The blog post below, from the Suburban Newspaper Association of America, unintentionally offers the perfect illustration of the illogical thinking of many publications in regards to pay walls on web sites. On one hand, the author, Deb Shaw, points out that newspapers are the primary initiators of local content and that other mediums, including citizen-written efforts and blogs are ill equipped to displace newspapers in this role. On the other hand, the author ominously quotes a survey showing that most Americans want their news for free and would search elsewhere for content if it was not given away free by publications.

Search where? If local newspapers are not writing it, readers can search all they want, it won't exist. I want a new car to be free but no matter how many auto dealers I go to the darn things still cost money. Besides, am I missing something, hasn't the last 10 years taught publications that the cost of creating content and distributing it free on websites outweighs the revenue that can be generated by online ads of any form? On some level it is supply and demand- online advertisers are buying traffic and there are so many online opportunities that supply online has far outstripped demand, thereby deflating ad rates and that will make it tough for originally produced free content to be paid for entirely by paid advertising anytime in the near future. 

If you disagree with me and want to read more of the "give-it-away-free-because-someday-traffic-will-result-in-revenue" philosophy go to the SNA's website, here.

Weathering The Perfect Storm

From the Association of Free Community Papers (AFCP: 

How Print Helps the Internet

Telegraph.co.uk became the first British newspaper website when it was launched 15 years ago.

When I took over the editorship of the fledgling Telegraph internet site early in 1995, two questions were constantly being posed to me. The first was: how can you make money out of something you give away free? The second was: does this mean the end of newspapers? The first of these questions was always the most tricky, because, in reality, no one had a clue how we were going to make money. The Telegraph's internet operation was essentially a marketing initiative with a brief to explore this new medium and report back. No one said anything about making money, although reader offers were always part of the mix from the start, so there was a token nod in the direction of commerce.

I recall a rather a rather scary meeting with the then proprietor Conrad Black, who asked me the same question. I pointed out to him that he was always complaining that city analysists undervalued the share price of Hollinger (which owned the Telegraph) and that one of the reasons they gave was that the company did not have an internet strategy. By backing an internet newspaper, I reasoned, he would show them that he did have a strategy and his share price would rise accordingly - so at least he would make some money that way. The answer seemed to satisfy him and we were allowed to keep going.

The longer term answer remains elusive. Short of charging for content, no one really is completely sure 15 years later. And although the telegraph's internet operations do attract many millions of advertising revenue now, these revenues are still smaller than the sales and advertising revenue of the print titles.

As to the second question, my answer remains the same as it was then: of course the internet doesn't spell the end of newspapers. No new medium has ever sunk an older one without trace. Contrary to popular musical mythology, video didn't kill the radio star (although DVD and Blu Ray have certainly given video a kicking) and TV didn't kill radio - in fact, radio is going from strength to strength, while a lot of TV is struggling to survive.

And the longer time goes on, the more convinced I am that that the internet needs newspapers. The reason is simple: people like reading, and whilst reading from a screen is bearable for short items, it gets tedious for anything more than a few hundred words. I'm prepared to bet that the majority of people, young and old alike, when they find something online they want to give detailed study to - whether its an article or the terms and conditions of their holiday booking - the first thing they do is hit the 'print' button so they can sit down with a bit of paper in their hands.

I think there's something deeply ingrained in the DNA of post Gutenberg culture concerning typography and design - and nowhere do you find more exciting an innovative typeography and design than in mass ciculation newspapers and the plethora of magazine and supplements they bring in their wake. And whilst the design of websites has advanced from the rather sparse minimalism that characterised our efforts 15 years ago, they still have a long way to go before they can replicate the best that newspapers have to offer.

But beyond the aesthetic argument, there's a more profound argument about the centrality of newspapers, and this is to do with the business of telling stories, and creating compelling narratives. If you examine the world's great online sources of news and opinion, for example, the vast majority of them have sprung from newspapers or from broadcast organisations with strong roots in newspaper journalism culture.

So, in a curious way, things have come full circle. Fifteen years ago, the Telegraph newspapers needed an internet site to help transform the brand image of the paper, to make it seem more modern and relevant. Now, I think, when our internet presence has made us a global brand, we need the newspaper even more to remind those readers why they value what they are reading.

 Here is the invitation to Mediabids' free teleseminar on October 15th. We do these monthly, all are welcomed.

Join publishing and advertising expert Ernest F. Oriente of PowerHour, LLC [ www.powerhour.com ], and Jedd Gould, CEO of Mediabids.com [ www.mediabids.com ] for a free PowerHour on October 15th at 3:30 p.m./eastern/New York time.  Since 1986 Ernest has owned, managed and coached [totaling 54,300 hours] 700+ leading publishing companies and their advertising sales teams, around the world--and is the author of SmartMatch Alliances.

Please join Ernest and Jedd on October 15th for a discussion focused on "Maximize Your Sales Database".  During this 60-minute conference call we will be discussing the points below plus fielding your specific questions:

1.  What are your sales database options as a publishing professional?

2.  What’s the most valuable information to have/keep in your sales database? What is the MacKay 66 and how does this relate to driving publication advertising sales?

3.  What fields in your sales database are key for sorting, producing reports and leveraging your sales database information?

4.  How will your sales database help you drive new advertising sales revenue, renew more existing advertisers and out-run your competitors? 

Registration Information
=================

When:  Thursday, October 15th

Please note, the above TeleForum starts at 3:30 p.m. Eastern/New York/Toronto time, which is

2:30 p.m./Central/Dallas/Winnipeg time

1:30 p.m./Mountain/Denver/Calgary time

12:30 p.m./Pacific/San Francisco/Vancouver time

11:30 a.m./Alaska time

Fee:  No charge

To register, please go to:  here

For additional registration information, please contact Mediabids.com at 800-989-0406 or E-mail

jpeterson@mediabids.com

I hope they are right. 

From Paid Content.org: "Forget about what you’ve heard—apparently readers are happy to pay for content. Or at least that’s what News Corp (NYSE: NWS). which plans to charge readers globally for access to News Corp websites, says its internal research has shown. According to a memo from Richard Freudenstein, CEO of News Digital Media, the online arm of News Corp.‘s Australian subsidiary News Limited, the company is confident about the success of the plan, which is entering a “second phase” in Australia.

In a memo leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald, he says: “News has conducted some audience research here in Australia and in the UK and U.S., which gives us confidence that, if we get the product and delivery system right, people will happily pay for news content online, on their computer, mobile, e-reader or other devices.”

The Association of Free Community Papers reported today that 70% of its members reported decreased revenues in the second quarter of 2009:

More than 70% of reporting publications indicated that revenues are down more than 1% in the latest AFCP quarterly revenue poll. This compares to 67% in the first quarter, 72% in the fourth quarter 2008 and 58% to 68% in previous quarters.

Hardest hit were the west coast (85%) and Mid-Atlantic (85%) regions with the Northeast reporting improved results. The Southeast continued to show about 70% of reporting publications were down.

The Midwest appears to be weakening as 73% indicated revenue declines. Previously, the Midwest had been much stronger than the rest of the country. The Rocky Mountain States still appear stronger than the rest of the country, but only 11 papers reported in this region.

Community Newspapers seem to be faring slightly better than shoppers during the past two quarters while rural markets appear to be slightly better than suburban ones. Only a few Urban publications reported results which make trends in this area difficult to discern.

Google launched the beta version of their news reader today - Flipper- as Techcrunch  reported. 

This will force the issue for newspapers who still belive that providing free access to content is a revenue generating path to follow. The news reader allows users to scroll through articles, making a visit to the content's initiating site unnecessary.