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LISTEN TO "Printed Matters" (24MB MP3)
For years now newspapers nationwide have been struggling to retain readers as they balance online content with the paper you can unfold over breakfast. Circulation among many daily papers has fallen little by little over the past 20 years, while some magazines have seen a steady growth in readership and circulation. This trend holds steady in the Northwest, where niche publications such as Imbibe and locally focused magazines like Portland Monthly are growing their subscriber lists at the same time that newspapers are cutting back on print issues and staff while they expand online readership.
What accounts for this disparity among print media sources? Do your reading habits follow the trend? What drives you to pick up a magazine or newspaper? What inspires you to click over to a publication's web site? What is the place of print media in a wired world?
GUESTS:
- Mark Jurkowitz: Associate Director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism and former media critic for the Boston Globe
- Steve Clark: Preseident of the Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers
- Karen Foley: Publisher of Imbibe Magazine
- JoLene Krawczak: Editor of the magazine division and special sections at the Oregonian newsroom
Photo credit: Katherine H / Flickr / Creative Commons
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Cole,
You're right in line with some of our guests. To hear them tell it, niche is it. One question that I'll ask them in the show -- and all of you now -- is where these niche interests came from. I can see how it's a powerful factor in marketing, and why it makes good business sense to exploit, but I'm genuinely curious about why we all seem more eager to focus our media diet ourselves... why general interest hold little interest. -
Just a side note; I think that the public notices ought to be placed online and taken out of newspapers. There is no longer any need for the public to subsidize newspapers when the costs are so low to run the notices on a government webpage. The government already puts the data in electronic form anyway, so it would be very easy to do.
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Tom, thanks for this comment. Actually, I don't think it's a side note at all. It brings up an interesting question of where, more generally, a "public" notice belongs... and if the internet satisfies a community's need for some kind of announcement in some kind of public square.
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I believe there is an old government rule that notices get published in the newspaper with the largest circulation. That leaves some questions now, like why not publish in all the niche publications to get more complete coverage or publish the real estate notices in a real estate niche magazine because that's who is most interested. Or even a just public notices, niche magazine.
I don't know who reads the public notices, but it seems like a public webpage would make it most easily available to all interested. -
Tom, here's a searchable list of public notices in Oregon:
http://publicnoticeads.com/or/
But as you'll see, there's a note at the bottom:
"This database is not a substitute for the official publication that is required by law. You will still find those notices in your local newspaper." -
Thanks.
Good idea on their part but it could also be used to argue that the government could negotiate down from paying for hard copy publication to a lesser cost for the online. -
I get what he said about providing context but I think that the two can be separated into notices and reporting. Certainly, they don't investigate and report on every real estate transaction or every minor traffic infraction that went to court.
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I don't believe niche interests are new, didn't newspapers originally tailor their content toward particular political parties and agendas? It seems as though large circulation newspapers are trying to be everything to everybody now, which results in an encyclopedic volume that feel bulky, intimidating, and just plain wasteful. I want to sit down and read something I know will captivate me, whether it's a print publication catered to my interests or a website that does the same (and for the record I usually turn to the internet for the bulk of my news).
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In part, I think these niche interests come from a sense of control and fulfillment. When a newspaper--like The Oregonian did today--has a story on a subject in my niche (in this case, Oregon wine) it comes as a pleasant surprise. I don't look forward every day to reading about my niche interest in the newspaper, but I know I can look forward every month to to a complete publication--like Karen's Imbibe--whose entire content is only about my interest. I can access this information when I want, not when the general-interest newspaper decides to cover it. But when I get the next issue of Karen's Imbibe, I know that every page will be relevant to my interest . . . the only surprise will be what angle the writers take, not that the newspaper finally ran something that fits my interest. And I will enjoy reading that content all the more because it is entirely about my interest.
By the way, I think this is equally true regardless of whether the content is print or online: just look at the proliferation of niche websites, shared-interest online communities, and the rest. It is the same appeal. -
The false numbers involved with circulation in the Oregonian are at best a scam to sell advertising add revenue. The Oregonian circulation department would gladly give the paper away for free so that the numbers of papers printed can be shown to potential advertisers for higher add costs.
