I continue to be struck by the extent to which the morning televisoin programs in France report what is appearing - in print - in today's French newspapers. It is illustrated by the front pages and other pages of the printed newspapers as the television people related what the newspapers are publishing. It is a bit surreal in many respects.
My question is whether there are not additional creative ways in which the televisoin can be used by the newspapers to further their interests. Instead, I get the feeling that this is a case of the newspapers thinking they should just be appreciative for the exposure they are getting and as long as they spell the name of the newspaper, so to speak, correctly, then all is good.
I think that is incredibly short-sighted.
Here is one of those programs and I cannot find any way to watch the items that deal with the printed press or to interact in any other way with the printed press.
One has to wonder what these programs would do if the newspapers ceased to offer them this programming, in effect.
And there is something out of alignment when one realizes the work that went into the newspaper article or other content, and the work that did NOT go into reading it and reporting about it on the televisoin program.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Arrival newspapers?
When I get off an airplane, I like to be able to buy a newspaper right away to know the news of the place where I have arrived. Rarely does this opportunity present itself.
Imagine the opportunities this offers to newspapers and travelers, and imagine further that the newspaper I could buy at the airport in the baggage claim area - generally - was wrapped in a special printed supllement designed to help me get the most out of the place that newspaper serves and where I am about to become, even if briefly, a customer of that place.
I was reminded of this last week in arriving in Nice. Although I read French, imagine if the "wrapper" were in multiple languages.
Imagine the opportunities this offers to newspapers and travelers, and imagine further that the newspaper I could buy at the airport in the baggage claim area - generally - was wrapped in a special printed supllement designed to help me get the most out of the place that newspaper serves and where I am about to become, even if briefly, a customer of that place.
I was reminded of this last week in arriving in Nice. Although I read French, imagine if the "wrapper" were in multiple languages.
Friday, March 26, 2010
More about that newsstand
Today, I spoke with the owner of the Nice newsstand that will close tomorrow. She was very discouraged and is taking retirement and will leave Nice after eight years here.
She said that they (I presume she and her husband) came 8 years ago (from having run a couple of food stores elsewhere in France) with the intention of staying for 4 years, but they have tried for 4 years to find a buyer for their store and got no one. No one in the local power structure, she said, offered to help in any way. That's why they are closing up.
I asked if it was because of all of the changes and challenges facing the periodicals that she sells, including many newspapers, that created this state of affairs. No, she said. It's becasue no one wants to work these long hours for little compensation. It's that simple, she told me.
She agreed that the community of people who rely on her shop will be sorely disappointed and the community will be hurt as a result. Many other newsstands have closed in the area relatively near by and she said most of them in Nice are for sale with no potential buyers.
This presents a different problem than I had expected, but the effect is the same - one (important) less place in the world where people can buy printed newspapers.
She said that they (I presume she and her husband) came 8 years ago (from having run a couple of food stores elsewhere in France) with the intention of staying for 4 years, but they have tried for 4 years to find a buyer for their store and got no one. No one in the local power structure, she said, offered to help in any way. That's why they are closing up.
I asked if it was because of all of the changes and challenges facing the periodicals that she sells, including many newspapers, that created this state of affairs. No, she said. It's becasue no one wants to work these long hours for little compensation. It's that simple, she told me.
She agreed that the community of people who rely on her shop will be sorely disappointed and the community will be hurt as a result. Many other newsstands have closed in the area relatively near by and she said most of them in Nice are for sale with no potential buyers.
This presents a different problem than I had expected, but the effect is the same - one (important) less place in the world where people can buy printed newspapers.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
When a newsstand closes....
It is always said, anywhere, to see a newsstand close.
Here in Nice, I stopped to buy the local newspaper this morning at a newsstand that I frequent and which is about as 100% a printed periodical reading matter store as I could imagine. They sell very little other than newspapers and magazines.
I use the present tense correctly but I learned today that come Saturday, it will no longer be so. They are closing for good, and no one is assuming ownership. So that is one more place where we will not find a printed newspaper on Sunday or any day to follow.
Could the shop have evolved and kept itself afloat? I think so, but resting on untested theories of what kinds of change would have been needed.
In any case, as I walked out of the shop, a well-dressed man stopped me and asked - since the newsstand was closing - would I like to buy a home-delivered subscription to the local newspaper that I had in my hand. I was very impressed that he and/or the local newspaper - Nice Matin - was on top of the news and pursuing it as they should, or at least pursuing it in the right direction if not the most successful manner. He did not make a sale with me.
