Experts accuse newspaper industry of lacking willingness to experiment
The World Association of Newspapers Digital Publishing Conference concluded on Wednesday with an urgent appeal to the newspaper industry. Newspapers are still making far too little use of their online presence, said online expert Caroline Little.
The World Association of Newspapers Digital Publishing Conference ended on Wednesday with an urgent appeal to the newspaper industry. "Newspapers need to be as experimental as possible when it comes to securing their own future on the internet," Caroline Little, former managing director of the online arm of the US newspaper Washington Post, told the assembled international newspaper industry. As the Guardian reports, Little painted a rather pessimistic picture of the current situation and future development of the industry. The newspaper industry is "shrouded in an unprecedented amount of gloom and doom", which is increasing the economic pressure on companies. Even the Internet, seen by many as a "gold mine", has not yet managed to get the revenue streams of newspapers flowing again, Little said according to the press release.
"Today, even media companies that used to achieve indecently high profit margins are struggling to maintain their profits," explained the online expert. Foreign offices and research departments are currently being closed down by the dozen. In the current economic climate, it is also difficult to imagine that potentially promising areas such as digital distribution will provide companies with rich revenue streams. "Despite huge audiences and enormous reach, the revenue that newspapers generate from their online offerings is still too low compared to their print counterparts," Little noted. As concrete examples, she cited the New York Times and the Washington Post, both of which are among the top earners in the industry on the Internet. In both cases, the ratio of online to print sales remains below 20 percent. This is not even close to sufficient, Little emphasized.
In her opinion, the main problem lies in the fact that the majority of newspapers still use their internet presence exclusively to publish their existing print content online. "We need to broaden our horizons and not be afraid to try something new. If you remain too conservative, you risk losing everything," Little concluded.
"Today, even media companies that used to achieve indecently high profit margins are struggling to maintain their profits," explained the online expert. Foreign offices and research departments are currently being closed down by the dozen. In the current economic climate, it is also difficult to imagine that potentially promising areas such as digital distribution will provide companies with rich revenue streams. "Despite huge audiences and enormous reach, the revenue that newspapers generate from their online offerings is still too low compared to their print counterparts," Little noted. As concrete examples, she cited the New York Times and the Washington Post, both of which are among the top earners in the industry on the Internet. In both cases, the ratio of online to print sales remains below 20 percent. This is not even close to sufficient, Little emphasized.
In her opinion, the main problem lies in the fact that the majority of newspapers still use their internet presence exclusively to publish their existing print content online. "We need to broaden our horizons and not be afraid to try something new. If you remain too conservative, you risk losing everything," Little concluded.
