From a new study by Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at University of Southern California's Annenberg journalism school:
“Circulation of print newspapers continues to plummet, and we believe that the only print newspapers that will survive will be at the extremes of the medium -- the largest and the smallest,” said Cole. It’s likely that only four major daily newspapers will continue in print form: The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. At the other extreme, local weekly newspapers may still survive.
“The impending death of the American print newspaper continues to raise many questions,” Cole said. “Will media organizations survive and thrive when they move exclusively to online availability? How will the changing delivery of content affect the quality and depth of journalism?”
“The impending death of the American print newspaper continues to raise many questions,” Cole said. “Will media organizations survive and thrive when they move exclusively to online availability? How will the changing delivery of content affect the quality and depth of journalism?”
More than the other three major dailies, USAT's survival hinges on stabilizing its print advertising base. I say that because USAT is by far the thinest of them all.
ReplyDeleteYou read a lot about dailies losing circ numbers.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the numbers, on some of the biggest weekly?
Right and radio was dead when TV came along. Stop trying to kill it - if you don't like it don't read
ReplyDeleteWith this management team, it might not even last the 5 years.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, local news readers won't have to depend on sites like Patch to tell them if the politicans in Town Hall are picking their pockets.
ReplyDeleteHow do they know the accuracy of the circulation numbers for papers like USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and the New york Times. Who audits there paper counts? I know at my local paper the single copy has to bring back all the papers that didn't sell and lock them up so they can be audited. Do the National paper delivery drivers do that? If not how do advertisers know there circulation numbers are accurate.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you expect from the director of Center for the Digital Future?
ReplyDeleteThis 'survival' is contingent on all those new senior management hires knowing how to maximize print revenue..but none of the new people are print experts. That's fine when you're building a new media company, except you need that print revenue in short term...and no one at top knows how to grow it, much less maintain. So....
ReplyDelete8:22, please know that management has big turnaround plans for 2012. I hate to say it, but it doesn't matter who is in charge of editorial. All of us on the business side, from Dave and Susie on down, continue to put the right team in place. We'll be sharing our thoughts in the coming weeks. Have faith and trust in whats to come. It will be unsettling to many of you who will remain in the organization and our plans, but it is the right strategy for the future.
ReplyDeleteThose who can do. Those who can't teach. Colleges are notorious for talking theory and having not a clue about the real world.
ReplyDelete3:27- Your attitude is very sad and represents the worst the newspaper industry has to offer. "If you don't like it don't read it" isn't what anybody associated with the industry should be saying given the huge annual drops in circulation, revenue and readership. Are you trying to turn 5 more years into 3 or 4? The industry is in horrific declines and while there may be no answer to stop the trend, your attitude should not be welcome in this or any industry! You won't believe your eyes when you take your head out of the sand! Actually, if you re-post your comment and include your name I'm sure there will be a promotion within Gannett.
ReplyDelete9:09, management has had big turnaround plans several times a year for the past several years. The plan is to wait until circulation is in the hundreds daily and launch a plan to increase 10% which will then look significant.
ReplyDeleteNot surprising most of the people who say the print paper will die are the ones directly in competition with it. When people come up to me and say stuff about news events, they say "I read it in the pape"r, not "I read it on my Ipad". Newspapers are losing customers because they are driving them away. Too high price for less content.
ReplyDeleteNewspapers have to survive if this country is to survive. Electronic gadgets can be manipulated/hacked. The internet is getting closer to being controlled by the Gov't. The print newspaper is the only tried and true method of letting the population know what's going on, irregardless of any bias. Newspapers will survive. They must.