Here in Nice, I stopped to buy the local newspaper this morning at a newsstand that I frequent and which is about as 100% a printed periodical reading matter store as I could imagine. They sell very little other than newspapers and magazines.
I use the present tense correctly but I learned today that come Saturday, it will no longer be so. They are closing for good, and no one is assuming ownership. So that is one more place where we will not find a printed newspaper on Sunday or any day to follow.
Could the shop have evolved and kept itself afloat? I think so, but resting on untested theories of what kinds of change would have been needed.
In any case, as I walked out of the shop, a well-dressed man stopped me and asked - since the newsstand was closing - would I like to buy a home-delivered subscription to the local newspaper that I had in my hand. I was very impressed that he and/or the local newspaper - Nice Matin - was on top of the news and pursuing it as they should, or at least pursuing it in the right direction if not the most successful manner. He did not make a sale with me.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
"The Daily Athenaeum - Niche publications the future of journalism, speaker says"
Note the print options. And on the bottom of this page, you can flip through a digital copy of the print edition.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Timescast or Timeslost
This new feature on The New York Times website is very well executed. It's 6.5 minutes of interesting conversation with reporters and editors covering key stories of the day, or at least it is that way today.
Why do I add "Timeslost" in the title above?
Because there is nothing said in this video either on screen or in video about either the printed editiion tomorrow and what MORE it will offer on these stories or when the stories will appear on the website or other digital offereing and where to look for them.
So while the video is well done, it seems independently suspended without the vital link I thik it should have with the two lives of the Times - on paper and in digital services.
I don'te recall having seen anythin in the print edition about this feature, but I may have missed it in recent days.
Why do I add "Timeslost" in the title above?
Because there is nothing said in this video either on screen or in video about either the printed editiion tomorrow and what MORE it will offer on these stories or when the stories will appear on the website or other digital offereing and where to look for them.
So while the video is well done, it seems independently suspended without the vital link I thik it should have with the two lives of the Times - on paper and in digital services.
I don'te recall having seen anythin in the print edition about this feature, but I may have missed it in recent days.
Monday, March 22, 2010
"Three-Minute Fiction Round Three: The Winner Is ..." - NPR
Note, again, the photo that formed the basis of this competition.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Print reading experience
It occurred to me today as I "read" The New York Times (no one ever "reads" the whole thing!) how much more rewarding it was than it will be for me once I am overseas next week and do it online. The whole process is so very different and online still removes - for me, anyway - the orderly nature of the Times or most any other newspaper. I don't think newspapers have focused enough on this in part because they have never trained readers to do what I learned long ago - if I want to get the most out of each printed newspaper I buy, I stand a far better chance of that happening if I turn every day and at least check to see if something on any page catches my attention for any reason. Online, I waste far more time waiting for pages to load and figuring out where to go and being overwhelmed with pages that are too long -- than I do turning one page of a printed newspaper and experiencing the sense of adventure that still grips me as the next two pages greet me for the first time.
In the meantime, I've torn out a number of articles from today's Times that I will read - as they merit it - them more carefully sitting in an airplane seat this afternoon. Is that easier than trying to connect to read them later online? You decide!
In the meantime, I've torn out a number of articles from today's Times that I will read - as they merit it - them more carefully sitting in an airplane seat this afternoon. Is that easier than trying to connect to read them later online? You decide!
Friday, March 19, 2010
"The Herald-Sun - Paper wins general excellence N C award"
It's nice for this paper to win this award, but without studying the winning newspaper, don't the words used here seem a little old-fashioned? Is this the sort of award that a newspaper really needs to be winning today in order to survive?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
"Arts and Leisure Preview - Reading and the Web - Texts Without Context" - NYTimes.com
Some - including me - might read this to suggest all sorts of ways in which the printed portion of a newspaper's operation could respond to what is happening in the larger digital world. We are only beginning to come to grips - or maybe just understand that we should come to grips with the issues so interestingly discussed in this review. I don't think printed newspapers have yet begun to address the antidote to some these problems that a printed newspaper may present.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
"Op-Ed Contributor - Turning Green With Literacy" - NYTimes.com
On the eve of St Patrick's Day, I cannot resist posting this relevant item!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Andy ROONEY on "60 Minutes" - The US Postal Service
There is a lot in this short video conmentary that applies to newspapers as much as the US Postal Service. How can newspapers recapture what ROONEY laments losing here?
