I think smart people at the Globe have estimated the life span of “print on Paper” to 15 years . How they arrived at that number , who knows . I know their leadership got out ten years before anyone could see clearly the writing on the wall.
This business will always be run by people in their 50's . All business has that in common . Our goal is to recognize just who is our customer and decide just what are we selling . That is the confusing and confounding detail that is derailing any true success .
Newspapers are important , and most people believe in newspapers in theory . The problem in reality is our business has given up the last twenty years to inaction and a faulty business model . The business was always built to be sold . The last time they were sold , they sold high and now we see the valuations and debt and a credit crunch throwing things way off kilter .
The newspaper business was in trouble long before the internet. This has to be addressed with innovative content from inside and outside the fort.
The current social network media has evolved in reaction to mainstream media . TV , time well wasted , social media is the opposite of that. People are choosing to use their time differently .The medium is not the message , connecting is the message. They found the ideal way to connect from existing technology of e-mail taken forward many steps . Making that connection has caught up with people's desire to not be isolated. TV and video games are isolating . Reading and writing and connecting instantly has been liberating .
We know reading and writing .( I don't personally but...)
The “print “ mentality believes that this is the perfect product. Maybe it is now , but it needed to perfect twenty years ago. Design plus marriage between words and pictures needed to matter then , it is too late for that now. Small papers had to be better 20 years ago.
Technology is moving so fast that our business is fallen behind exponentially and is free fall .
BUT , our values and core business , that being “news” are a valuable asset . If we focus on that ,there may be a chance.
The good thing is that TODAY the product is the best it has ever been since the Golden Age of Newspapers . Both big and small papers are serious about the quality of journalism . The gun has been placed to the heads of the guilty .
We need the economy get better , but our stated mission only encourages more recessions .
Barring that , the only thing that can save a “good “product is marketing . The basic cable version of the online product should be free , just the first few paragraphs , a webbie from each story . Then charge money for the full product. If the product can move away from just doing stories about people that advertize and develop a vibrant lifestyle , “best life” product to capture people who don't go to pro sports and expensive concerts , we can find hundreds of thousands of new readers .
There are certain aspects of living that don't change , relationships , we need to find our readers a date, help them build wealth , raise children from infancy to adulthood, we may have to teach English , and inform news Canadians about 911 , or find value ,peace , prosperity , everyday . We can still bring the horror and the latest scores .
The Daily can be the harvest of the best that all media have to offer , we can beat TV and radio , and scoop magazines ideas too. A website can steal existing advertising from each area. Movie theatres are stealing TV ads.
Our media still commands “bigness” and that has to extend to the area between the ears.
The writing style needs changing because there is no reason to read past the first three paragraphs of any news story .
This is not a big overhaul , just divide up the product and tweak this or that , finding the 2/3's of people who never buy newspapers because they just don't live for news ( because they are just living) . The paper has to be relevant to people who are looking for that edge to get them out of lower middle class . This is the class that is growing and this has always been our market.
Newspaper reporters and photographers have value because of their vision ,and dedication but the business model stifles the best efforts of a group that has always wanted to BE MORE .