Newspapers Today

Jane Schulze writes in The Australian that Australian newspapers are uniquely positioned among their global peers due to their ownership of the country’s leading news websites, which have maintained their role as agenda setters in news.

Schulze reported the views of Fairfax Media chief David Kirk referring to a report “Newspapers Today” compiled by The Newspaper Works.

That’s a consortium of leading publishers established to promote newspapers ahead of other media. So it’s not really surprising the group has released a positive report.

I have requested a copy and hope to review it later in more detail.

According to The Australian: “The main purpose of the study was to provide a clearer picture of how newspapers performed against other media and how the newspaper environment worked for advertisers.”

Among the key findings:

Newspaper readers were more engaged when consuming newspaper content, compared with other media such as TV.

Seventy-three per cent of Australians said they spent more time with newspapers now they were available in print and online.

Kirk said the Australian newspaper experience was vastly different from many other parts of the world, especially the US, where publishers were still worried about the cannabalisation of print revenues by the internet.

… in this part of the world it’s the big newspaper publishing companies that lead on the internet as well, so we are genuinely complementary and can drive traffic between our newspapers and web sites.”

Mr Kirk said newspapers and their websites were able to remain at the forefront of the news agenda 24 hours a day due to the investment in their newsrooms.

He said he expected more advertisers to book both media simultaneously.

Comment: I agree with that assessment. Newspapers have become the market leaders in delivering online news.

They have trusted brands in the news business and are well placed to capitalise on the growth in online advertising.

June 9, 2008 · Topics: , ,

Comments

2 Responses to “Newspapers Today”

  1. John on June 26th, 2008 8:03 pm

    Yes, print will eventually phase out as it gives way to new tools that are more interactive and rich. Readers are giving up flat printed pages for online, interactive, participative, collaborative and rich media content such as Online Portals, Blogs, Social Networks, RSS, Mobiles and Podcasts.

    Here’s few useful links on digital publishing / delivery
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01SrlU41RJk
    http://www.pressmart.net

  2. Shane on September 12th, 2008 7:15 am

    I wouldn’t be so bold to say print media is being given up.
    I use the internet for news, blogs, rss etc, but I still love the printed form, the newspaper.
    Perhaps the generation that is now under 20 and have not grown up on the newspaper dependent society, will naturally allow the printed media to die.
    And even then, they still love their music mags etc in the flesh, rather than online.
    A bit to do with ownership - you can own the latest mag in print, as happens with music. It’s not the same joy to just download the mp3.
    Shane

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