Comments on: Growth for Newspapers Online? Yes and No

By: John belt

John belt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:53:08 +0000

I tend to just advertrise online now. newspapers have to turn their attention to online advertising

By: John belt

John belt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:53:08 +0000

I tend to just advertrise online now. newspapers have to turn their attention to online advertising

By: Sean Jackson

Sean Jackson — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Actually the digital side of the equation may actually improve the print side.

First, while online is growing the print side of the equation is still very important. The real question is what can be learned from the online side to increase the value of print.

The big change in print publishing will occur when the formula of papers changes - both in content and conversation. Now this will not be easy but think about it, what was the last innovation in paper layout and conversation? Maybe USAToday but that was over 30 years ago.

While the online side is very important and papers are pushing the envelope with innovations online, the real trick is to find innovation within the printed piece.

The loss of paper in return for online should not be acceptable. Print matters. The real question is how can papers be altered to be more compelling reads and in turn be a great ad vehicle.

I don't have the answer but if the papers are to survive, the print side of the equation should be focused on - online will take care of itself!

By: Hypnosis Los Angeles

Hypnosis Los Angeles — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:38:00 +0000

Fascinating to see how different those #s are, still. And I hope we’ll always get to keep the choice between online and the real thing…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Brian - doesn't this suggest that PR can help SEO and that a good form of online marketing for some sites might be a solid PR push into these big publications?

I was thinking of doing that and using a pay-for-placement service, like Publicity Guaranteed, but was curious to get your thoughts.

By: Scott Meis

Scott Meis — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Thanks for the great info Brian. I would say The Printed Blog (theprintedblog.com) is taking a solid crack at trying to deliver niche user-generated content tailored by community. I’m curious to see how this biz model pans out, but you’ve got to credit the attempt at focusing on community demands.

By: JFish

JFish — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:43:00 +0000

I actually have a friend who is the Assistant Sports Editor for the big paper here in Cincinnati (The Enquirer). We’ve had several conversations, where he’s basically said that he is of the belief that we could soon (possibly very soon in this economy) see the complete destruction of paper versions of news. The papers would still do the same job, they would just do it all on their sites, and with (as noted in the post) more conversation between reporter and reader.

It appears we are indeed trending that way.