Respected Australian TV anchor Dr. Armin Wolf has written for Forbes about when the last German newspaper will cease printing. 2034 is the date Wolf focuses on as it’s the date journalism professor Klaus Meier predicted a while back.
The article is interesting because it’s not doom and gloom. No, it’s a look at news itself and how it finds platforms relevant to its purpose.
Newspapers were not invented to be printed on paper. For about 200 years, they were just a particularly efficient way to distribute written “up to date”-information. If there are new technical possibilities that do the same better, they will prevail. Stone tablets vanished because new media emerged that could store information more efficiently. The same will happen to printed daily news.
This post is in 2 parts, both related to digital and News Ltd.
First Bit…………………….
A few years ago Rupert Murdoch was purported to have said the last Newspaper will go over the last fence in 2040.
Wolf reckons 2034, I’ll have a shot and say 2050 and will celebrate by trying to read what’s now known as a newspaper. Why ‘try’, well at 100 not out it will be a challenge I think.
I’m pretty sure it’s a generational thing, and if 40 something’s are reading the papers regularly (according to the linked article), then they will be at least 61 in 2034. Given that we are all pushing the life years upwards, then 2034 may be a bit of an early call as demand could still be there.
Who knows what shape or form the ‘tipping point will be’, but I suspect as long as enough demand is there, so will the hard copy.
What’s currently making digital newspapers look a bit like a bad business idea (for the moment) is the still around generation who want to read a paper and get more than sound bites AND the idea of how to fund digital as the article points out. The article writer doesn’t know, News Ltd don’t know how, maybe Beson does, but he simply can’t push past the generation who, out of habit, won’t evolve too far into the digital.
All have to wait whether they like it or not.
Interestingly, the San Francisco Chronicle just tore down their digital paywall because it wasn’t working. They offer 7 day a week Home Delivery to your doorstep for $5.00 a week and help the ailing digital platform along by letting full digital be added to the HD subscription. Not sure what the paid digital will offer as their website news is now open slather.
The Dallas Morning News just did the same. Their 7 day HD is $8.99 per week for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The DMN have great coupon offers in their Sunday edition which have savings of up to $540.
I think this probably means at retail outlets and it’s an idea that News Ltd should look at in partnership with Retail Newsagencies and other outlets.
In the subscription area, the DMN also lead in with the accent on HD papers and then link in the 24/7 digital access.
This is another idea that News Ltd’s Australia’s new chief could look at and I would encourage him to do this.
Second Bit…………………….
I would also say to him that as a Newsagent, News Ltd ought to support me if I have a desire to market HD’s in my area for our mutual benefit. I found it rather odd that I cannot obtain promotional fliers from News Ltd that offer pure HD. I can only have a digital flier that also offers a HD as a mix.
The important point here is that we are being asked to do a Newsagent based promotion to re-capture those long term HD Subscribers that were recently lost when attempts were made to push them into the highest Sub category (News Ltd’s words). So a significant number of long term Subscribers cancelled for economic reasons because of a decision made by News Ltd previous boss. If I look at the prospects of conducting a successful campaign, then what would my chances be in offering full digital with Hard Copy when the cost to the punter is higher than the cost when he pulled out??? Go figure.
So what I wanted to do was get some fliers offering a HD Subs for less than 7 days a week, thus putting the price within the target audience’s range. Answer from News Ltd – No you can’t do that.
Hopefully the new News Ltd Australia Boss will be a little more business savvy.
It would not be sensible from a News Ltd point of view to ignore digital, but a better move might be to let others spend all their loot on trying to blunder around searching to find the right model for digital and when it’s found slip in like Flynn and do the same. In the meantime, just keep ticking digital over, in rapid response readiness, without screwing up print.
Dennis
Between 1880 and 1921 more newspaper titles closed than in the last 40 years.
In that time, along came cinemas, broadcast radio, television, and the internet.
All of which “will kill newspapers.”
Hasn’t happened yet. Not really a believer in all the doom & gloom, just wish some of these geniuses would get back to their core business, and try and be of some assistance to the very people who actually SELL their product, to the customer, every day.
How many ex-retailers are employed by publishers to try and make their products actually sell? Just that, you know, they’re the ones with the actual experience….just sayin’….
News Ltd have responded to me and advised that shortly there will be print only promotional material available for use by Newsagents in this state.
This additional Home Delivery initiative by News Ltd was in the pipeline awaiting for promotional material to become available before communicating to Newsagents in this state.
I thank News Ltd for their support of print and the fast response to correct my concerns.
I note that today News Ltd launched another campaign to support their printed newspapers, this time a week long campaign of serious prizes (over $30,000) for readers. I especially like the nature of the prizes – all related to energy. EG: 1 X Solar system + installation – 3 X one years free electricity (capped at $2000) and other Origin Energy partnership prizes. The major prize is a Bosch kitchen makeover valued at $10,000 + a new 127cm smart TV.
Dennis
As The Australian tells us today “Its time to stop chasing the Digital Ghosts”. Publishers have to create a paper worthy of paying for an not undervaluing the print copy. Maybe as Denis notes above the tide may turn.