- The future of news may lie in digital devices like the iPad and Kindle — if publishers can remake their product and improve their means of reaching customers. “I think papers could better exploit the data they have,” he says in the article. “They need better contextual targeting and ad-effectiveness measurement.”
- Publishers aren’t providing what’s monetarily valuable. “The verticals that drive traffic are things like sports, weather and current news, but the money is in things like travel and shopping,” Varian says in the article. “Pure news is the unique product that newspapers provide, but it is very hard to monetize.”
Before it is too late, I’d like to see these companies — especially companies still in or going into bankruptcy — try more models:
* staying in print but splitting up the functions of the company andoutsourcing everything possible;
* investing in a widely distributed network of independent local and interest sites with the company adding value with curation and sales;
* creating a pure ad network;
* creating a very high quality product and — yes — charging a lot for it;
* creating a series of special-interest niche services and, in some cases, publications;
* creating the still mostly free but higher value craigslist with more curation for quality and more services;
* experimenting with new services for local merchants — especially those too small to ever have afforded big, inefficient newspapers — including helping them succeed through Google, Yelp, et al;
* creating citizen sales forces to scale while serving those small merchants;
NEW YORK—According to a report published this week in American Journalism Review, 93 percent of all newspaper sales can now be attributed to kidnappers seeking to prove the day’s date in filmed ransom demands.
“Although the vast majority of Americans now get their news from the Internet or television, a small but loyal criminal element still purchases newspapers at a steady rate,” study author and Columbia journalism professor Linus Ridell said. “The sober authority of the printed word continues to hold value for those attempting to extort large sums of money from wealthy people who wish to see their loved ones alive again, and not chopped into pieces and left in steamer trunks on their doorsteps.”
According to a circular sent to members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and seen by Press Gazette, the NLA will be introducing a new form of licence from 1 September to regulate “web aggregator services (such as Meltwater) that forward links to newspaper websites and for press cuttings agencies undertaking this type of activity”.
From January 2010, the licence charges will also apply to PR practitioners and “other organisations forwarding links to newspaper websites as part of their commercial activity”. (Press Gazette)
The new service, called eClipsweb, will offer a complete feed of newspapers’ online content direct to cuttings aggregators and press cuttings agencies. Powered directly from newspapers’ own content-management systems, eClipsweb will make web-based media monitoring faster and richer and provide a permanent record for PR and communications professionals.
The NLA will also extend its licensing remit to cover local and national newspapers’ web content from September, with charging taking effect from January.
David Pugh, managing director of the NLA, said: “We have two aims: to contribute to the growth of web monitoring; and to protect the rights of publishers. Research shows that 23% of newspapers’ online content never appears in print and that the internet is growing in influence as a resource for news. So it’s vital to have comprehensive monitoring coverage of newspapers’ websites – and vital that the publishers are properly rewarded for their work.”
From September 2009, web aggregators that charge clients for their services will require a NLA licence and be charged from January 2010, The press cuttings agencies that either ‘scrape’ content themselves or buy in services from aggregators will also be licensed and charged. Client companies that receive & forward links from these commercial aggregators within their organisation will also require a licence.
David Pugh added: “We have consulted extensively across the industry – the incremental charges for web cuttings will be low and manageable. I stress this is not about individuals sharing links – we think that’s great for newspapers and promoting their websites and their readership. What we are doing is making sure that newspapers are rewarded fairly for professional use of their web content. Source
And why wouldn’t younger folks want to read newspapers, what with our frequent hard-hitting opinion pieces decrying the younger generation’s educational shortcomings, slovenly style of dress, cavalier attitude toward drug use, risky sexual behavior, bad driving habits and overuse of the word “like”? Why, one ignorant newspaper columnist even recently accused young people of an unhealthy interest in tattoos and piercings. What young person wouldn’t want to pay $100 a year to have all that delivered to their doorstep every morning?
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 1. Do custom small print runs targeted to neighborhoods and interests. Not daily.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 2. Become support for local writers, reporters and bloggers; help market them, sell their ads; decentralize operation06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 3. Replace circ, printing, print production staff with tech, SEO, community managers06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 4. Find out what the community wants in real face to face meetings, not focus groups. Then do what they want.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 5. Utilize pro-am methods. Include community contributed content edited and vetted by pros.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 6. Smart multimedia. Don’t do it just to do it. Use the right medium to tell the right story.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 7. Promiscuous revenues. From ads, niche paid content, donations, non-profit grants, to directory listings.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 8. Produce mapping and database projects. Employ or train journalist-hackers.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 9. Meet regularly with local businesses to gauge their needs. Create online directories of local businesses.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
mediatwitSaving newspapers: 10. Create a bottom-up organization where innovation is encouraged and rewarded at the edges. Use good ideas from anyone.06 Jun 2009from Tweetie