"Dot-com's disrupt, help bring in money" - Marketplace From American Public Media
As disquieting and it may be, digitally-driven disruption may not be over for newspapers.
What's next?
What's next?
"The Media Equation - Talking Back to Your TV Set, Endlessly" - NYTimes.com
I am not sure that print can equal what television is doing, but I do think it can perform a lot better than it is in an interactive relationship with digital services.
"Online News Readers Use 5 Sites or Fewer, Study Says" - NYTimes.com
This is pretty interesting.
How do we take people's habits, as measured here, and translate that into value for the printed newspaper?
How do we take people's habits, as measured here, and translate that into value for the printed newspaper?
Promoting the newspaper
Today I was reminded in two separate full page "house" advertisements what a balkanized and ineffective job newspapers do of promoting themselves as a multi-layered service offering.
In one, The New York Times promotes how important it is - and better than the Wall Street Journal - to advertisers in New York. That's important and good to do, but, hey, I as well as potential advertisers, am a reader, and why not use that space to speak to me, too. Is it not possible for an ad to speak to two audiences at once? I think it is.
The other, a full page house advertisement in the Herald-Sun here in North Carolina promotes the link between the paper and Yahoo's HotJobs. It never mentions using printed job lisitngs in the paper. More important, I think, is that it also does not mention anything else that the newspaper thinks it is doing to "finding great jobs for our readers". I mean - really - is there nothing else besides the Yahoo deal that the newspaper feels it does for a job seeker? If the answer is "nothing else", it would be another sad day in the waning life of newspapers.
In one, The New York Times promotes how important it is - and better than the Wall Street Journal - to advertisers in New York. That's important and good to do, but, hey, I as well as potential advertisers, am a reader, and why not use that space to speak to me, too. Is it not possible for an ad to speak to two audiences at once? I think it is.
The other, a full page house advertisement in the Herald-Sun here in North Carolina promotes the link between the paper and Yahoo's HotJobs. It never mentions using printed job lisitngs in the paper. More important, I think, is that it also does not mention anything else that the newspaper thinks it is doing to "finding great jobs for our readers". I mean - really - is there nothing else besides the Yahoo deal that the newspaper feels it does for a job seeker? If the answer is "nothing else", it would be another sad day in the waning life of newspapers.
Sports section advertising?
I continue to be befuddled by the absence of advertisers in newspapr sports sections. What, exactly, is the problem? Does no one read those sections and therefore advertisers would be advertising on trees that no one hears fall in the forest? I don't think so. Are advertising sales staffs not creative enough in their marketing? What is it? Today's The New York Times is a perfect example. There is exactly one-half page of advertising in the entire section today - an advertisement for the restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday's.
What am I missing? It seems like a golden opportunity only very faintly realized for the printed newspaper world.
What am I missing? It seems like a golden opportunity only very faintly realized for the printed newspaper world.
"Ultra-local could herald new 'golden age' for journalism" - Press Gazette
What are some of the best strategies being deployed by newspapers - in print - to deal with this phenomenon? How are newspapers coming to grips with how to combine the local focus with a printed offering? Is it doable or hopeless?
Imagine the street on which you live. Today, in many places there are websites, blogs, e-mail lists and other digital applications that make it quite easy for the people on some of those streets to communicate with one another and to be better informed about the news of that street, or affecting that street.
Given the perceived added value of print, is there a way that some of that can be captured better by a newspaper and sent periodically, in print, to the people who live on your street? As I think of my own street, I could imagine a nice little insert for one or another of our local newspapers that is affiliated with the newspaper and offers the news of my street drawn from digital sources and shoe leather.
Imagine the street on which you live. Today, in many places there are websites, blogs, e-mail lists and other digital applications that make it quite easy for the people on some of those streets to communicate with one another and to be better informed about the news of that street, or affecting that street.
Given the perceived added value of print, is there a way that some of that can be captured better by a newspaper and sent periodically, in print, to the people who live on your street? As I think of my own street, I could imagine a nice little insert for one or another of our local newspapers that is affiliated with the newspaper and offers the news of my street drawn from digital sources and shoe leather.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
"RDU can't ban newspaper racks" - Local/State - NewsObserver.com
I have several reactions to this decision about selling printed newspapers.
