Newspapers or newssites?
I've always loved reading the newspaper as a way to start my day. Having been raised near Chicago, I grew up reading the Chicago Tribune. We've moved around a lot due to my career, and I've brought my daily newspaper habit with me. I've been a daily newspaper reader in all my "homes", from Chicago to Appleton, then to Boston, Lexington, San Jose and finally Indianapolis. So the newspaper is really part of my daily life.
As a marketing consultant, my clients sometimes want to run ads in the newspaper to generate business. That's become harder and harder to justify in my mind, and my "gut" tells me they're not going to get the exposure they expect. Yesterday I had a moment which helped explain my "gut feelings" about newspaper advertising.
I am an adjunct professor at a local college and I teach a marketing class to 28 college students. In class yesterday, we were discussing marketing communications and how to get your sales messages out to people. We talked about online (of course), TV, Radio, and newspapers.
I am an adjunct professor at a local college and I teach a marketing class to 28 college students. In class yesterday, we were discussing marketing communications and how to get your sales messages out to people. We talked about online (of course), TV, Radio, and newspapers.
When I asked "does anyone in the class read the paper?" guess how many hands shot up? Of my 28 students, only 2 (!) read the newspaper at all. When asked, they told me they get all their news for free online, using places like Yahoo. That surprised me, but it shouldn't have. I've been a daily newspaper reader for longer than many of my students have even been alive, but that doesn't mean the "Gen Y" aged students pay any attention to print. The generation gap between middle-aged folks like me, and 20 year olds like my students, is really evident in our media consumption.
The news paper industry is becoming a news site industry. Here's a few developments:
The news paper industry is becoming a news site industry. Here's a few developments:
The Seattle Post Intelligencer stopped the presses for good as they ceased printed production of the paper, going exclusively online. As a former Chicagoan, it surprised me when the Chicago Tribune declared bankruptcy. Last week, there was a lot of buzz when the LA Times sold front-page ad space that looked like real news. Even the staid NY Times started selling ads on the front page a few months ago. My hometown Indianapolis Star is shrinking down to fewer and fewer pages - the Monday edition is so skinny, it's hard to justify walking out to the mailbox to pick it up in the morning.
Personally, I still like to scan the actual printed pages of the paper while I have my morning coffee. I like to pick and choose what I read as I spread the paper out on the dinner table. It looks like I'll not be able to count on that for much longer. It seems printed newspapers are going the way of the 8 track cassette tape.
What will happen to the newspapers in the next couple of years? Will they find new business models to reinvent themselves? Will they go completely online? Moreover, how will that impact local advertising as a business tool?
Posted by John Maler at 4/14/2009 9:37 AM 
Categories: Newspapers,marketing,advertising,print
Tags: Newspapers marketing advertising print
Categories: Newspapers,marketing,advertising,print
Tags: Newspapers marketing advertising print
In the media relations industry we're finding that most people are getting their news online - hence the bankruptcy of various papers across the country and the movement towards online news with a subscription fee. The printed newspaper is gradually becoming a dinosaur. Oddly enough, many clients would rather be in print than online - even though the printed version reaches 400,000 subscribers whereas the online version has up to 2 million visitors a day. I still don't understand this! Is it because it's tangible? Is it easier to determine ROI?
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John--- I'm guessing that your classroom conversation devoted more time to other forms of media than it did newspaper. That wouldn't surprise me.
In their book Kellogg on Advertising & Media, from the Kellogg School of Management, editor Bobby Calder devotes a mere three pages discussing newspaper-- out of a nearly 300-page book. His message mainly points out what you have already addressed---- decreasing readership and increasing costs. This is true for print media in general.
"New media" such as internet and mobile are drawing more and more of advertiser's attention and budget. But more than that, integrated communication will continue to prosper--- with mass media being used to drive traffic to interactive media.
As for newspapers, they will be placed in the position of addressing their strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths have always been tied to providing content-- credible content. Unfortunately, their weaknesses mount---decreasing readership and increasing costs.
The product life cycle holds some valuable lessens for newspapers. When a product reaches decline, the only options are to cut costs or re-position the product. We have already seen the results of newspapers' cost-cutting measures. As you write, John, it is not a satisfactory solution. I believe we will see several more evolutions of the newspaper while they work on re-positioning themselves in the content-delivery business--- for example, reduced delivery days and subscription-based on-line services. In the end, readers will probably have to be re-trained on where to go to get their content. Laptops, "Kindle" subscriptions, and cell-phones will replace the crisp feel of the newspaper you currently enjoy John. My only advice is to hold onto your paper while you can. Change is definitely coming!!!!
Deidre M. Pettinga
Assistant Professor - Marketing
University of Indianapolis
School of Business
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Thanks for the post. I wonder how the demographics of newspaper readership compare with the demographics of online use.
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I'm sure to have the same pining for newsprint the day that the Indianapolis STAR, USAToday, and The Wall Street Journal stop arriving at my home each day. Remember that scene in the movie BROADCAST NEWS, when Holly Hunter's character bought six or seven papers in order to get caught up on the daily news? But nostalgia only goes so far. The newspaper has never really been about news -- it's been about effective delivery of ADS. And because advertising is shrinking, so are newspapers. An interesting model might be CURRENT newspapers, which are THRIVING in Carmel, Westfield, and on the southside. This community paper, while light on actual news, arrives for free in every mailbox in those cities every Tuesday. It's completely advertiser supported. Maybe the TIMES and STAR of the future is more of a brand than a physical product. (However, I intensely dislike most newspaper's web sites. They are TOO CLUTTERED!) Good to see comments from Butler alumn and Assistant Professor Deidre Pettinga. Things in media have changed a lot since Butler in the 1980's!
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Dave, thanks for the note. it will be a sad day for me when I can't sit down with the fresh morning newspaper and unfold it as I slurp my morning coffee.
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With the technology now and the fast pace life of people, i think newspaper is really losing it market.
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