Daily newspapers soon to be obsolete: expert

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Are daily, printed newspapers done? That’s the prediction from the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard.

In an article looking ahead at journalism in 2013, author Martin Langeveld feels the rapid adoption of tablets and the convenience of news consumption on them, is destroying the business model for seven-day printed newspapers in most markets and the industry will move toward two or three printed editions per week.

“In the US, only 23 per cent of adults read a daily newspaper yesterday,” he tells News1130 from Cambridge, Massachusetts. “It’s really been imploding for a long time… this really starts to fall out of the scope of being a mass medium. On top of that, after this long decline, you have more and more widespread mobile, digital devices coming along that people can read news on — especially tablets.”

“With that kind of penetration of digital access to news, the viability of the printed paper business model just won’t be there anymore. It’s really like a perfect storm that the newspapers are running into,” explains Langeveld.

He sees the industry moving toward a membership model, as paywalls evolve into a system where paid subscribers get access not only to content but to other services and benefits.

“You might get a range of prices and a range of content options but also a lot of other benefits for your membership that newspapers — or news organizations, as we should really start to call them — are in a position to provide. That can be everything from events to special content to clubs around interests like gardening or weight loss or politics. There are ways newspapers can build services around their content to add value to these memberships.”

Langeveld does see a place for the printed edition, but more as a niche product or supplement to the primary digital content.

“All this archaic infrastructure of paper mills and trucks and printing plants and plastic tubes along the highway to put the paper in… to do that seven days [a week], if it didn’t exist today, nobody would talk about inventing such a business,” he says.

“It will go away, but it’s gradual. I think there’s some life left in print and that a three-day model or a two-day-a-week model is certainly sustainable. It shouldn’t be seen as cutting back or eliminating more; it should be seen as a strategic step that will deliver more to the reader, digitally. That’s the change in mentality that has to happen among journalists and publishers.”

Not everyone agrees

Ross Howard teaches ethics and “media and society” in the Journalism program at Langara College. He argues Langeveld misses the mark.

“He’s really both misunderstanding the Canadian market and the fact an awful lot of people want a newspaper in their hands still for very specific reasons, particularly the breadth and depth they provide and the fact you can control your reading pace. You can curl up in an easy chair when you get home after a lousy day and work your way through the paper for what you want,” he tells News1130.

“The argument that tablets are going to come on so fast, that you can do everything on a tablet you can do with a newspaper… exaggerates the rate of uptake. Tablet use is growing in two [demographics]: much younger mobile users and people in business who use them for very specific applications. And that’s great; there’s no doubt tablets are going to become more popular and more effective. But to suggest that the vast majority of print consumers are simply going to switch over exaggerates these changes.”

Howard does concede that some Canadian dailies are already cutting back on printed editions. “It’s true. The Times Colonist in Victoria no longer has a Monday edition. Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa have dropped their Sunday editions.”

“There is some shrinkage, no doubt, and it will go. But in a lot of cases, that doesn’t reflect the fact that people are migrating to some other place to get the same news. It’s just a reflection on the lousy advertising revenues that those publications are making. To suggest that they would drop to two or three days a week and people would largely switch to tablets is premature.”

Local papers weigh in

Vancouver’s two major English-language newspapers offer a paid digital service with additional content and access to other publications on top of their six-day per week printed editions.

“The Vancouver Sun and The Province are already a six-day-a-week product, but we don’t have any plans to adjust the publishing cycle at this time,” says Kevin Brent, publisher and president of Pacific Newspaper Group, in an email to News1130.

“We follow quite closely what’s happening south of the border with all media trends and we are aware of all the latest research that’s available to our industry. We continue to assess all options in transforming the business and I would never take off the table adjusting the publishing cycle but it’s not on the front burner right now,” adds Brent.

The owner of the Vancouver Sun, Province and several other major dailies, Postmedia Network Canada, reported more financial trouble yesterday.

During the last quarter, revenue was eight per cent lower, driven by a $17-million drop in advertising buys. Fewer newspapers were sold, resulting in a nine per cent (or $5 million drop) in circulation revenue. Online advertising increased by $2 million, or 10 per cent.