One, as a taxpayer in this jurisdiction, I am offended to think that "we" will have to pay three-quarters' of a million dollars to cover the costs of this litigation. It should never have been commenced in the first place. Perhaps the decrease in revenues from shops in the airport will be substantial and make matters worse, but I would be surprised if that is the case.
Second, one of my traveler and newspaper reader frustrations given today's security mania at airports is that the entire - not just mostly, but the entire - focus is on departing passengers. When I get off an airplane, I'd like to buy a local newspaper. How often does that happen? Next to never in my experience.
It will be very interesting to see if the newspapers who choose to place racks at the airport wind up dividing them equally, more or less, between arrivals and departures.
One, as a taxpayer in this jurisdiction, I am offended to think that "we" will have to pay three-quarters' of a million dollars to cover the costs of this litigation. It should never have been commenced in the first place. Perhaps the decrease in revenues from shops in the airport will be substantial and make matters worse, but I would be surprised if that is the case.
Second, one of my traveler and newspaper reader frustrations given today's security mania at airports is that the entire - not just mostly, but the entire - focus is on departing passengers. When I get off an airplane, I'd like to buy a local newspaper. How often does that happen? Next to never in my experience.
It will be very interesting to see if the newspapers who choose to place racks at the airport wind up dividing them equally, more or less, between arrivals and departures.
Friday, March 12, 2010
"No Ink, No Paper: What's The Value Of An E-Book?" - NPR
This interesting story got me thinking about the pricing of newspapers - both digital and in print.
Consider this.....
How good a job do we do of explaining the process that brings news to reader customers? When was the last story you read in a newspaper that ran through the cost of that story, taking into account everything from the fully allocated cost of the reporter, her/his expenses, support tools and facilities...and on through the publicaiton process in whichever media? Imagine that this covered the range from a foreign correspondent in a conflict area to the coverage of what's happening at the corner store.
That helps readers and potential readers understand more of the cost side of the business, and I think it could be done occasionally in print and permanently (but updated) on any newspaper website. It helps reader customers think of themselves as being more insiders than we usually treat them as being.
Then think about the value delivered and how we do it.
There are two pieces to this.
One is the value of both news and advertising (as well as any other content) to real people. I am repeatedly disappointed to see promotions for newspaper sales talk only about the "deal" and virtually not at all about the content and service delivered if you sign up. We can do such a better job - being in the story-telling business! - of conveying that value generally and in terms of real people for whom one or more thing in the newspaper made a difference in their lives. Those stories are out there; we just never go look for them other than the occasional promotion department mention.
There is a print advertisement running locally here for a local bank. It is well done in that it features several local business people who are that bank's customers and allows them to talk about the bank in more than a movie review snippet. I am not suggesting that this is what newspapers should do more often, but it might be included. What I am suggesting is that telling the story in actual articles with good graphic support, objectively, of how the newspaper impacted various lives is what we should do.
The second piece is how we communicate the value of what is in the paper, today.
In one of our local newspapers here today, I found a full page of coupons from a moderately large food retailer - Harris Teeter. It is unusual in that it offers discounts only to people holding the Harris-Teeter loyalty card, but the added value is that you can apply a total of $16 in discounts to any products of your choice up to a maximum of ten and you must do it during three days.
That makes that page of newsprint, to Harris-Teeter loyalty card holders, worth up to $16. The price of the newspaper is about 5% of that.
I almost missed it in that it is on a back page that usually has nothing of special interest to me.
There is nothing on the Harris-Teeter website about this.
My point - on this second piece - is that newspapers have an incentive and surely have the technological and reportorial skills needs to communicate (another newspaper purported skill) to us customers the value of what is in the printed paper today.
Suppose the newspaper simply maintained a mailing list of people interested in knowing when something especially noteworthy or valuable like this was going to be in the paper. I bet a lot of people - given this example - might very well sign up.
In a weekly e-mail that I receive from Harris-Teeter, which attempts to tell me how personalized it is, there is a graphic telling me to look in my local newspaper for the page that I have described here. Wouldn't it be so much more powerful if that mentioned the newspapers - by name - in my area where the ad is appearing? Did the newspapers try to make this happen?
Consider this.....
How good a job do we do of explaining the process that brings news to reader customers? When was the last story you read in a newspaper that ran through the cost of that story, taking into account everything from the fully allocated cost of the reporter, her/his expenses, support tools and facilities...and on through the publicaiton process in whichever media? Imagine that this covered the range from a foreign correspondent in a conflict area to the coverage of what's happening at the corner store.
