Newspapers Are Under Attack!

Publishers of heavily circulated newspapers, like USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post have been under the attack of increasingly high printing costs for some time now. In response to this attack, papers are modifying their layouts as well as downsizing their content in order to cut costs. USA Today, for example, claims that rising newsprint costs were partially responsible for the company's third-quarter drop in profit. Even news sources like Barron's Dow Jones' Business Weekly are reacting to high costs by shrinking its size.

Perhaps the most radical of changes comes from the Wall Street Journal. In response to high production costs, Dow Jones & Co. (publishers of the Wall Street Journal) are shrinking its size. this change includes a ten percent decrease in the amount of graphics, articles, and photos the paper features. This decrease in content ultimately results in job lay-offs as well as an increased cost of circulation. But, wait, isn't that what publishers were trying to avoid?

The predicted cost of adjustment to the new WSJ is around $56 million. This includes costs of retraining employees and paying presses to print smaller fonts. But all costs are justifiable according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ predicts, with their new format, they will recoup production costs within the next few years. But how will the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers see any profit?

Most news publications, like the Wall Street Journal, feature an online counterpart. For example, if you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal then you can access the Internet periodical for $49/year. However, if you do not subscribe to the print version you must pay $99/year for online features. If you do the math, you are paying $4.99/month and $9.95/month, respectively. To the average person, the price of online features with a subscription to the print version is more attractive. However, that person is also paying to subscribe to the print version, so it adds up.

Like the radio and television industries, newspapers are not adjusting well with the times. Newspaper publishers must understand that they are not simply losing money because of production costs--they are losing money because people have other ways of getting their news. In a culture that is highly susceptible to changes in technology, most individuals receive their daily news from the Internet. If newspapers want to monetize their ability to provide the latest news, then they should be able to convert their current model to fit the Internet age. Instead of charging high fees to access stories online, news periodicals should offer free access. Instead of charging readers, they can charge sponsors money to advertise on their site.

If news publishers want to accommodate the on-demand generation, a generation that they will target in the coming years, then they must understand where these individuals are getting their news from. Blogging is an ever-increasing way for members of the on-demand generation to receive their news. Blogging sites like Perez Hilton.com and
Pink Is The New Blog.com, although highly superficial and are of little to no substance, provide news to readers in entertaining ways that keep them coming back. PerezHilton.com sees over 3 million hits per day and for its ability to monetize its offerings, the site was named no.2 in the Forbes Web 25 list...very interesting. There is definitely opportunity for newspapers in the sphere of blogging and other forms of Internet publishing. Newspaper publishers, wake up!