On another note most the money recieved from papers have been derived from the classified adds. Craigslist has singlehandedly shot the paper industry in the foot. -
My problem with my local paper, The Register Guard, is that it's NOT local enough. It tries to cover national news -- which I feel I can get much better coverage for via NPR -- and then has a giant Sports section (useless to me), and very little regional coverage. If they refocused the paper to be more local I would likely subscribe. But as it is, the cost is too high and the paper too bulky and wasteful.
I grew up on the Oregon Coast, and read the Newport News Times which was a weekly and then a bi-weekly paper. It was great, all local, and targeted to the coastal audience. I looked forward to picking it up, and it made me feel like part of the community. The Register Guard lacks that feel or content.
I edit for magazines -- first for a trade publication focused on biopharmaceutical manufacturing (talk about a niche) that reached 30,000 subscribers. Now I edit for an online IT publication (www.searchdatacenter.com), with millions of hits per month. It's still a niche, but it's more accessible, it has a proven business model, and it's more environmentally-friendly. -
Globalization has not only created more competition but has made local news less relevant. I can get news from NPR, the BBC, The New York Times, The Times, The Guardian and The Economist. Why would I subscribe to a poorly written and mawkish local news paper? Any local news I want I can get for free in the various weekly magazines
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Traditionally newspapers turned between 20% & 30% profits. Compared to most businesses these models were gold mines.
I dont think that its so much revenue streams decreasing as much as its the constant pressure to up the stock price. Even at a good profit rate, it has to increase constantly for the stock to increase.
Also, the mainstream media as a whole is in a vicious cycle of reporting more fluff & less hard hitting content - which tunes out serious readers who are forced to go elsewhere (read: internet) - which drives down readership. -
I'm a news junkie and am slowly switching from news papers to online. The problem is that regular daily papers with all their ad inserts and various sections are just messy especially when all I want is the major political, world, and local news.
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Welcome to Portland, Mark! Here, it's not so 'unique' to not bey newspapers in order to cut back on paper usage. That is actually a common factor here where there is awareness about environmental effects of all of the things that people do every day - like getting newspapers delivered daily.
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I live in Portland and I've chosen not to read my daily paper for a couple reasons:
-the journalism and commentary from the Willamette Weekly is of a better quality (ie, N. Jaquiss)
-the Oregonian's international news coverage is definitely lacking, so I look to online sources for this type of news
-the Oregonian's coverage of non-political issues are incredibly one-sided (ie, coverage of public safety)
-I tend to enjoy my news with a some humor mixed in...it's a nice way to stomach much of what is going on in US politics, etc. So I turn to The Daily Show, etc to get by. -
I think the decline in printed newspapers has something to do with the speed in which new information is available and expected in the digital age. By the time the newspaper arrives on your doorstep, it is obsolete. Additionally, the paper builds up, taking over dining room tables, bathrooms, and floor space.
Magazines, on the other hand, while many are a bit devoid of real content, can be enjoyed for a greater amount of time. With the shiny pictures, short paragraphs, and very important news of who's dating whom, many mainstream magazines somehow remain fresh, even when they've been languishing in a dentist's office for weeks or even months. -
Just as I will always prefer a printed book or magazine, I will always prefer a printed newspaper. I don't need to stare into a bright light any more than is necessary. I lament the loss of any information from newspapers. I'm sorry to see the Tribune lose a day and move more to the web. They are losing a huge audience. I simply won't sit down to read any paper online. One article I'm seeking, maybe, but not to actually read. As for comics, I don't read them typically, but I used to read stock results, which have disappeared on a daily basis. Even as pages and pages remain for wedding announcements, obituaries, etc...
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With classifieds and major national advertisers moving away from print.
Will newspapers be able to get enough advertising revenue from local business to support print?
