Is it nostalgia that makes us cling to print?
Jeff Jarvis flags up
Colin Crawford's comments on International Data Group's transition from print to digital and leaves us with the following ruminations:
Yes, print is a burden. It’s expensive to produce for it. It’s expensive to manufacture. It’s expensive to deliver. It limits your space. It limits your timing. It’s stale when it’s fresh. It is one-size-fits-all and can’t be adapted to the needs of each user. It comes with no ability to click for more. It has no search. It can’t be forwarded. It has no archive. It kills trees. It uses energy. It usually brings unions. And you really should recycle it. Wow, when you think about it, print sucks.
Today I have also been reading a lot about the World Editors Forum and the revelation that, in order to compete with the Internet, newspapers of the future will become free and place more emphasis on comment and opinion.
According to
Reuters, who commissioned the report with WEF:
Some 86 percent of respondents believed newsrooms should become more integrated with digital services as two in three believe the most common form of news consumption will be via electronic media such as online or mobiles within a decade.
According to 704 senior news executives surveyed, the greatest threat to the industry was the declining number of young people who read newspapers while the increasing emphasis on speed meant only 45 percent of editors thought the quality of journalism would improve over the next 10 years.
Press Gazette also reported on the findings saying that:
Despite the threats from new media to traditional business models, 85 per cent of editors were either somewhat optimistic or very optimistic about the future of their papers – the same figure as last year.
It's not clear from the accounts I've read so far why there is so much positive feeling - I think I would be very worried. IDG have found a way of making online advertising bring in more than print - but they are the exception rather than the rule I think.
The New York Times has an interesting
in-depth piece about the privately-owned publisher's success. IDG targets a niche audience and produces titles such as InfoWorld and PC World. In April 2007, InfoWorld became a Web-only publication.
There were nervous months after the switch as the company awaited the reaction from advertisers and readers, but before long InfoWorld’s Web audience was growing and its business improved. Today, I.D.G. says, the InfoWorld Web site is generating ad revenue of $1.6 million a month with operating profit margins of 37 percent. A year earlier, when it had both print and online versions, InfoWorld had a slight operating loss on monthly revenue of $1.5 million.
Across the company, the remaining print publications still typically play a vital role, but a lesser one — physically smaller and financially diminished. In 2002, 86 percent of the revenue from I.D.G.’s publications came from print and 14 percent online. These days, 52 percent of the revenue is from online ads, while 48 percent is from the print side.
One of the reasons cited for the company's success is that even the still largely print-based products like CIO have a 'web-first' business model at their centre. Crucially, 'there are no print and Web barriers'.
As the then-editor in chief of InfoWorld, Steve Fox, noted just before the transition to digital was made:
. . . the most fundamental difference between print and online was the ability to measure precisely how many readers view a particular article on the Web — and how those results influence editorial decisions on what to write about.The link to the business is direct. When a person views a Web page, ads are automatically presented on the page and the publisher collects a payment.
The new chief, Eric Knorr, has said that while page views are important, they are not everything - if they were, you'd always be reading about the same handful of topics. This is a good point.
And InfoWorld has also embraced other opportunities afforded by Web technologies and used these as a jumping off point for further interaction with its readership:
Without the physical limitations of print, Mr. Knorr said, it becomes easier to explore topics more deeply. InfoWorld presents a stable of bloggers, including 19 freelance writers, who are authorities in niches including data protection, green technology, open source software and cloud computing.The goal, with reporting and blogging, Mr. Knorr said, is to create “thought leadership and depth” in several subject areas online, and also set up InfoWorld conferences around those topics.
The article closes with this pertinent observation from journalist turned venture capitalist Stewart Alsop
“What’s happening at I.D.G. is a fairly accurate map for every other publishing organization. Get over it, it’s going to happen.”