Possibly the most informative and fascinating day so far this week, we were able to have a candid discussion with Project for Excellence in Journalism founder Tom Rosenstiel, who provided more insight into the future of the journalism field in a two hour time-frame than I have been able to figure out in the last two years as a journalism major. PEJ is now a branch of the Pew Research Center. Rosenstiel knows the true gatekeepers and innovators of media information and technology.
While Rosenstiel had separate answers for why print and broadcast journalism have seen a decline in their business models, I would like to take the opportunity to discuss the print journalism model.
Rosenstiel said that contrary to a common public perception, newspapers are not failing because of readership; in fact, the advent of the Internet has led to audience growth for papers. The problem lies in advertising—websites such as Craigslist.com and eBay have made lucrative revenue sources such as classified ads far less lucrative. While readers have shifted to online versions of newspapers, advertisers have not followed. Rosenstiel described the “lean back media experience,” which readers experience while reading a newspaper for leisure. A reader reads a page, turns the next page to find an ad, and then goes on to the next page. The” lean back media experience” has proved an effective advertising model. However, online advertising has been considered a “lean forward media experience” because an individual is typically searching for specific information while browsing the Web. Advertisements are more likely to be a nuisance rather than just something else to look at while turning the page of a newspaper. Internet advertising has proven largely ineffective, so while print news readership has made a successful transition to online, revenue has not followed. Rosenstiel contended that 80 percent of individuals who get news online have never clicked on an advertisement. While advertising allowed for the growth of newspapers in the 20th century, advertising is now causing print journalism to fall apart in the 21st century.
Rosenstiel argued that there may be hope for print journalism to make a comeback in the 21st century. Another common misconception is that the Internet is free. Most Americans pay for Internet services much like for cable television; ease of access to reach the Internet is also profitable, such as Internet access on cell phones.
Rosenstiel believes that print journalism’s failure has been a lack of forward thinking in combining different mindsets such as design and engineering—a concept that has propelled Apple into the forefront of innovation and technology. Rosenstiel said that roughly 10 percent of readers of major newspapers such as The New York Times would shift to a monthly subscription Internet fee, the cable television model could work for online versions of newspapers. Bundle a group of newspapers together for a flat monthly fee that could be tailored to the preference of an individual. I think it would also be feasible to group newspapers together with other forms of print, such as magazines and books. Have an individual choose an array of newspapers, magazines and books—which could be changed on a monthly basis, for a monthly fee that would be similar to a cable television subscription. The competitive aspect would lie in which print organizations had holding power on month-to-month subscriptions.
Subscriptions are only roughly 20 percent of a revenue basis for papers, according to Rosenstiel. The difference would be in the ability to cut down on the variable costs of traditional print media—printing and shipping of the physical paper, which Rosenstiel said can be as high as 75 percent of a paper’s variable costs. In my opinion, cutting fixed costs such as staff positions-- which seems to be a quick fix to help the bottom line of many papers, hinders quality and in-depth reporting which readers eventually hone in on. Rosenstiel said that some papers have already implemented a weekly model which incorporates a “half week” of sorts. Print and deliver a full print version of a newspaper on the most profitable days—Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Sell considerably condensed versions of the online paper on the other days of the week for profit.
But how does this solve the advertising conundrum? The answer lies in changing a fundamental problem of thinking within the journalism field. Writers providing stories, paid for by advertising. The problem is that the advertising is no long there to support the first half of the equation. Innovation and design must be incorporated by the upcoming generation, according to Rosenstiel. He believes the I-Pad may be the newspaper industry’s savior. The model is designed to be an interactive tablet, so that the only difference between reading a paper on the I-pad and a real newspaper is turning the page on the screen. The hope is that the “lean back media experience” will re-emerge with this type of news consumption, which would bring back advertisers to the newspaper industry.
Rosenstiel contended that once the basic mindset in print journalism has changed to that of more design and innovation, then multiple solutions will arise to fix print journalism’s revenue slide. One example of how print media failed to use innovation and a dual-mindset was in the emergence of real estate and property information online and out of the court houses. An attorney came up with the idea to put deeds and property information online and sell this ease-of-access product to real estate agencies. What other business would constantly dispatch employees to the court houses to access this same basic property information?
For more information on the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Research Center go to: www.journalism.org
Also, here is a related article from the American Journalism Review that I found interesting: http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4427
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