Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The future of journalism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/apr/12/digital-media-newspapers
Reading Tom Rosenstiel’s rebuttal of five “myths” about the future of journalism certainly makes sobering reading.
It’s no surprise that traditional news media aren’t losing their audience — where else can people go that has any reputation for providing reliable news?
I disagree with his pessimism about whether web advertising revenue will fill the gap left as print revenues decline further. While news organisations’ share of web advertising is low now, once their print outlets go they’ll be able to focus all their remaining editorial resources on their digital channels and that will surely draw more readers and, therefore, the accompanying advertising.
As for content being king, I have to agree on the basic point, but counter-argue that once print has gone and users of established media brands are accessing content behind paywalls (it’ll be on the only way for ‘big media’ to compete for revenues and pay for journalism), these media outlets will be able to get more of the kind of info about their users that sites like Facebook currently enjoy and use to target ads. They may not have as much, but surely that plus the fact users will be spending longer times on their sites, or using their apps, will draw more advertising share than at present.
That print isn’t in decline if you look at the world as a whole is irrelevant. Every time I read the WAN using this to say ‘print is thriving’ I imagine how little comfort it is to publishers in the First World. Print readers in India are no use to them.
Finally, of course hyperlocal isn’t the magic cure-all. Anyone who suggested it is clearly doesn’t understand the economics of producing editorial for lots of small areas, even with UGC. But it may be part of the solution in some areas for some publishers.
Labels: newspapers future
