Media is shifting to new adventures, new revenues, new platforms and new strategies.
If you opened a newspaper today you might be one of the few to know. It’s something that has been coming for a while but now it’s time to officially announce the truth. Traditional print media is dying.
Rupert Murdoch: eat your heart out. There’s less money today in print media. Just recently Rupert announced that the New York Times would charge for it’s online content by 2011. With the announcement of the iPad and the iBookstore – how will newspapers survive? CNN and the New York Times have dabbled in charging for online content before. It hasn’t been very successful. There are many reasons why.
First is that anyone can be a publisher. Anyone can produce content that is accessible worldwide. Total cost: almost nothing. You can find news directly from the source or varied opinions targeted to any very niche readership. The internet allows for very impersonal accessibility and very personal outreach. It is one of the very few fair playing fields for business today. The other being a Farmer’s Market.
Second is that people love a deal. Free information is a fantastic deal. Why look to a paper for the latest CDC warning when you can go directly to the CDC for what you want to know? Why visit twelve news sites when a few search engines put all of the latest headlines in a convenient location? Convenience typically results in a HUGE up-charge. When you can get a plethora (I love using plethora in a sentence!) of conveniences for a low monthly rate to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) of your choice – why pay for multiple convenience up-charges?
Finally – the old saying “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” applies here. For decades newspapers sold advertising, classifieds and sponsorships for enough money to pay for operating costs and then some. Then they would charge readers to read the same newspapers littered with ads and the like. Brilliant business model for 1970. Horribly archaic for 2010. *Ahem – Rupert, I’m talking to you!*
Print media is not totally dead yet. It may survive in some form of retirement for a while. Monday, Pew Research Center revealed that the most popular form of news access in the US was still a tie between Local and National Television. Third was Online News. A growing gap was found between a fourth-place Print News and it’s online counterpart. Finally the advocates for online media are being proven right by constant studies.
Printing was last a revolutionary technology at the end of the Medieval Age. Today, online technology and gadgets associated with getting people online are hot, affordable and fun. Paper cuts are out. Just sayin’. We’re lucky in Dallas to have the Dallas Morning News. Why? Because they are embracing online technology and potential to bring new and amazing content to readers. Both online and offline.
Do you still read a newspaper or news magazine in print form? Let me know! In the meantime I encourage everyone to visit DallasNews.com to see the many niche blogs and videos you won’t find anywhere else.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and I’ll see you again on Friday!
Tell a Friend,
TZ
Tony Zazza, a 15-year media, marketing and advertising expert, is the Principal of Zazza Media Strategies, a Dallas Texas Marketing Firm, that specializes in growing small to medium sized businesses to their fullest potential.
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