TAKEAWAY: Interest in news peaks, says a new study from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism; however, newspaper companies producing most news content are not seeing the profits. It is time for newspaper companies to form alliances with technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, AOL and Yahoo.
Another week and another study about how people read, the impact of the tablets and, of course, the economics of it all.
This time, it is a report from the
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%0A" title="Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism">Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The news is mixed, as the study finds encouraging signs within the 27% of Americans who say they get news on their smartphones or tablets.
Does it translate into revenue for the newspapers providing the content? Not quite.Although it does for technology companies, which are profiting from ad revenue that is not appearing on the credit columns of newspaper companies.
However, it is encouraging to read that people seek news, in whichever platform, and, it is no surprise that social media plays a growing role in bringing people to news, as “friends” recommend stories to their friends in Facebook, for example.
The report makes reference to the fact that it is technology companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, AOL and Yahoo rather than news companies that are benefitting from online revenue opportunities resulting from the rise in interest in news consumption. The report found that these five companies generated 68% of digital ad revenue in 2011.
It is obvious that news organizations do need to form alliances with the technology companies. The synergies are there, and, as I keep repeating in all my workshops and presentations, publishers and editors working in traditional news media must remind everyone that they are the experts in processing news.
Wether it is news aggregators, alliances with Facebook, YouTube,etc. the time is now to explore synergies, and to discuss what we in the news media have to offer, where our expertise lies, and how the content that we produce—-and that this study reminds us audiences seek—can find different ways of distribution that will provide positive economic returns and ad revenue for those generating it.
It can be a win win situation, and with various platforms available to carry the content, executives will have to be inventive, and bring fresh ideas to the table.
An appropriate quote of the day:
Jill Abramson, editor of The New York Times, speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive festival, said:
“The Times — I don’t mean to sound arrogant or self-satisfied in any way — our news report is like none anywhere in the world. What I’m optimistic about is our quality journalism is gonna live on forever, regardless of platform.“
As reported in the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/jill-abramson-sxsw-future-new-york-times_n_1339869.html?ref=topbar
Of related interest:
- USA: 6 trends for newspapers in 2012, from a Sunday boom to an executive bust
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/business-news/the-biz-blog/166575/6-trends-for-newspapers-in-2012/
- USA: State of the News Media 2012 shows audience growth for all platforms but newspapers
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/166874/state-of-the-news-media-2012-shows-audience-growth-for-all-platforms-but-newspapers/
- USA: What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News
http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/mobile-devices-and-news-consumption-some-good-signs-for-journalism/what-facebook-and-twitter-mean-for-news/?src=prc-section
TheMarioBlog post #973
