Newspapers Must Find Their Niche To Survive
Local papers must shed redundant functions destroyed by Internet
Dec 20, 2008 Robert Courtemanche
The Internet has changed how people consume news and this is causing a disruption inside nearly every newspaper in the U.S. The newspaper model is stuck in the horribly inefficient 20th Century and has been slow to understand the paradigm change that online news has created.
Repetition is Waste and Will Not be Tolerated Online
In the past, newspapers tried to be everything to every reader to gain circulation. That outdated concept does not work on the Internet where readers expect expert, niche content. That’s The Press Baby blog sites a number of reports that show most, if not all, newspapers will have to cut expenses by 80 percent to make the transition from print to online if they only depend on their online ad revenue.
Too many urban papers still think they can keep reporters on wasteful beats like a film critic, statehouse reporter and a sports reporter to cover pro sports. None of those jobs are needed anymore. It may seem cruel to the reporters holding those jobs, but that content can be found in hundreds of places online. There is no need for a paper that has no pro sports teams to report on them. That information can be found at ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the leagues’ own sites.
Local News is the New National When it Comes to News
In the past, reporters started out in a tiny town making peanuts and reporting on the city council, the water board and the schools. They worked hard, collected clips and then got a job at a bigger town where they could do the same thing for more money. Often times in the transition from small towns to the big city, the reporter found a niche that they really enjoyed reporting on for the paper. So, when they made it to the big paper, they focused on that one subject or beat.
But newspapers can’t afford to keep duplicating content that can be found somewhere else. The Internet is about expert niche reporting, and the only niche that most newspapers own is their local community. The news and sports that are generated locally are where the money is made. People in small towns always knew this and it is the big city papers that will have to shrink and adjust the most.
Newspapers Will Not be Forced to Survive on Online Ads Only
Print is not yet dead. But people do not need a daily newspaper anymore. Any news that most people want from world news to Washington D.C. and from sports news to entertainment news is available online 24 hours a day. The only thing not already covered from every angle is local. Local community news and sports is a vast empty blank area online. Search for the score of your local high school basketball team and most will come up empty. That’s where local newspapers can cover real news people want and can even expand their coverage for growth.
Newspapers will continue to create print products for some time to come, but like the Christian Science Monitor, they will publish less frequently and focus on long form journalism that serves their core market.
Newspapers Drown In Sea Of Red Ink
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Writing & Publishing
Latest Articles