Regional Press can thrive in the digital age.
By Tim Dickens
THE WORLD of news production has already undergone massive change. The internet has penetrated nearly 80 per cent of British homes, rewriting the way users access, and pay for, news.
Advertising revenue is following traditional readers online, leading to consolidations and closures of regional newspapers across the country, so local papers must be completely up-to-date with the development of online as it happens.
A local newspaper has to have the strongest possible web presence. Paid content just isn’t feasible, so a website needs to concentrate on getting high visitor counts to attract quality advertising revenue.
Websites will need to use all digital means possible to attract visitors. Research by Price Waterhouse Coopers shows that modern users like the ‘TV-like’ feel of websites, so interactive videos and sound clips are essential. They will have to be of a higher quality than we now see on local and national news websites, and sit alongside a range of interactive features.
Although user generated media will play a larger role, we should be careful not to allow it to overtake websites to the detriment of the quality, structured journalism that most people expect.
Breaking news will be broken by mobile web and by sites like Twitter, and these all need to be used to reel the reader into your website.
While readers turn to online for breaking news stories and interactivity, they will still want a tactile newspaper for well written, longer stories and analysis.
Print will continue to be a large revenue source, but we will need to earn the trust of the reader by shunning the ‘churnalism’ available online in favour of quality, in-depth local stories from local reporters and trusted editorial.
I think that the decline of regional television news will mean that, more than ever, people will turn to their local newspaper to find out what’s going on in their immediate community.
We are going to go through further seismic changes, but the fact that readers will always pay for quality news, and advertisers will always pay for access to them, means that the regional press can continue to thrive.
Thanks Tim, I check my local paper regulary for “cat stuck up tree” stories.
1. ” Paid content just isn’t feasible, so a website needs to concentrate on getting high visitor counts to attract quality advertising revenue. ”
When even Murdoch has to charge people for his online newspapers to make up for declining advertising revenue:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/07/rupert-murdoch-charging-websites
I’m not sure whether I buy your idea that [everything should be free and paid by online adverts]
2. An analysis of the decline of regional news probably should mention the role the BBC (and the license fee) can play
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6499474.ece
Z, Thanks for your comments.
1. I’m afraid that despite pronouncements of publishers like Murdoch to the contrary, I can’t imagine a world where all news suppliers manage to charge the user for their online content.
There is currently a plethora of news sites, of widely varying quality, and with such abundant free access why would readers suddenly decide they want to pay?
Although recent research by Pricewaterhousecoopers did suggestr that consumers might pay for 62 per cent of their online content, the same study found that a huge majority of all ages would still prefer to turn to a paid newspaper for its news, reviews and in-depth analysis.
There is no evidence to suggest that readers would want to pay for breaking news online, but perhaps some sites may be able to microcharge for more indepth analysis in certain sections of their website. But this business model of monetising a small section of online news is a long way from looking realistic to me.
2. You’re absolutely right about the importance of the BBC and broadcast news in the decline of regional news. I restricted myself to talking about newspapers above, but broadcast is highly relevant.
I fear that, in the UK, local broadcast journalism is pretty doomed. The cost of producing local news for television at a hyper-local, even regional level is simply not economically viable, however it is funded.
IN the future, the websites of local newspapers will replace the function performed by local television and, perhaps, radio. The quality of video and audio packages on news sites need to be vastly improved from what we see now, perhaps harnessing the expertise of former local broadcast journalists.
It is hard to look into this somewhat murky crystal ball and visualise the future, but everyone involved in news production has to be turned on and tune in to every step of the journey. Time for laziness is over.
http://www.wan-press.org/IMG/pdf/executiveSFN_7.1.pdf
PWC report is brilliant; http://www.pwc.com/images/em/NewsPaperOutlook2009.pdf
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/stopthepresses_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003974968