Reflecting Gannett's growing emphasis on boosting Sunday sales, today's
Star Press in Muncie, Ind., promotes a Page One story with the following advisory (I've circled it,
below): "Print Exclusive. This story will only appear in the newspaper. You will not be able to find it on
our website." (
Bigger page view.)
This may be a good stop-gap measure to raise more revenue. In the long run, however, Gannett must find a way to put
all its content online -- and get readers to pay for it. Withholding it from the web and mobile devices is an attempt to stand in the path of technology, and that's never a winning strategy.
Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
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That won't mean much to people who don't even bother to check out the papers at the store or in the box.
ReplyDeleteThey go online and what's there is there.
Our paper has been doing "Print Exclusives" on Sunday for many months. I think the community reaction has been one of indifference.
ReplyDeleteThe whole "print exclusive" concept just proves the publishers/corporate don't get it. Put out a quality product and people will buy it. Don't hide or play "keepaway" with certain stories. Readers will only resent it and shun both the Web and print products.
ReplyDeleteI spoke to someone in Indy about it and was told that the editor pushing the project is actually their Digital VP. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThe results they've seen indicate it's not driving print sales, so they're considering even more drastic action.
I have said all along newspaper co.'s got it backwards. They should have used the I-net to put a headline and a small taste of a story and guided people "to get the whole story, buy the paper".
ReplyDeleteThe fact people still buy them even though, especially on Monday and Tuesday they more resemble flyers, shows that a market is still there. People are stopping buying the paper in droves, home delivery and single copy, because there's "nothing it it" anymore. Yet they still come down on the carriers for dropping sales.
I've never witnessed the murder of a business by it's own hand, more than what's happening to newspapers.