That helps readers and potential readers understand more of the cost side of the business, and I think it could be done occasionally in print and permanently (but updated) on any newspaper website. It helps reader customers think of themselves as being more insiders than we usually treat them as being.
Then think about the value delivered and how we do it.
There are two pieces to this.
One is the value of both news and advertising (as well as any other content) to real people. I am repeatedly disappointed to see promotions for newspaper sales talk only about the "deal" and virtually not at all about the content and service delivered if you sign up. We can do such a better job - being in the story-telling business! - of conveying that value generally and in terms of real people for whom one or more thing in the newspaper made a difference in their lives. Those stories are out there; we just never go look for them other than the occasional promotion department mention.
There is a print advertisement running locally here for a local bank. It is well done in that it features several local business people who are that bank's customers and allows them to talk about the bank in more than a movie review snippet. I am not suggesting that this is what newspapers should do more often, but it might be included. What I am suggesting is that telling the story in actual articles with good graphic support, objectively, of how the newspaper impacted various lives is what we should do.
The second piece is how we communicate the value of what is in the paper, today.
In one of our local newspapers here today, I found a full page of coupons from a moderately large food retailer - Harris Teeter. It is unusual in that it offers discounts only to people holding the Harris-Teeter loyalty card, but the added value is that you can apply a total of $16 in discounts to any products of your choice up to a maximum of ten and you must do it during three days.
That makes that page of newsprint, to Harris-Teeter loyalty card holders, worth up to $16. The price of the newspaper is about 5% of that.
I almost missed it in that it is on a back page that usually has nothing of special interest to me.
There is nothing on the Harris-Teeter website about this.
My point - on this second piece - is that newspapers have an incentive and surely have the technological and reportorial skills needs to communicate (another newspaper purported skill) to us customers the value of what is in the printed paper today.
Suppose the newspaper simply maintained a mailing list of people interested in knowing when something especially noteworthy or valuable like this was going to be in the paper. I bet a lot of people - given this example - might very well sign up.
In a weekly e-mail that I receive from Harris-Teeter, which attempts to tell me how personalized it is, there is a graphic telling me to look in my local newspaper for the page that I have described here. Wouldn't it be so much more powerful if that mentioned the newspapers - by name - in my area where the ad is appearing? Did the newspapers try to make this happen?
"Advertising - Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web" - NYTimes.com
I wonder if there is not a printed newspaper parallel?
Imagine the largely unused options to make use - in a sophisticated way - of post-press insert options, point of sale insert possibilities and delivery potential. What could be tailored, with high value, to be of greater importance to the person buying or receiving/reading the newspaper because it is inserted at the "last" minute, is timely, and efficient along with relevant and as close to essential as it can be?
Imagine the largely unused options to make use - in a sophisticated way - of post-press insert options, point of sale insert possibilities and delivery potential. What could be tailored, with high value, to be of greater importance to the person buying or receiving/reading the newspaper because it is inserted at the "last" minute, is timely, and efficient along with relevant and as close to essential as it can be?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
"Dissents From the Bench Hint at a Polarized Supreme Court" - NYTimes.com
This is worth a moment of reflection.
The story talks about how the printed dissents of US Supreme Court justices just don't seem to get the attention their authors would like, and so they have taken to reading them out loud - and in the Court - when the decisions are reported. In other words, print is not enough; a soundtrack is needed as well.
What might that tell us about how, creatively, we can add more impact, more power, to what a newspaper prints?
The story talks about how the printed dissents of US Supreme Court justices just don't seem to get the attention their authors would like, and so they have taken to reading them out loud - and in the Court - when the decisions are reported. In other words, print is not enough; a soundtrack is needed as well.
What might that tell us about how, creatively, we can add more impact, more power, to what a newspaper prints?
"Doubts About ‘Digital Natives’" - Idea of the Day Blog - NYTimes.com
The future of printed newspapers has a lot to do - well, everything, really - with future generations.
That's why this piece is important. We've spent a lot of time doing readership studies, etc. but I wonder if we done the right kind. Have we looked at what newspapers really need to know about how young people are conducting their lives? Have we thought creatively about the role of non-newspaper printed stuff in their lives? Have we thought about how to make newspapers a bigger part of that?
