Knowledge is Key to Saving newspapers
The newspaper may still be able to save itself if it can rise to meet the challenge, the question is only one of innovation and willpower.
The first thing that newspapers need to do is to stop forecasting their own demises. No one wants to back a loser or be seen as a fuddy-duddy. Newspapers need to talk about what makes them unique, what they bring to society and why they are important. They also need to talk about what makes them a good way to get information and how they can become popular again.
The second thing that newspapers have to learn is that cutting staff is not going to make for a better product. If the product does not get better, it will get worse. There is no one who will consume a product that is bad.
Newspapers are labor intensive, but the good news is that the labor is creating knowledge based information that can be used for days, weeks and months down the line. Even an old story can be used in research, and when that research is done online, that story can be monetized.
There are success stories in the newspaper business. The Deseret News survives because it has found its niche. Much like a magazine, it focuses on certain themes, mostly related to Mormonism. It has also separated its online form from its hard copy form.
Newspapers may be able to save themselves by adopting a form that looks and feels like social media, much like what USA Today did in the 1980s. Telling stories in present tense, creating a short form in print and a longer form online, and continuing to create useful and informative stories can bring back an industry that may otherwise be perceived as a dinosaur just waiting for the meteor to finish things off.
The first thing that newspapers need to do is to stop forecasting their own demises. No one wants to back a loser or be seen as a fuddy-duddy. Newspapers need to talk about what makes them unique, what they bring to society and why they are important. They also need to talk about what makes them a good way to get information and how they can become popular again.
The second thing that newspapers have to learn is that cutting staff is not going to make for a better product. If the product does not get better, it will get worse. There is no one who will consume a product that is bad.
Newspapers are labor intensive, but the good news is that the labor is creating knowledge based information that can be used for days, weeks and months down the line. Even an old story can be used in research, and when that research is done online, that story can be monetized.
There are success stories in the newspaper business. The Deseret News survives because it has found its niche. Much like a magazine, it focuses on certain themes, mostly related to Mormonism. It has also separated its online form from its hard copy form.
Newspapers may be able to save themselves by adopting a form that looks and feels like social media, much like what USA Today did in the 1980s. Telling stories in present tense, creating a short form in print and a longer form online, and continuing to create useful and informative stories can bring back an industry that may otherwise be perceived as a dinosaur just waiting for the meteor to finish things off.