The case for newspapers

World Association of Newspapers (WAN) President Gavin O’Reilly today dismissed the doomsayers predicting the death of newspapers, saying the industry had seldom been in a better position globally.

With circulations on the rise, a record number of paid-for titles in existence, capital investment in excess of $6-billion dollars last year, the aggressive marketing of brands and the launch of a plethora of brand extensions, the demise of newspapers had been greatly exaggerated.

“It’s too easy to be negative about newspapers and many commentators are profoundly bearish,” O’Reilly said.

He explained that many myths existed about the future of print, including the threat posed by the Internet. These myths had “polluted” the international capital and equity markets, he said.

Armed with reams of data about the latest global trends, O’Reilly told delegates the WAN was planning a series of initiatives amounting to a “fight back” campaign aimed at setting the record straight.

O’Reilly said the suggestion that the internet was damaging newspapers was “unfounded”.

“The data suggests increased Internet usage tracks increased newspaper usage. There is an increase in total audience (if newspapers are linked to internet), proving yet again, in spite of what the doomsayers say, the complementary nature of print and online”.

Sceptics argued that the roll out of broadband was another threat to the future of newspapers, O’Reilly said, “but the data shows that in markets where broadband penetration is at its highest, newspaper penetration is also high”.

In fact, broadband’s conversion of the Internet into an audiovisual medium represented more of a threat to television than it did to newspapers, he argued.

O’Reilly said he was “not negative about online”, but believed the platform should be used to aggregate larger audiences rather than to cannibalise existing ones.

“Our only risk is inertia in our industry which leads to consumer apathy”.

Martha Stone, the director of WAN’s ‘Shaping the Future of the Newspaper’ Project, took delegates through a range of recent publications prepared by WAN to assist publishers and editors grow their businesses and titles.

These included reports on new print products, benchmarking new digital revenues, advertising best practices, the power of local focus, innovative management systems, reorganizing the newspaper company and world digital media trends. (More from www.futureofthenewspaper.com.

When it came to using cellphones, recent survey data from several countries suggested one of the biggest obstacles to growth in this area came to the slow download times, according to Stone.

Fergus Sampson, until recently the general manager of South Africa’s Daily Sun newspaper, told delegates the amazing story of the birth and growth of the country’s best-selling newspaper.

Launched in July 2002, the Daily Sun now sells 508,000 copies everyday on average with a readership approaching 4-million per day.

“There is lots of talk of gadgets and online, but there’s one wonderful ingredient that is often left out: passion,” Sampson told delegates. “Passion to serve people, to listen to people, to give them what they want”.

Sampson said this element would always unlock a positive response in readers.

EyeTrack for what reader’s want online and in print

Newspaper design guru Mario Garcia today unveiled the results of a major Poynter Institute survey on how readers respond to online and print content.

Garcia, who has redesigned more than 450 newspapers worldwide, said the latest “Eyetrack” technology on 600 readers showed what attracted and held the attention of newspaper and online consumers.

The results had “changed the way I think and work,” he told delegates.

Among the results:

  People read more deeply and for longer online, leading to a more efficient absorption of information.

  Content readers are either mainly “scanners”, who flit from one image to the next, or “methodicals” who read at greater length. Newspapers and online content providers need to cater for both.

  In every section from news and sport to finance and the arts, online readers spend longer on each article. This may be because there are more distractions in a newspaper, such as neighbouring photographs or interesting headlines.

  Online readers are not into “beauty”. They prefer lists and navigation tools to photographs or pretty design elements.

  Black and white photographs are rarely looked at for any length of time, signaling the arrival of the “colour” generation. In advertising, colour proved a decisive element.

  In the era of blogging, readers continue to be fascinated by what other readers are thinking and doing. Lots of space needs to be devoted to readers’ voices while traditional editorials are rarely read.

Garcia emphasized that changes in the industry did not signal the end of newspapers, but did suggest a change in print’s role. “No medium kills another medium,” he said. However, “you have to compete”.

Leonard Brody, CEO, NowPublic.com of Canada, told delegates about the extraordinary growth of NowPublic into the largest citizen news network in the world with some 95,000 contributors in over 140 countries.

“Social networks (like facebook) are the new cities, most news breaks very quickly on these networks,” Brody said.