We need to keep reminding ourselves that what we don't know about our customers, including the newest ones, is gigantic compared to what we think we know.
That's why this piece is important. We've spent a lot of time doing readership studies, etc. but I wonder if we done the right kind. Have we looked at what newspapers really need to know about how young people are conducting their lives? Have we thought creatively about the role of non-newspaper printed stuff in their lives? Have we thought about how to make newspapers a bigger part of that?
We need to keep reminding ourselves that what we don't know about our customers, including the newest ones, is gigantic compared to what we think we know.
Monday, March 8, 2010
"National Enquirer’s Coverage of Edwards Earns Recognition" - NYTimes.com
My guess is that the Enquirer is a lot more print-dependent than are most newspapers in the US, but that's an idea to be examined. What I mean is that the impact and importance of the print edition is higher with the Enquirer because of the power of what can be done with the printed page, especially page one.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Some user experiences, as they say...
I am a devoted subscriber to The New York Times and have been for more than 40 years.
That said, I have some problems that relate to the printed edition....
For example:
+ Why is it so hard to look up the electronic version of stories in "search" that I find in the printed newspaper? It seems like they only select a few words for search and don't tell us in print what they are. Why not a code or at least tell us which words by some unique typeface or just something to reduce the searching frustration.
+ The Sunday The New York Times did not make it to my driveway today. I got no e-mail or phone call telling me that it would not arrive. When I called, I got no message of apology or explanation from the robot voice. Nothing. Still nothing later in the day after I asked for credit. No call, no e-mail, nothing to explain why and apologize? How dumb is that?
+ I drove to a newsrack nearby early today and no newspapers there either. Later, I called a nearby food store and they said they had two copies and would hold one for me. They did, and I got the paper, being reminded that it costs over $6. When I paid for my copy, I asked the person checking me out if he did not think that was expensive. He responded that he did not know - "I'm not in the habit of looking at newspapers," the young man told me.
I sure think all of that is recipe for a remedy or a disaster, and I fear the latter, but eternally hope for the former!
That said, I have some problems that relate to the printed edition....
For example:
+ Why is it so hard to look up the electronic version of stories in "search" that I find in the printed newspaper? It seems like they only select a few words for search and don't tell us in print what they are. Why not a code or at least tell us which words by some unique typeface or just something to reduce the searching frustration.
+ The Sunday The New York Times did not make it to my driveway today. I got no e-mail or phone call telling me that it would not arrive. When I called, I got no message of apology or explanation from the robot voice. Nothing. Still nothing later in the day after I asked for credit. No call, no e-mail, nothing to explain why and apologize? How dumb is that?
+ I drove to a newsrack nearby early today and no newspapers there either. Later, I called a nearby food store and they said they had two copies and would hold one for me. They did, and I got the paper, being reminded that it costs over $6. When I paid for my copy, I asked the person checking me out if he did not think that was expensive. He responded that he did not know - "I'm not in the habit of looking at newspapers," the young man told me.
I sure think all of that is recipe for a remedy or a disaster, and I fear the latter, but eternally hope for the former!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"Curbed LA: What Crash? OC Register Launching New Real Estate Section"
This is another example of a printed newspaper carrying - in print - some of the electronic content generated by its digital operations. In this case, it is blog excerpts, but there are so many other possibilities as well!
"'First in Print' emphasizes value of Enquirer content" - cincinnati.com - Cincinnati.Com
I think this is sound judgment.
There are three ideas that come to mind.
First, I'd promote the devil out of this idea in the newspaper, online, in other promotion/advertising. After the fact, I'd promote the value of the story that was available only in print.
But, second, I'd allow anyone - whether a regular subscriber or not - to set up an account with the newspaper to allow them to buy any article they wanted to read (free to paid subscribers of the printed version), but with legal restrictions, technology blocks and lots of warnings about what the newspaper will do if it catches anyone pasing along a copy to another person without obtaining permission.
Third, I'd send out a message, electronically, to anyone who subscribes for free - at the time the newspaper goes to press, discussing what's going to be in the paper tomorrow, what's going to be online, what not, and where and when the printed edition will be available for purchase, both locally and if available in any distant locations.
There are three ideas that come to mind.
First, I'd promote the devil out of this idea in the newspaper, online, in other promotion/advertising. After the fact, I'd promote the value of the story that was available only in print.
