! Are newspapers really so dead that people will buy them for personal reasons? I’d wager that newspapers sit on a tremendous amount of value. Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t invest in technology companies and perhaps this is the disconnect.
Embracing technology and enabling a digital sales force will unlock newspaper value
Newspaper companies own the brand, the local advertising market, local market knowledge and have all the information necessary to create a destination site for a given community. Newspaper companies must focus on using technology to leverage these existing strengths. If Buffet saw the potential of technology when applied to newspapers he might think otherwise. What do you think?
*Warren Buffet is obviously a smart person, but I think his perspective is from an traditional view of the “newspaper.” New media enables so much more community interaction. Newspapers just need to be thought of in a different way.
I suggest my readers to go read “A Reality Check for Newspapers” by Jason Fry. It discusses the love-hate relationships have with Google. Mainly:
These disputes are about money, of course — the newspaper groups think Google’s making some off their efforts, and they want a piece. But more broadly, Copiepresse objects to the idea that Google and other search engines should set the rules for linking, contending that such standards should be set by copyright laws, not technological standards. That’s a bid to turn back time and declare a do-over on the basics of search engines — a quixotic effort that flies in the face of the reality of how content is consumed today, and one in which Copiepresse has inadvertently lined up against its papers’ own readers.
What do you think of shifting the copyright burden to Google? Sounds very similar to the Viacom case. I have an issue with Jason’s conclusion:
It should be said that at times Google and its champions fall prey to thinking that they know what’s best for everybody else. Beyond the fact that no one likes being told what’s good for them, there’s something undeniably coercive about Google and other Web technologies. But what significant technological shift hasn’t been coercive? At its heart, the Web is driven by users, not publishers. Whatever pain that causes content creators, opposing that fundamental idea became a revanchist fantasy long ago.
Jason, sure, the web is driven by consumer choice, but as I’ve said before, “I want free music, I want free clothes, I want a free Ferrari F430, and I want a free Gulfstream 550. Do I get all these things? NO.“ Consumers want things to be free, but Google is playing with fire with all the content companies. Content is just an easy thing to distribute freely despite it’s production cost. If Google could send you a brand new Ferrari without paying for it, I’m sure you would take it. Newspaper articles aren’t really that different (except the Ferrari is infinitely sexier).
What is the appropriate treatment for newspaper content?
I don’t have an answer, but if people could just steal technology and make their own technology solution would that be any different? Companies need to respect IP in any form.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations recently released a report which explains daily newspapers experienced a 2.1% circulation decline. I’ve already started the countdown for the next uninformed blogger to scream “newspapers are dead.” Well, they are not…
A decline of 2.1% is certainly not good, but on the positive side:
However the average weekday decline of 2.1 percent in the latest period was not as steep as the fall of 2.8 percent reported for the six-month period ended in October, or the six months ended in March 2006, when the decline was 2.5 percent.
There is light at the end of the tunnel
If you look at the Top 20 list, you will see that the New York Post, USA Today, WSJ, New York Daily News, and several others experienced circulation growth. Additionally, if this report discussed smaller town and niche publications, readers would find these types of newspapers are still growing strongly.
Metropolitan Papers Will Continue to Experience the Most Decline in Circulation
Metropolitan papers are certainly in trouble. They face competition from online and offline sources. From local competition, to niche subject specialists, to online classifieds, to little value add on national/international issues, the outlook is bleak. If anyone has any ideas for this segment, we are all ears.
Howard Owens has a lot to say about being the platform. Today he said,
Newspaper managers have traditionally believed they needed to build “sticky” sites and try to capture people and pretend the rest of the web doesn’t exist. That is a strategy doomed to fail. Only by being part of the clickstream can you hope to succeed.
He also points me to Rich Gordon’s lengthy article about building a network. Gordon points out some key strategies for New Media directors at newspaper companies. I think they are worth the read.
The newspaper industry must be the authority, but let users increasingly participate in the editorial process
I wrote a relevant article which makes many similar points. You can read it here.
Project Red Stripe is best described as, “The Economist Group’s employees that has been brought together with the task of creating an innovative and web-based product, service or business model by July 2007.”
The team got a lot of good press and summarized user submitted ideas in an interesting post. I think all media companies should take note:
Users gladly will help you make money online!
Indeed, if you can setup an open dialogue with users, you will be surprised as to how much insight they will give you. I was vastly impressed with some of the ideas from the community. Go check them out.
Media General & Tribune, Gannet, & NYT Co just released Q1 earnings. Essentially, publishing revenues are down and interactive/online revenues are up. Interactive revenues are not profitable enough to cover loss in earnings from publishing and classifieds. Read the earnings announcements for yourself.
Partnerships and investments need to be more aggressively made in optimizing online technologies
This is the solution for traditional media companies. What do you think?
I read a great RSS linked article this morning from PaidContent. PaidContent’s analysis isn’t correct about US papers, but as I have said before, newspapers have value online AND the newspaper revenue model should focus on a knowledge community.
I have talked with many New Media directors at large US newspaper companies and, believe me, these folks absolutely see online as a huge opportunity. The trick is better monetizing online sites.
The AP article highlights several key points, including:
- Newspapers must focus on stronger headlines and better tailor the initial 200 words for search engines
- Newspapers are increasingly facing the value of online video content
- Online revenue should cover the loss from the decline in print
I suggest you go read the article.
Topix officially announced opening its doors. Topix is a citizen generated journalist site. Go check it out. Read the founder’s blog post.
Don’t forget the competitors:
My ending comment: Success in the local news aggregation will be driven by relationships with local papers. Agree? Comments?
Edit: Mike Orren wants me to clarify “local papers.” When I refer to local papers, in this post or any post, I am referring to niche publications that deliver some sort of unique content to readers. These can be alternative weeklies, small town papers, etc.
Harper’s Magazine just announced it has made available “over a quarter-million scans from 157 years, thousands of interlinked topic pages, and an array of unique web-only content. Full access comes with your subscription to the print magazine—$16.97 a year”
I’ve argued the online newspaper model means using online social networks and wikis to create a community around content. Harper’s, do you plan to do this or is the $17 the end all? Topic pages are a good start, but let your users control the content.
Anyone have insightful commentary?
It seems the tide is turning out there in digital media land, with the clearer thinkers understanding that newspapers will certainly survive. The reality is that newspapers gather information, check it for accuracy, and package it in a fashion that is convenient and helpful for the consumer. In the past newspapers have delivered this “content” physically on an ink on paper vehicle. Now they will deliver it digitally as well. This gathering, checking and packaging process has tremendous value to the consumer.
And the reason newspapers will survive – and prosper – in the digital age is becoming more and more apparent. It is because there is too much information available on the web.
Consider this for a minute… you can search up anything you want on the web and find thousands of websites and blogs with millions of bits of information and “facts.” What you don’t know is whether the information is actually correct, or if it is being posted by a twelve year old kid in his bedroom, or a political hack promoting his special cause.
Newspapers cut through the information overload and present the consumer with correct and timely information in a convenient package. What newspapers aren’t doing yet – at least very well – is presenting the package in a digital format. But it’s coming.
Recent Comments