Transformation of the Newspaper Business and

Its Research Impacts

Chris CowanVice President, Publishing

Transformation of Newspapers

The Dance of Shiva Newspapers’ Dilemma The Nature of Change for News Impact on Research

Global Perspective

Print Newspapers thriving in Developing world Latin America; India; Asia – strong circulation growth But this will change

In Developed Nations, Newspapers are under siege Will examine U.S. Newspapers

History of Weathering Storms

Radio Television Direct Mail Cable Television

But the Internet is different.

Newspapers Today

Future Direction is Clear

Newspaper Advertising Revenues: 2000-2010$B’s

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

Print Ad $Online Ad $

Newspaper Assoc. of America, March, 2011

Reactions to Reality

2008-2010 13,500 Newsroom Jobs eliminated 43% Ad Revenue decline 17% Circulation Revenue decline Nearly 100 newspapers shut down the presses Reduced number of days of print product Reduce geographic distribution, offer eEdition Reduce physical size of papers, switch to tabloids

Cutting expenses to keep profitable – not a long term winning strategy.

Shifting to digital business. But late to the game. Wrong skill sets.

The Conundrum

On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.

- Stewart Brand, 1984 First International Hackers Conference

The Conundrum

On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.

- Stewart Brand, 1984 First International Hackers Conference

Online Competitors Replacing Newspapers

Bloomberg, AOL Patch, Politico, Huffington Post, Slate Search engines news – Google, Yahoo Cable News online Facebook, Twitter Purely online news: GlobalPost; MinnPost; Texas Tribune Anyone with a keyboard and internet access

Newspaper Digital Business

Reliance on advertising – early and ongoing debate “Trading Dollars for Dimes” Smaller, local newspapers are the most threatened. Don’t

have the resources to adapt

Experimentation will continue Pay walls emerging and will prevail. 150 today. Subscription models (Wall St. Jnl., Financial Times) Freemium – some free, then pay Print and Online subscriptions combined Develop multiple revenue streams (coupons, eEditions,

eBooks) Ultimately, the daily print newspaper is not a sustainable

business. The end-user market requires the industry to change.

Impacts on Journalism

Cacophony of Digital Noise, Editorial Voice lost in the mix Web 2.0 – Social Media – User involvement Citizen Journalism Video, multimedia News shifting to mobile, rapidly.

Reporters specialize in topics and facilitate communities

(Journalist need thicker skins – equal footing with end users) Hyper-local capture unique local strength National, International news deemphasized Advertising integrated everywhere

Journalism becomes a state of mind. Physical newsroom disappears.

Impacts on Research Digital News will be recognized and utilized as discreet

units of information. Print version constrained the true value content.

News is instantaneous More “news” content will be available. Web > Print Quality of news content will vary widely. Highly end-user centric. Accessed and used when, where,

and how the end-user wants. Research will rapidly migrate to mobile devices. Analytic tools will become required.

Data & text mining, Visualization, Sentiment Analysis Relational and Geographic Analysis, Timelines

Sharing and Collaboration, Research Workflow

Historical News will expand

Longer term Impacts

Newspapers were intended to be consumed and discarded. Archives and libraries utilized microfilm to preserve the historical record. Migrated to digital historical products for greater accessibility and discovery.

Publishers are NOT saving their editorial web archive Loss of historical web archive

Constantly changing presentation of news creates issues for Copyright. LoC has not made determination of what constitutes copyright for web news.

Advice to Libraries

Be relevant by adapting to the changing news landscape. Content is still King. Make sure researchers have access to

the content they need. Tools will be essential for news research. Embrace them. Prepare for and adopt Mobile as a mantra and behavior.

Washington Post, Nov. 6, 1896

Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1900

New York Times, April 24, 1920

Guardian, Nov. 12, 1959Atlanta Constitution, July 6, 1890

Hartford Courant, Nov. 10, 1930

Los Angeles Times, Nov. 16, 1966