But, second, I'd allow anyone - whether a regular subscriber or not - to set up an account with the newspaper to allow them to buy any article they wanted to read (free to paid subscribers of the printed version), but with legal restrictions, technology blocks and lots of warnings about what the newspaper will do if it catches anyone pasing along a copy to another person without obtaining permission.
Third, I'd send out a message, electronically, to anyone who subscribes for free - at the time the newspaper goes to press, discussing what's going to be in the paper tomorrow, what's going to be online, what not, and where and when the printed edition will be available for purchase, both locally and if available in any distant locations.
Friday, March 5, 2010
"How To Clean a Window with Newspaper" - Home Hacks - Apartment Therapy Re-Nest
"More reason to believe in the future of the printed newspaper?"
"Tindle launches four new papers - Media" - guardian.co.uk
What a great strategy! I look forward to seeing the newspapers and following their evolution.
"Consumers Still Prefer Print to eReaders" - AdWorld
This item reports on interesting research from Ireland.
The question for newspapers - printed - is not to tak heart from this, but rather to understand why people reacted the way they did in preferring printed to e-reader newspapers and how to build upon that. What can be learned from the study that might lead newspapers to do something differently or at least to promote their printed products in such a way that this - reading print - becomes or a more widely shared view.
The question for newspapers - printed - is not to tak heart from this, but rather to understand why people reacted the way they did in preferring printed to e-reader newspapers and how to build upon that. What can be learned from the study that might lead newspapers to do something differently or at least to promote their printed products in such a way that this - reading print - becomes or a more widely shared view.
"Times Wire" - The New York Times
I wonder if we are doing all that we could to review what people are finding valuable online that might be incorporated into some printed newspaper offering.
Take the "Wire" page of The New York Times, for example. I find myself checking it regularly in the course of most days. There is something about the way they run, have designed it, etc. that apeals to me and I think it is judged to be successful by the Times.
My point is that if we understood better why I and others like this so much, that might trigger, for example, the idea of adding an overnight, locally printed rundown of "Wire" items printed just before physical delivery. Or something more anchored in the regular printed paper itself that simply reinforces the printed-digital link that occurs in so many lives like mine. For those who do not make that link, they don't know what they are missing and people in the communications business ought, above all, be able to describe that in words and pictures for those who have not seen and lived it. No?
Take the "Wire" page of The New York Times, for example. I find myself checking it regularly in the course of most days. There is something about the way they run, have designed it, etc. that apeals to me and I think it is judged to be successful by the Times.
My point is that if we understood better why I and others like this so much, that might trigger, for example, the idea of adding an overnight, locally printed rundown of "Wire" items printed just before physical delivery. Or something more anchored in the regular printed paper itself that simply reinforces the printed-digital link that occurs in so many lives like mine. For those who do not make that link, they don't know what they are missing and people in the communications business ought, above all, be able to describe that in words and pictures for those who have not seen and lived it. No?
Thursday, March 4, 2010
"Google Blogger - Print Your Blog, Sell Your Blog Book!"
Even in the digital age, there remains a special place for print as this service shows.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
"The Herald-Sun - Trusted & Essential"
This is one of the printed newspapers that is delivered to my home every day.
When one goes to their website, two restrictions are imposed on visitors.
If not a print subscriber, you must pay to access the archives.
It is the second restriction that I find interesting and I am not sure how I feel about it. As a subscriber, it irritates me, and I am sure non-subscribers feel the same way.
What is it?
If you try to copy all or part of any of their articles electronically, up pops a window that stops the copying -- saying "I'm sorry. The image you are trying to copy is the property of The Herald Sun."
What's confusing and interesting at the same time is that there is no similar block on the printing of anything on the website.
Is the latter something newspapers should consider? If you, the customer, want it printed, you'll have to pay for it.
Imagine that once logged in, I could get x number of articles printed every month with my subscription and would have to pay for more than that. Ditto for a non-subscriber who would have to start an account before being able to print anything.
When one goes to their website, two restrictions are imposed on visitors.
If not a print subscriber, you must pay to access the archives.
It is the second restriction that I find interesting and I am not sure how I feel about it. As a subscriber, it irritates me, and I am sure non-subscribers feel the same way.
What is it?
If you try to copy all or part of any of their articles electronically, up pops a window that stops the copying -- saying "I'm sorry. The image you are trying to copy is the property of The Herald Sun."
What's confusing and interesting at the same time is that there is no similar block on the printing of anything on the website.
