For years now we've seen the sales of newspapers dwindle as more and more people read their news online, but it’s the Sunday's that seem to be taking the brunt. Sales of The Independent on Sunday were down nearly a quarter this January, when compared with the last.
With advertising spends for businesses significantly reduced, if not removed altogether, it does leave a few questions in my mind as to the future of the newspaper industry. Where will it go next? How will it monetise itself? Will it even exist? Working in public relations, it’s interesting to see how, despite the blatant rise of online media and its ability to syndicate news at a frighteningly quick pace, clients still think of it as a lesser format than print. Obviously it’s nice to hold a piece of coverage in your hands, but surely we've evolved enough to realise the true value of coverage online?
An article posted online is likely to be syndicated on other sites, especially given the tie-ups with media houses these days. Better yet, you're more likely to be blogged about, carrying your news further and for longer. When you add to the mix that it will always be online as a reference point for sales staff, potential new clients and even new staff (should the recruitment doom lift anytime soon). I think The Guardian released research a few months ago to say that the average new story was viewed more six months after it was first published. Pretty staggering I think. In March, The Guardian launched Open Platform (OP). OP is a range of services to enable developers to build applications and access Guardian content, with little or no cost involved. Whilst this isn't radical - The BBC has backstage and the NY Times was the first open up its doors I believe - its an important moment. I'm intrigued to see if this is the future of newspapers. The potential benefits for The Guardian are huge.
By opening its doors, it has created new, outsourced marketing teams for their content. What does this mean? Well, every application built using Guardian data will have different audiences, although there will be some crossover. This means that new audiences will see Guardian content. These are people who previously may not have bought a newspaper or visited the online site. Those who already visit The Guardian website will benefit as new apps will pop up on the site and enhance their experience. On the BBC website, apps have popped up all over. On the Football section of the Sport pages there is now a Football News widget – a cracking start, albeit a bit basic. To see more about the possibilities for this, have a look at notes from the hack day in November.
From a PR point of view this is great news. Articles featuring your clients will go to new audiences and have a limitless extended reach. Now all you need to do is get in the nationals regularly ;-) Will newspaper websites charge to read the news? Will you be charged to download viewers for your desktop or your smartphone? Or even e-book readers? Sony evolved this technology with Kindle and has got closer to the mainstream with Kindle2, but it’s still not there yet is it? The FT and The Economist already charge you to view online content direct on the site (through RSS aggregators, it can still be accessed for free). This bold move helped contribute to a profit increase of 13% in the last financial year. What will happen next I really don't know, but as I write this another publication has halted print production.
Lads mag, Maxim, has decided to stick to online content from next month, putting more jobs at risk.
Its a bleak time for newspapers, but there is hope!
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3 comments:
When I worked in PR, online coverage was perceived by clients as the vastly inferior younger sibling of print media. It's no wonder when you consider that the agency I worked for had no agreed way of measuring the value of web coverage. We included both print and online cuttings in our coverage charts and client updates, but for anything from the internet, the AVE was marked as "not applicable".
This was less than a year ago. If we were implying that online coverage was of no worth compared to the thousands of pounds we attributed to newspaper and magazine mentions, is it any wonder our clients weren't that bothered by it? I hope that, by now, most PR agencies have woken up to the value of online coverage, which (as you rightly say) opens up a whole world wide web of bloggers, search engines and RSS readers. But in my experience, PR agencies have been slow to respond to the changing demands of multimedia newsrooms: and if these agencies don't adapt to the digital age quickly, some may join newspapers in fearing for their future.
I don't think it's true that the Sunday papers are bearing the brunt of the newspaper sales slump, though. The uniquely dire sales figures of the Independent on Sunday say more about the overall demise of INM than the Sunday sales market itself. Other papers, such as the Sunday Telegraph, are bearing up better than their weekday counterparts, and the Sunday Times has even seen an increase in sales in the latest ABCs.
I'd say that alot of agencies are still very much like your old agency, Lara.
With regard to my comment about the Sunday papers, I was basing it on several recent months of circulation, not just one, but you are correct that the Sunday Times increased by 2.8% in March. However aside from the Daily Star Sunday, this was the only paper to do so and the others have, in recent months steadily been declining.
For those interested in the circulation stats, check here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/table/2009/apr/09/abcs-national-newspapers1
Also, jumping in on an old post here, but it's getting quite hard to *buy* a paper in some parts on a Sunday. Near us, the newsagents persist in shutting at noon (if not earlier) and the garage really only has the red tops. If I want a broadsheet, I either have to get out of the house early and go in a direction I don't head, or go to Tesco.
Also some papers have better direct delivery options than others (the Indy's not available outside London postcodes) - our local newsagent won't deliver just at the weekends, either.
So is it any wonder a lot of people read online?
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