Alex Griffiths:

I have just read the latest numbers on the newspaper industry and started wondering how these businesses might be saved. What would you do if you were put in charge of fixing that. 

It’s a big problem. The scale of the challenge needs to be recognised:

• Rapidly eroding market share for ad dollars
• Old product with declining market share for consumer attention
• Poor stats/analytics relative to digital media
• Relatively expensive distribution method
• Lower ROI per for web user then via print copy subscription
• Relatively higher costs then other media
• Editorial style that limits readership numbers – brand is too focused in some cases

The question needs to and is being asked (see the layoffs happening all over the industry) – how many print, mobile and web publications can the ad market sustain and how should media companies be competing in a new landscape where digital media is significant? Free CD’s doesn’t do it. One site http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com has some interesting ideas. The next 5 years will change the media landscape more then ever as connectivity becomes a utility rather then a luxury and mobile web usage becomes mass market. How will newspapers survive?

The UK bg guns in print do have some great starting points to trade from:

• A national and in some cases an international brand 
• A readership base 
• Content Established and respected print forums for discussion
• Some cash Lots of talent
• A website with traffic to build on
• Interest in mobile

But will that be enough? Do the economic realities of 2009 mean that the print model that has been so strong and popular is now not feasible? Newspaper fans will argue that the value added and quality is worth the costs. I’m not so sure consumers feel the same way.  I think some paper such as the Guardian,Times and FT have made progress with their sites I still visit them no more frequently then foreign papers/blogs in english. My news coverage has evolved into what is popular (I generally scan this part) and what is interesting. I consume from media companies, they are all competing for my eyeballs and attention. The onlne ad market is growing fast even in a declining environment and they haven’t played their biggest card yet – the letters page. Why isn’t there a community view of the comments on all stories. The data is in there but it hasn’t been drawn together yet. Newspaper readers are not a community yet. If they were is would be a lot more valuable and it also opens up lots of new monetisation options.

Who will step out first and go web first before anyone else. The question is being asked of US papers now. Will it be the same here in 6 months? This is what I think web first strategy for a news paper would look like:

• Limited planned and post delivered distribution. Print available by subscription to home/business/shop/high traffic spots.
• Free and subscription model for more benefits.
• Consolidate print operations and lowers costs further.
• Consolidate local cost effective local operations
• Scale down operations not up
• Create digital distribution everywhere, web/mobile smartphone app/mobile/widget/desktop
• All content types created – video/audio/print/text – branded and pushed to subscribers
• Heavily social and community based – focus on community reaction to articles
• Get marginal revenues – syndicated content deals – as content gets older it is sold at market price
• Personalised control of news for user – give up some control
• Simplify ad model and focus on creating measurable targeted response using less advertising space
• Personalised control and distribution to web/mobile/ipod
• Focus of Operations on productivity and volume of quality content per salaried person.
• Create remote working conditions for all paid content generators – everyone is a blogger with ID
• Create journalist work environments around the city in partnership with other papers
• Editors form the operations desks 
• Fully digitise operations
• Announce news everywhere that people meet – acquire users through relevance to discussion
• Become real time not daily
• Go global, look at language conversion
• Focus on allowing local to be generated and aggregated by users
• Open standards on feeds and API use
• Compete everywhere – your brand will give you access everywhere

The results need to be a high traffic visibly active onlne venue for up to date news, relevant peer comment and community interaction. This can be organised around a theme or geography. Looks like an internet company doesn’t it…. They will need to fund this transfer but media companies need to go digital first, lead and educate the market (while they can), enhance the convenience for the user or they will be pushed out in first the US and then Europe or under in the next 5-10 years. People are harder to monetise online but the print advertising days are numbered. It will form part of the market but its value will decline. Just my 0.02.

There is a dark prediction that all advertising online is doomed but I think the key to that article is that there is a limit on how many ad dollars will be spent on it not whether it ceases to exist in the short term. His vision may well take longer to happen but he has point. At what do point do we no longer need advertising?

Has anyone noticed that your can’t read a broadsheet or mini paper on a train in rush hour anyway? Let me watch it or listen to it. I need more convenience if I am to go back to “getting a paper”.