Is the latter something newspapers should consider? If you, the customer, want it printed, you'll have to pay for it.
Imagine that once logged in, I could get x number of articles printed every month with my subscription and would have to pay for more than that. Ditto for a non-subscriber who would have to start an account before being able to print anything.
Making the daily print to electronic leap
Each day, I receive multiple printed newspapers, and try to make my way "through" all of them. Whem I am finished, I usually have a stack of articles and pages that I have torn out because something in them caught my attention.
From there, I do various things with them ranging from sharing with a friend and putting in a paper file to looking up the article to send to someone electronically or simply following up on the lead created by the printed piece to do something else online.
I have always felt that printed newspapers either don't believe there are many people like me or don't care. They do very little to make the jump from the newspaper's printed product to one of its electronic offerings - directly on the same item be it news or advertising - very easy most of the time.
Can't we do better? Shouldn't we try?
From there, I do various things with them ranging from sharing with a friend and putting in a paper file to looking up the article to send to someone electronically or simply following up on the lead created by the printed piece to do something else online.
I have always felt that printed newspapers either don't believe there are many people like me or don't care. They do very little to make the jump from the newspaper's printed product to one of its electronic offerings - directly on the same item be it news or advertising - very easy most of the time.
Can't we do better? Shouldn't we try?
Names in newspapers
There is a newspaper here in North Carolina that prides itself on having an extraordinarily high penetration level in its market - over 100%, or at least that's what it was a few years ago.
I asked the publisher why and learned that he thinks the secret is how many names are printed in the paper every day, every week, every year. All of those names cement a certain loyalty that stays in place, he says.
As we think about the printed newspaper, I think it is useful to remember the perceived personal value - call it ego if you like - that comes from having one's name in print. Have we thought about that phenomenon enough in terms of how we print newspapers and what we might do a little differently in design, distribution, alerts, etc. that would build on this notion of how much more important the newspaper is when it has your name in it?
I asked the publisher why and learned that he thinks the secret is how many names are printed in the paper every day, every week, every year. All of those names cement a certain loyalty that stays in place, he says.
As we think about the printed newspaper, I think it is useful to remember the perceived personal value - call it ego if you like - that comes from having one's name in print. Have we thought about that phenomenon enough in terms of how we print newspapers and what we might do a little differently in design, distribution, alerts, etc. that would build on this notion of how much more important the newspaper is when it has your name in it?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
"Postmaster delivers bundle of bad news" - washingtonpost.com
This is an important story in order to bring the entire picture of newspaper printing into focus.
Two hundred years ago, 90% - more or less - of the items carried by the Post Office in the US were newspapers.
Today, newspapers' involvement with the Postal Service is complicated, but notable. Very few actual newspapers are delivered to customers by the Postal Service. Most of the relationship involves the mailing of advertising materials.
What makes this story important, however, is what the current state of the Postal Service says about the printed word. What can newspapers learn from this? What should they do in response?
Two hundred years ago, 90% - more or less - of the items carried by the Post Office in the US were newspapers.
Today, newspapers' involvement with the Postal Service is complicated, but notable. Very few actual newspapers are delivered to customers by the Postal Service. Most of the relationship involves the mailing of advertising materials.
What makes this story important, however, is what the current state of the Postal Service says about the printed word. What can newspapers learn from this? What should they do in response?
Monday, March 1, 2010
"Survey Finds Slack Standards at Magazine Web Sites" - NYTimes.com
I wonder what a survey of newspapers would show on the same point?
"RMG to Brand 850 Screens as the NYTimes.com Today Network" - NYTimes.com
Do we think that newspapers have exhausted the opportunities in print to promote what they do? I don't think so.
"News Units at ABC and CBS Try to Navigate Uncertain Times" - NYTimes.com
The printed newspaper has the potential as these trends continue to become either once again or at least more strongly, the central record of any market the newspaper serves. With other comprehensive news services declining so rapidly, a printed newspaper has the chance to be the daily printed record of the market the paper serves. How many newspapers can say that they are really doing this now?
"Eyewitness to History" - The Folio Society
Robert FOX, who edited this compendium, spoke on the BBC today. In talking about eyewitness accounts today, he expresses concern that we receive so many of them without filters today that our sense of truth and accuracy is being badly damaged. Once again, a value of the printed newspaper if it does its job well. There is something about the "sorting out" process in print that simply has greater certainty and surely permanence associated with it.
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