I watched the 7.30 Report story on ABC1 tonight on the future of newspapers and was left wanting more. It presented the situation and provided background but did not canvas in any detail the future. It gave too much time to print connected people. That said, I guess for many viewers the report was news. It will be interesting to see ff it generates questions tomorrow.
I would have preferred to see a more detailed piece: history - the collapse of classified revenue which is shaking the print model overseas and here to its core; the ripple impact of that collapse - newsagents, advertisers etc; and, the future - the opportunities to embrace change and redefine how we as a society create our own checks and balances independent of government funding to monitor those who lead us. The future is where I’d like to see most time spent.
I’d like to see greater exploration of these issues. I am concerned that we will call for this when it is too late and change well advanced. Now is the time for us to embrace change and escalate this.
It was interesting to watch the story on Foreign Correspondent about Detroit and General Motors which followed the 7.30 Report. It complimented the newspaper story. While they focus in the US on rebuilding the auto industry, some say they should focus on the opportunity of change. We need to do the same in our newsagencies.
UPDATE: You can access the 7.30 report story here.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Jarryd Moore // May 27, 2009 at 1:06 AM
Too right. Too little insight from too many print connected people. It appears many of those still connected to the print world are bitter about the internet and want the new word of news to follow the rules of the old world.
Newsagents are not the only ones who have to reinvent their model. A large part of the print world is very much in denial at the moment - this itself is contributing to newsagent denial.
2 paul // May 27, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Why not give credit to the report Jarryd. They made their points clear, blogging has not got the depth of reporting power a newspaper has and the leaching of stories from newspapers, tv is not good for anyone. And crikey would have nothing to write about anyway if he couldn’t read the papers first. You also mentioned rules how about intellectual property theft the internet is slowly being tamed even this site has rules.
3 Mark // May 27, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Paul, Crikey employs a team of journalists and often breaks stories.
Thinking back on the report last night, the real story is that the issue of the future of newspapers has been given more public attention here as a result. Hopefully, this will drive newsagent engagement.
4 Vaughan // May 27, 2009 at 1:02 PM
I watched the report and, as an interested party that sells the product, found the content very thin.
The death of newspapers has a rippling effect that has not been repoted yet.
There was an opportunity to dig deeper into the story last night, but like most stories today it only skimmed the surface.
4500 newsagents sell the product; think of the ramifications of that. Businesses closing, staff unemployed etc.
The positive was the commitment by News Ltd to their print publications. It offers some light.
Still, newsagents of today need to be diversifying away from traditional income streams to avoid the impact of loss revenue in print.
I did have to laugh when News Ltd said that newspapers would be around for 10,20,30,50 years……….bit arrogant, especially considering the guy that said it will be long gone!
5 Jarryd Moore // May 27, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Paul,
Those interview did not make their points clear. They iterated thoughts without further information. Some of those who were interviewed were basing their ideas on what they think “should” happen. Print media don’t seem to be able to grasp the idea that they no longer controll content and what they think should happen doesn’t really matter. The talk about the “internet” as if it were some life sucking entity - it isn’t. People are the internet and they need to accept that it is people who are now in control.
6 Jarryd Moore // May 27, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Vaughn,
I’m actually concerned about News Ltd’s commitment to their print publications. If that ship goes down because they ignored what is happening I fear many many newsagents will blindly go down with them.
7 June // May 29, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Jarryd, Vaughan, the “commitment to their print publications” mooted by News Ltd in the 7.30 Report was a whole lot of spin, no different from the pollies telling us why they sent millions of dollars to
dead people. It made it look as
though News Ltd thought all was ok in the print media world when clearly, it is not.
I agree with Mark that crikey.com often breaks a story in the middle of the day which then becomes the fodder for TV and Newspapers that night and the following day.
My thoughts are that News Ltd will slowly start to print on less days (maybe one to start with and then 2 and then 3) but they’re not going to tell us that because we have to continue to
throw the papers daily and eke out our existence and they know we are all in trouble so they are
not going to tell us their plans because it would mean wholesale
rejection of the new contracts which are about to come out.
Newsagents should be marching in the streets to demand transparency from both News and FF BEFORE WE EVEN CONTEMPLATE SIGNING ANYTHING.
8 Derek // May 29, 2009 at 6:26 PM
This is huge, like a revolution if it comes to fruition. A couple of hundred years of a Traditional, habitual prouct and in built to human physc. I am part of the resistance however I am not nieve, look what has happened in such a short time with Mobiles, Internet, data interchange, GPS and the list will go on.
I only hope that it is phased in over years, this needs to be “perfect” before being released on mass.
Will it be like a mobile phone plan?
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