In the face of dire news for the newspaper business, I've been writing how essential newspapers are and how the death of the newspaper will have a negative impact on the depth and accuracy of the news we consume in the future. But, much as I hate to admit it, the odds keep piling up against the future success of newspapers as more papers, fueled by the recession, go online, cut their frequency or their size, or simply go under all too quietly.
The Pew Research Center just reported that the internet has surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news. Since 2001, the percentage of people citing newspapers as their main source of news has dropped from 45 percent to 35 percent, while the web has grown from 13 percent to 40 percent. TV has pretty much held steady -- 74 percent in 2001 and 70 percent in 2008.
For local news, newspapers still have a chance to shine -- if people buy the paper.
So I was encouraged when I read a lengthy piece in New York Magazine (sorry, couldn't get a link) about the "new" New York Times. What's new is a new attitude about digital.
The Times management, including newsroom management, has recognized that digital can enhance and expand the paper's coverage and insight into stories and issues. No longer is online being viewed as an afterthought. Instead, they're having their reporters and editors work side by side with the digital team to see how reporting can be expanded to give readers so much more than what they can see on the printed pages.
With their enlightened attitude toward digital, the Times' motto perhaps should be changed from "All the news that's fit to print" to "All the news."
Other papers around the nation are experimenting with digital in their own way, but since The Times is so often seen as the standard of newspaper journalism, what they do is significant.
The Times is still a mass medium, with a daily readership of 2.8 million and a Sunday readership of 4.2 million. But the online audience is nearly ten times that number -- 20 million unique visitors a month.
I don't think they -- or other newspapers -- have figured out how to make real money from their online readership. Banner ads simply don't bring in the ad revenue that full-page ads do in print. And many advertisers are questioning the marketing value of banner ads, looking instead for online vehicles that are more proactive.
I hope they come up with a solution soon, because the longer it takes to figure it out, the more newspapers will disappear -- maybe forever. That would be a shame.
It's taken The New York Times a while to get modern, but it's good to see they're finally working on it. Their online paper is rich with information and a lot of reader-generated content.
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