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 USA TODAY is going to "lay off" over 40 employees today. Is print dead? Will newspapers with websites just become websites with newspapers? i LOVE getting the sunday paper....but during the week it is 100% web for me...unless I fly. Thoughts? | ||
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March 10th I disagree that print is dead. Although it's adapting. Here in Australia, I was made redundant when the Trading Post (a classifieds trading magazine) closed down due to a decline in print sales. Now they only do online, but are up against some large online competitors. Print gave them an edge. I was taken on straight away by a business owner who launched a classifieds paper immediately, and it has boomed. As a 34 yr old, I love online and everything there, read news, buy & sell - but I also love to sit down and read a newspaper, and sift through classifieds. My son who's 8 also spends a lot of time reading books. Most people my age or older do this, and the feedback seems to be that people miss the Trading Post - it had an avid following and many people relied on the print to buy and sell. In essence, large companies relying on classifieds are feeling it as classifieds have declined, but since the publication I worked for still had a solid readership and sales, I think this is an ideal formula for a small business owner to start-up and make it work - as my new employer has been able to do quite quickly - mainly due the demand left behind by the closure of the Trading Post. My view is that print will adapt to online, just the same way that Cinema's have adapted to rental movies - print offers a tangible experience that online doesn't - and as technology encroaches more and more on people's lives, print will be a sought after medium for an escapism route from technology. It will need to get clever and adapt - but I certain it will be around for many more years.  Reply
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 I think we will see the industry really change as mobile phones become easier to read on.
i already read a number of sites on my crackberry, and I believe that the iphone allows websites to not have to build mobile phone enable websites. i do subscribe to: wired mental floss newsweek I enjoy sitting on the couch with a mag and just flipping through...but I advertising drives magazines and the web allows tracking and more focus than a magazine ad. Reply
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4.91 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 People were starting to herald the "death of print" several years ago when i worked in publishing. it never really happened.
Yeah sure, i admit theres a media shift happening - but when it comes to certain medias, mainly books and magazines, while the content in some online publications leave sme in awe (Magwerk publications for example) , i believe theres still a good market for physical product. Many people prefer the look, feel and the whole experience of the printed media over digital content and this will stay true for quite a while yet i think. Personally, i just miss the emotional connection of sitting down with a good book - i've played with electronic readers before and it's just not the same. It sure is going to be interesting watching (and being involved in) the media shift though :) Reply
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4.73 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 I believe the layoffs have more to do with the writers strike, but could be mistaken. Anyone who thinks print is dead, will themselves be the ones who die in the marketing world. Book reading by children is growing around the world. Just look at how rich J.K. Rawlings is from Harry Potter! It's like the silly statements, usually by people hwo haven't tested their thinking, that long copy is dead. I don't see writers shortening their novels, or journalists cutting down their newpaper features because people only read short copy. Printed and digital marketing messages need to be as long as necessary to get the sale or make a point. Print will evolve - press is already experimenting with print on demand newspapers using digtial printers, so as they say in the industry "watch this space". Reply
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4.67 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 I have to agree with Marc and Warren. All industries including the printing industry has to change.
By the way, if you look at a recent-ish issue of Time Magazine, you will read that women's magazines are bucking the downward trend, such as magazines run by the Hearst Corporation, whose magazine range includes Cosmopolitan (aka Cosmo), Good Housekeeping, and O Magazine. Reply
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4.00 (Good) Vote:
December 2007 very interesting - yes I can see business news go online - but I still love to lie about reading a magazine and I expect retirees and at home people may wish to read news but it maybe become more leisure based interest papers than news and current affairs.
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4.83 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 Newspapers, Radio, TV, Internet, they all have their place. That place is dependent on the convenience to the consumer at that particular moment in time. Example: I read the newspaper outside (hey I live in sunny Australia) for the convenience as my lap-top is rubbish in bright light. I listen to the radio whilst in the car where reading the paper is simply dangerous. I watch TV in the evening because the screen is big and the home theatre experience out-guns my pc. I read the news online whilst at work because my TV wouldn't fit on my desk and besides it would no doubt upset my fello co-workers. So in answer to your question, print will live on so long as it's still convenient. Give me a water-proof lap-top that you can see on a bright sunny day with an everlasting battery and I might be forced to change my long Sunday morning 'papers by the pool' ritual. Reply
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4.00 (Good) Vote:
December 2007 I agree also with Marc. There's a time and place for various types of media whether TV, radio, print, web, etc. I just so happen to be sitting here on our couch with piles of US and Pop culture magazines strewn about that the wife loves to read. We subscribe to Wired, Men's Health, Rolling Stone and FAST Company. I don't really care for any of those sites, prefer to lounge on the bed, at the beach, by the pool or on the plane with the print version of my information when it comes to these specific titles. Even look at the Search Marketing Standard, they seem to be doing okay, though I haven't seen one in awhile. I also feel that print has a great demand when it comes to localized media like your neighborhood-type publications. Great for local SMBs' looking for customers; great for the community and its members learning more about each other outside of online communities.
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December 2007 Hey Marc, Maybe you should look at the Kindle by Amazon. Althought not exactly what you were after and getting some very mixed reviews, it is a step towards your device. Personally, I like my reading for entertainment on a different media than the reading I do for work. At least with a book or newspaper, you don't havce to wait until the seat belt sign has been turned off to start reading. Edit: not to mention you can't buy it unless you are American. Reply
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
December 2007 I find reading the physical paper more of a recreational activity than a quest for knowledge. For knowledge and news, I hit the web. The other time I buy the paper is when I doing something task specific - i.e. buying or selling a car. I do not think that print is going to die - but the print industry is going to have to transform to compete with "news on demand". Reply
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