Comments on: Will Newspapers Be Able To Survive The Economic Downturn? http://www.besttechie.net/2009/07/09/will-newspapers-be-able-to-survive-the-economic-downturn/ A website for technology information and assistance Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:08:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: ericmassengillhttp://www.besttechie.net/2009/07/09/will-newspapers-be-able-to-survive-the-economic-downturn/comment-page-1/#comment-34026 ericmassengill Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:33:23 +0000 http://www.besttechie.net/?p=1915#comment-34026 I think I get what you're trying to say. I don't know if the newspapers themselves agree with you. A lot of them are talking about how things like CraigsList are taking away their ad revinue. Newspapers are too general, and that doesn't fly in the hyper-specialized information age. It's true, simple ad revenue can be one way for them to finance themselves, if they completely convert to digital, specialize, and are smart about the ways they advertise. Google has been a big proponent of that model. I didn't mention it because it sort of goes without saying at this point. Also, part of the problem is that online ads are less effective - or, more accurately, they're just as ineffective as physical ads, but now the ad buyers have concrete statistics to see it. This has dropped the price of online ads over the past year, and some are worrying that an ad model won't be able to make up the lost revenue, because the ads will be worth less than they were in the old, physical days. As a result, most think that ads will have to be paired with another system anyway. (Check out the Aspen Ideas Festival: <a href="http://www.aifestival.org/audio-video-library.php?menu=3&title=505&action=full_info" rel="nofollow">http://www.aifestival.org/audio-video-library.p...</a> . They have good talks on this subject.) I think I get what you're trying to say. I don't know if the newspapers themselves agree with you. A lot of them are talking about how things like CraigsList are taking away their ad revinue. Newspapers are too general, and that doesn't fly in the hyper-specialized information age. It's true, simple ad revenue can be one way for them to finance themselves, if they completely convert to digital, specialize, and are smart about the ways they advertise. Google has been a big proponent of that model. I didn't mention it because it sort of goes without saying at this point. Also, part of the problem is that online ads are less effective – or, more accurately, they're just as ineffective as physical ads, but now the ad buyers have concrete statistics to see it. This has dropped the price of online ads over the past year, and some are worrying that an ad model won't be able to make up the lost revenue, because the ads will be worth less than they were in the old, physical days. As a result, most think that ads will have to be paired with another system anyway. (Check out the Aspen Ideas Festival: http://www.aifestival.org/audio-video-library.p... . They have good talks on this subject.)

]]> By: The Future Of News | BestTechie.nethttp://www.besttechie.net/2009/07/09/will-newspapers-be-able-to-survive-the-economic-downturn/comment-page-1/#comment-34010 The Future Of News | BestTechie.net Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:18:33 +0000 http://www.besttechie.net/?p=1915#comment-34010 [...] Submitted by Eric Massengill on July 16, 2009 – 12:10 AMView commentsComments In my last article, I talked about what the newspaper industry is doing to stay afloat. Their biggest worry now is [...] [...] Submitted by Eric Massengill on July 16, 2009 – 12:10 AMView commentsComments In my last article, I talked about what the newspaper industry is doing to stay afloat. Their biggest worry now is [...]

]]> By: azaashttp://www.besttechie.net/2009/07/09/will-newspapers-be-able-to-survive-the-economic-downturn/comment-page-1/#comment-34007 azaas Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:13:15 +0000 http://www.besttechie.net/?p=1915#comment-34007 hmmm again nice read... but what's more important is to make a simple analysis and then ask ourselves how will newspapers, or to be more specific, if the newspapers in today's form will be able to fit in the digital era.<br><br>We're not that far away from people reading their favorite newspaper online... Given the widely spread internet connections and the continuously increasing speeds of those connections, that is no longer one thing on our " Geek WishList " but a reality! <br><br>Many of them, mostly the major ones, have already realized that and by now they already feature an online edition. Some require a paid subscription and some don't. And here, i feel that it is essential to point out that money generated from subscriptions is not that much of a big part of those major newspapers budget. So my prediction is that due to the enormous amount of advertising that can go into the online editions of those newspapers, we're also not that far away from the major newspapers being absolutely free for everyone to read on the online edition.<br><br>But what about smaller newspapers? Well if they want to survive they will also have to adapt to today's reality. And that can be easily done. But let's just stay focused for a minute on the need to make that change. Given the fact that smaller newspapers get to host less advertising in the paper edition - small number of readers, limited range of news mostly based in local/county news etc - and given the fact that their investments capital is not only low but cannot always be placed and managed in a profitable way, they tend to rely more on the income which comes out of the paid subscriptions. Given that in the near future no one will be willing to pay to get the news - because there will be a lot of free and good news feeders out there - makes it essential for them to come up with an online edition of the paper - which not only will lower the cost but will most likely attract a bit more advertising thus more income - but to also keep it free of charge. For example, 5 years from now a Minnesota town resident will not be willing to pay 20-30$ per month to stay informed on his town hall new decisions about the new park benches or anything like that... but he will be more than happy to read online about news in his hometown for free... that will widen the public reading that small town's newspaper, thus attracting more advertising and combined with the low cost of an online edition, it will end up increasing that small newspaper's profits. This is in my opinion the only way for those small newspapers to stay alive in the digital era.<br><br>Anyway, i hope all this made sense to you guys ;) Pardon me for any grammatical or syntax errors but keep in mind that i am not neither English nor American :) hmmm again nice read… but what's more important is to make a simple analysis and then ask ourselves how will newspapers, or to be more specific, if the newspapers in today's form will be able to fit in the digital era.

We're not that far away from people reading their favorite newspaper online… Given the widely spread internet connections and the continuously increasing speeds of those connections, that is no longer one thing on our ” Geek WishList ” but a reality!

Many of them, mostly the major ones, have already realized that and by now they already feature an online edition. Some require a paid subscription and some don't. And here, i feel that it is essential to point out that money generated from subscriptions is not that much of a big part of those major newspapers budget. So my prediction is that due to the enormous amount of advertising that can go into the online editions of those newspapers, we're also not that far away from the major newspapers being absolutely free for everyone to read on the online edition.

But what about smaller newspapers? Well if they want to survive they will also have to adapt to today's reality. And that can be easily done. But let's just stay focused for a minute on the need to make that change. Given the fact that smaller newspapers get to host less advertising in the paper edition – small number of readers, limited range of news mostly based in local/county news etc – and given the fact that their investments capital is not only low but cannot always be placed and managed in a profitable way, they tend to rely more on the income which comes out of the paid subscriptions. Given that in the near future no one will be willing to pay to get the news – because there will be a lot of free and good news feeders out there – makes it essential for them to come up with an online edition of the paper – which not only will lower the cost but will most likely attract a bit more advertising thus more income – but to also keep it free of charge. For example, 5 years from now a Minnesota town resident will not be willing to pay 20-30$ per month to stay informed on his town hall new decisions about the new park benches or anything like that… but he will be more than happy to read online about news in his hometown for free… that will widen the public reading that small town's newspaper, thus attracting more advertising and combined with the low cost of an online edition, it will end up increasing that small newspaper's profits. This is in my opinion the only way for those small newspapers to stay alive in the digital era.

Anyway, i hope all this made sense to you guys ;) Pardon me for any grammatical or syntax errors but keep in mind that i am not neither English nor American :)

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