newspaper tactics

[snickerd3]

Wow. I always figured the online version of the newspaper would include the same news stories as the print edition. The local paper where I work, has started only including the first few sentences of the story then say see the print edition for more details. Only a couple stories actually get full online access.

what a ploy to keep hard copy sales going.

 

[TouchDown]

sounds like they will make their online edition (Assuming it's free) pretty useless where people will completely disregard it.

They are in business to stay in business - selling papers whether online or otherwise, they will most likely want you to pay. Maybe there is a way to pay and see online?

 

[Bman]

They could always go the paid subscription link like WSJ or Financial Times. I think newspapers make most of their money from advertising anyway, which they can do plenty of online, so it seems like they should be making money either way. Personally, if they didn't put the whole story online, I would just find another site that did....

 

[Kephart P.E.]

The problem with Newspapers is that their entire business model has been turned upside down. Many papers were very much tied to the production side of the business. From paper production to printing. So the internet has completely thrown them for a loop.

Add to that the Newspaper business is full of, how do I say it? Old people who don't actually embrace technology. So it is a two front problem.

I think the most successful papers will end up having online and paper editions that are virtually identical. The news isn't going away but getting people to pay to view something on their own PC with their own internet connection and their own electricity isn't a model that works. Plus if your local paper charges you can probably find news about it from somewhere else on the internet.

 

[udpolo15]

The problem with Newspapers is that their entire business model has been turned upside down. Many papers were very much tied to the production side of the business. From paper production to printing. So the internet has completely thrown them for a loop.
Add to that the Newspaper business is full of, how do I say it? Old people who don't actually embrace technology. So it is a two front problem.

I think the most successful papers will end up having online and paper editions that are virtually identical. The news isn't going away but getting people to pay to view something on their own PC with their own internet connection and their own electricity isn't a model that works. Plus if your local paper charges you can probably find news about it from somewhere else on the internet.

I think people will start paying for stuff. Content cost money and currently ad revenue doesn't pay the bills. As content becomes worse, there will be opportunities for people to make money off of content. I saw some stat that 90% of blogs post link to mainstream content.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Our local fishwrap (newspaper) has been putting a lot of "Want to read more? Visit our website at.." taglines at the end of stories and decreasing content. They also started running of a YES! (Your Essential Shopper) wad of Sunday ads they toss in everyone's yard, if they aren't a subscriber. I'm guesing they promised a certain amount of subscribers to the advertisers, and subscriptions aren't doing that level of business.

Fifteen years ago they built a palatial building to hoild their writers and printing presses. Now, they are leasing unused space in the building, and I heard the print shop ain't doing that well.

I didn't think anyone could be worse than Knight-Ridder, but when McClatchey bought the paper, it went downhill so fast, it was astounding.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

The problem with Newspapers is that their entire business model has been turned upside down. Many papers were very much tied to the production side of the business. From paper production to printing. So the internet has completely thrown them for a loop.
Add to that the Newspaper business is full of, how do I say it? Old people who don't actually embrace technology. So it is a two front problem.

I think the most successful papers will end up having online and paper editions that are virtually identical. The news isn't going away but getting people to pay to view something on their own PC with their own internet connection and their own electricity isn't a model that works. Plus if your local paper charges you can probably find news about it from somewhere else on the internet.

I think people will start paying for stuff. Content cost money and currently ad revenue doesn't pay the bills. As content becomes worse, there will be opportunities for people to make money off of content. I saw some stat that 90% of blogs post link to mainstream content.

I sure it doesn't pay the bills, but without looking at the books I doubt the money is going out the door from having server space. Heck Facebook makes a kajillion dollars a year not charging a dime.

The problem is that too many papers are trying to do both. There will always be newspaper, but all these organizations will not be able to always do both.

Heck here in my neck of the woods we have plenty of weekly (free) newspapers that have always been free. The daily print editions will be gone from most areas in 5-10 years.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Heck Facebook makes a kajillion dollars a year not charging a dime.

I haven't checked the numbers in a long while, but back when Facebook and Google were relatively new, but still pretty big, they were pulling in a schload of revenue, but failing to turn a profit.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

Heck Facebook makes a kajillion dollars a year not charging a dime.

I haven't checked the numbers in a long while, but back when Facebook and Google were relatively new, but still pretty big, they were pulling in a schload of revenue, but failing to turn a profit.

Facebook is a private company, so accurate numbers are difficult to obtain, however, in 2009 it made between 550-700 million dollars in revenue. 2010 estimates are somewhere in the billion dollar range.

The term "Turning a profit" is difficult to determine especially in a private company owned by private individuals it isn't really clear IMHO, especially if the majority owners are employees that are compensated heavily based on yearly revenue then in fact you might never turn a large profit.