The newspaper saga: A possible solution?
CNN recently hosted a debate over the ailing newspaper industry, touching on topics like newspaper publisher complacency, newspaper readership, and budget cutbacks. Whatever stance you take on the subject, one thing is clear, ad revenue for newspapers is drastically low this year. This shortage has forced some newspapers to go completely online, others to reduce home deliveries, and the rest to simply shut down operations completely.
Some have mentioned the web as a possible solution to the newspaper industry’s problems, but it still remains unclear what the complete business model would be. Essentially, the root of the problem is this:
Creating great content takes time and skill, where will the money come from?
A couple of hurdles the web poses for newspaper publishers are:
- The existence of a lot of lower priced (mostly free) alternatives.
According to a recent study (one which I question the statistical analysis of), the internet has recently surpassed newspapers as a primary source of news. I attribute this preference to the real-time nature of news reporting on the web. The sheer number of bloggers and hobbyist journalists who report on news as it happens provides readers with an embarrassment of riches in terms of articles and content - and most of it for free. This makes it difficult for any newspaper to charge for their content, regardless of how good it is (though some would argue that this would be a good case for Freeconomics). Why pay to read an article when you can get one of approximately the same “value” for free? - The fragmentation of content.
According to some web marketers, in today’s high-tech world, content is severely fragmented. While in the past, one could place a commercial spot during the Super Bowl and be assured high-visibility, the emergence of TiVo’s and other technologies have made it possible for viewers to skip over ads. Similarly for the web, more and more content is atomized. Any particular article, can be found in a website, shared in social networks, transmitted in RSS feeds - placing ads within content just isn’t as simple or as effective anymore.
Faced with these obstacles, I guess I can see why some publishers have opted to shut down, fire staff and reduce production. But I feel that perhaps people are overlooking the most obvious solution:
Why don’t newspaper publishers simply charge more?
Call me crazy, but it seems to me that newspaper prices are hilariously low. The Montreal Gazette charges 89 cents for its Thursday issue. That’s five sections of high-quality writing, journalism, and photography for under a buck. The hard work of educated writers and graphic designers, and printers, sold for pocket change. Even a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks can easily cost three dollars, and all that took was a minimum wager and a coffee grinder (I know I’m exaggerating). But c’mon, a bar of chocolate at the corner store costs $1.15 - and it’s nothing but empty calories. And here’s the kicker: you can get the newspaper delivered to your home in a plastic bag for less! How does any of this make sense?
So here are my crazy suggestions for newspaper publishers if they want to maintain the print version of their publications (mind you I’m not an economist, and I’m probably overlooking something obvious like actual cost of publishing):
- How about only putting news and money generating content in the newspaper? I think a few pages could be cut here and there on most issues. Every penny counts.
- Believe in going online and what it can do for your print publication.
- Listen to what readers want. Run some surveys, create a community. Determine their wants and needs.
- Charge more than double for a newspaper. Charging the same price as a cup of quality coffee is not unreasonable.
- Charge more to deliver the newspaper to reader’s homes. I’m not saying charge more than the price at the newsstands, but I think the market can withstand a sizable increase.
Do you think there is hope for the newspaper industry? What are your thoughts?
