Newspaper publishers of yesteryear’s prime era of print were the creators, curators, and distributors of knowledge that audiences knew to be authentic and fact-checked. Digital implications have not necessarily discontinued publishers’ reputations regarding this––however, the ‘changed architecture of the news information ecology in the internet age, where news was collected by a few and distributed by many, has been replaced by a network of collaborative information gatherers and distributors’ (Morieson and Usher, 2011, pg. 78).
According to Mintel (2014a), more than half (56 per cent) of consumers read news on free online platforms––this demographic largely referring to consumers aged 16 to 34 logically supports Mintel’s subsequent claim that only 14 per cent of consumers are willing to pay for these platforms.
Over two and half million newspapers are sold each day in the UK, and each year newspaper publishers (UK) yield on average, two billion pounds in sales (Preston, 2014). Despite this, performance figures continue to decrease year after year on a global scale (Preston, 2014). In less than a decade, the combined revenue from print and digital advertisements within the US sector, have decreased from 49 billion to 21 billion US dollars; print may not be the future for news, but it is apparent that how publishers effectively think of content and furthermore distribution in the digital marketplace, will ultimately determine how audiences choose to subsidize and engage with the industry (Preston, 2014).
Newspaper publishers are challenged with persuading advertisers to support their publications as businesses and audiences continue to move away from print––and therefore, with print advertising in decline, the need to formulate efficient business models exclusive from solely advertisement and subscription, is emphasis for what will drive the industry to ‘monetize the audience for news’ (Morieson and Usher, 2011; Stephenson, 2013).
Mintel’s (2014b) 2013 consumer research regarding the UK’s preference for print newspapers versus digital platforms is illustrated in Figure 1:
On a final thought, authors––and in this context journalists––are as well experiencing the implications of news transitioning from paper to an online network of curators. ‘Through blogging, social media tools, and the use of forms of citizen journalism', audiences have greater opportunities to cultivate an authoritative presence in the digital realm of news publishing (Morieson and Usher, 2011). Their ubiquitous access to online resources and news stories, pushes publishers to redefine their digital strategies in order to engage their readerships as ‘content creators and providers of wisdom’, as opposed to the principals of the conversation (Morieson and Usher, 2011).
WC: 500
1. Mintel, (2014a). Digital Trends Autumn - UK - September 2014. Mintel.
2. Mintel, (2014b). Is there still a future for physical media?. Mintel.
3. Morieson, L. and Usher, N. (2011). Mapping the Future of News in the Digital World. In: D. Araya, Y. Breindl, T. Houghton and P. Lang, ed., Nexus: New Intersections in Internet Research, 1st ed. New York: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers. [(Morieson and Usher, 2011)
4. Preston, P. (2014). Print is not the future, but it's not the past either. [Online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/apr/27/print-future-past-digital-media-newspapers [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014].
5. Stephenson, R. (2013). Can Publishers Make Real Money by Going Digital?. [Online] Insights.wired.com. Available at: http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/can-publishers-make-real-money-by-going-digital#axzz3JSAuAK38 [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].