11/18 Readings
The first article I read this week was Stephanie Clifford’s article, “Online Raly May Sidestep Newspapers.” In the article she discusses how big time ad revenue isn’t necessarily tied to the larger newspaper websites. Mr. Kasper, director of digital media for Havas Digital’s Media Contacts , suggests that no matter what newspaper publishers did, they were in trouble as ad networks and exchanges continued to sell cut-rate space. To combat this, publishers are creating sophisticated and splashy ads to post on their high traffic areas. However, smaller sites and companies have easily been able to copy the ads and lower prices. This is just one example of how the media landscape is changing more and more. Newspaper websites aren’t necessarily the most high traffic areas on the internet and their declining ad revenue is the proof.
Recently, it was reported that the newspaper industry sold 44 million copies a day. That number sounds pretty massive, right? I was surprised to learn that that is actually fewer newspapers sold in a day since the 1940’s. In Richard Perez-Pena’s article on he discusses how the newspaper industry has declined dramatically in recent years. In the six months ended Sept. 30, sales fell by 10.6 percent on weekdays and 7.5 percent on Sundays, from the period a year earlier. With rising internet readership, price increases, a recession, and declining ad revenue, the newspaper industry is in deep trouble. Publishers are attempting to raise profits by cutting down on delivery routes, increasing prices, and making online content subscription based. The problem is all about content. Readers can simply find more information and content instantly using other free forms of news online. Newspapers have to offer something more if they expect to keep their heads above the water in the changing media world.
The third article I read was recent coverage of a Web 2.0 conference whose guests included media all stars such as Robert Thomson, Marissa Mayer, and Eric Hippeau. The question presented at the conference was what the future of journalism will be in a constantly changing media environment. While naturally there were mixed feelings from everyone in the room, I found myself agreeing more with Marissa Mayer and Eric Hippeau as I read the article. They suggest that this is not the end of journalism as we know it. In fact, they seem to believe it is a golden age for journalism where new opportunities are forcing innovation into the industry. New media is here to stay and those who wish to be successful must learn to work with the changes – not against them.
