So here’s the quiz: Think of a media industry that’s facing real problems. The product of this industry used to be commonplace – everybody knew about it and pretty much everybody used it. Then a new medium came along with a significant challenge – people were getting the output of this industry easily, in their own homes, quickly on demand…and it was free! The industry asked what would happen when people could access for free what they were selling. Predictions for the future were understandably dire. And here’s the kicker – this isn’t about newspapers. It’s the music industry. Read Brad King’s take on why newspapers are wrong to circle the wagons and determine that they must make the square peg that is the old business model fit into the round hole of new media.
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Steve Outing’s Nov. 30 “Stop the Presses” column in E&P focuses on community newspapers and their struggles to define the role of their online editions. Specifically, whether or not to erect pay walls. Outing tells about some smaller newspapers who come down on each side of the debate and fairly summarizes pros and cons. If you’re looking to make sure you consider all your options before you make a final decision on putting online content behind a pay wall, be sure to read this column. And especially, read through to the end and look at his section on the four negative consequences to your paper of putting most content behind the wall. There’s so much discussion out there on this issue right now, but Outing summarizes the issues fairly, so take time to look at this one.
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Free Webinar on video editing
If you’re still trying to get the hang of video editing, then you might want to check out this upcoming free “Webinar” from YouTube. Registration is open online. The seminar is geared toward those who are just getting into video, so if that’s you check this out. The session begins Dec. 17 at 1 p.m.
Brian Steffens of the NNA has a blogpost every editor and publisher in Texas needs to read. It’s about what readers really want, and are willing to pay for — and it’s not necessarily just our content.
To whet your appetite, here’s a sample:
“How convenient are our papers for our readers? Is the type large enough for easy reading, or have we shrunk the text size, crammed the letterspacing and reduced the leading/line spacing to get the same amount of news in fewer pages (pages that may now be harder to read, negating the “benefit” of fitting all the news into fewer pages)? How readable are those classifieds or public notices?
“How convenient are our papers for our advertisers? Is the rate card easy to read and understand, or deadly dull full of ratios and formulas and grids that only your sales reps can read and interpret? Is it simple and easy for a reader to place a classified ad, when they think of it, whether it’s during business hours or in the evening after their work shift and they have time to think about selling off something in the garage or basement?
“While we agonize over our content and how to charge for it, let’s not forget a simple marketing maxim: a great way to differentiate your product or service from the next one is to make it easy on the customer. If two providers offer a similar product or service, they’ll pick the one that’s easiest to use.”
The good news is that there has been a lot of research on whether or not people would pay for news online. The bad news is that the polls disagree. One says 53 percent would pay; another says only 20 percent would pay. And how much? Almost $5, according to one poll, only $3, according to another. No matter what price readers say they are willing to pay, the $3 to $5 subscription is a lot less than most publishers want to charge.
Newspaper people like to think they have their fingers on the pulse of readers. They like to think they have an idea of what readers think, what they want, what they believe they need. A new survey shows, however, that news execs far overestimate their readers’ perceived needs for the news they’re producing – in any format. For example, both groups were asked what readers would do if their local newspaper Web site went away. Would they turn to the print product to get news? An overwhelming 75 percent of news execs said if their Web site went away, readers would pick up the print edition. But only 30 percent of readers said they would – 68 percent said they’d go to other Web sites, 45 percent would turn to TV. This is one of those surveys that anyone in news should read.
One of the more interesting online news ventures in the nation is happening right here in Texas. It’s an online-only news site that was launched as a non-profit organization. It’s called the Texas Tribune, and it’s funded by readers who donate to keep alive what they consider a worthy cause. The editor is Evan Smith, former editor-in-chief of Texas Monthly. You can check out the new site at texastribune.org. And even if you don’t go there, look at what promises to be a regular feature on that site – using animation and pop-ups to insert everything from humor to fact-checking to background information into a speech, inserted during the speech itself. Currently, the “victim” is Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson. You can see the “stump interrupted” concept on the Texas Tribune site, or access it directly from YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAUUw4NrKkE.
OK, admit it. You’ve never even thought of parodying the Associated Press Stylebook. But these guys (one from Texas) did, and the result is often hilarious. Written in the same tone as the “real” stylebook, this Twitter feed provides a great newsroom break. And it shows again the power of the Net—three weeks ago it didn’t exist, and now it has 40,000 followers. And that’s more than the AP Stylebook has.
A new National Newspaper Association survey has yielded some results that will be useful for advertising salespeople who are selling the value of a community newspaper ad buy. Here are the stats you will want to pass along to your salespeople:
– On average, readers share their paper with 2.36 additional readers.
– Nearly 40 percent keep their community newspaper more than a week.
– Three-quarters of readers read local news “often to very often” in their community newspaper.
– Among those going online for local news, 63 percent found it on the local newspaper’s website, compared to 17 percent for sites such as Yahoo, MSN or Google, and 12 percent from the website of a local television station.
– 60 percent read local education news “somewhat to very often” in their newspaper, while 65 percent never read local education news online.
– And finally, something to brighten the day of everyone in your ad department: 47 percent say there are days they read the newspaper as much for the ads as for the news.
And in other survey news, community newspapers experienced a slight decline in circulation volume in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter, down about 2 percent as a group, according to the latest audit data from Circulation Verification Council.
The CVC survey said 45 percent of community newspaper publishers reported that circulation increased, with the heaviest declines in the Southeast.
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Something for your ad sales reps
Check out this handout from NAA that details what the organization considers 10 truths about newspaper circulation. The interpretation of some of their points will be debated, but this one-page handout will make a great addition to advertising pitch books — it basically gives the reasons why newspapers are still a great buy for advertisers, print and online.