Why are not more local businesses advertising in newspapers? -
I find it sad that electronic devices now take up so much of people's time that most of them do not read a daily newspaper. To me there is no substitute for sitting down with a good newspaper, such as the Oregonian, and reading through it. From it one gains credible information on politics, world news, national news, local news and science. It is wonderful to browse through a newspaper,to read what seems worthwhile and to skip what does not. I like being able to go back and reread parts of an article when something isn't clear to me. News on public radio is another important source of information to me, but with it one can miss part of the story and it is not so easy to find the story online and catch it that way.
I feel newspapers are suffering from a shorter and shorter public attention span created by overuse of electronic devices. -
I worked for the Tribune Company an old newspaper and now a large media company. They had the idea a few years ago to build a network and bought the LATimes, BaltimoreSun, OrlandoSentinel, Newyork Newsday and tv stations. The idea was to integrate media. But it never happended. They never saw the future of YouTube and broadcast divisions and traditions never merged with print and online. Up to one year ago they were still writing stories for the end of the day rather than at night for online readers in the morning. In short they missed the boat because of entrenched traditions. Now the company has gone private, has taken on a lot of debt and is making large cut backs.
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I wasn't going to even bother listening to this show, but it has been interesting.
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We'll take all compliments -- backhanded or not!
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You guys pleasantly surprise me pretty often, so kudos to you.
I have been wondering about how you're doing with OPB considering the seemingly small participation on these discussions. I'm guessing you must be getting fairly good numbers of listeners or OPB would trade you out for some other program.
You're ok by me. -
One advantage I see of diversification is that it is harder for someone to coordinate a lockstep propaganda campaign because there are so many people checking things out and writing about it.
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I'm part of the 20 something crowd that gets all our news updates from the internet. I subscribe to NYTimes.com via email because they have good coverage of national & world issues and it comes conveniently to my inbox.
My newest and most favorite-ist tool for getting my news is Google Reader. Rather than having to go to the websites I like, they come to me with this application. It's so convenient, that I've been able to dedicate more attention to local news rather than being distracted by the more catchy national news.
I still read magazines, but like most of the previous commentators, I read magazines to read about things related to my special interests, and I'm in a very different mind space when I'm reading a special interest magazine, than when I'm reading news. -
As a publisher of a niche magazine in newsprint format, Portland Family, I value hearing all the dialog. In January, we will be changing formats to a "magazine" (i.e. gloss) format. I did public relations consulting for 10 years and worked with nearly every publication in town. It seems that newspapers in general are floundering because they have tighter deadlines, higher pressures from above, less staff and as a result--across the board, (from local to national) the quality has tanked. There are less and less human interest stories about people making real positive differences in the community. The slant continues to go towards the sensationalized, negative, headline driven approach.
In the magazine world, especially niche publications, we encourage stories to unfold. We can focus on people. We're not faced with the same daily news peg competition to survive. I believe niche publications thrive because like those who view or listen to OPB, people want choice, they want to think, they don't want to be dumbed down and they want to feel good when they are done picking it up. My readers have chosen to pick up Portland Family becuase they wnat to, not because it's the only thing there for information. There's nothing like holding a magazine in your hand on a lazy Sunday morning while sipping a cup of coffee. Nothing replaces that intimate connection. I don't think print is dying. I think it's changing. And from a business and consumer perspective, adaptation to the new world which includes multi-media channels including the web, is an exciting opportunity!
Janna Mock-Lopez
Publisher
Portland Family -
Comments are now closed.
It is my belief (and my business experience) that a key factor in the success of magazines versus newspapers is the magazine's appeal to niche audiences--those who share a specialized interest in a relatively narrow topic. Such audiences are unusually loyal, and place greater value on a printed product that reflects their particular interest, and that can let them explore their subject in more depth than a "general interest" publication (i.e., a newspaper) can.
Karen Foley has shown this with Imbibe, the folks at Atomic Ranch are proof positive, as--I like to think--is my magazine, Northwest Palate. Apparently The Oregonian itself sees this too, since part of their business reaction to the downturn in the newspaper business is to now build magazine initiatives that are mostly focused on narrower audiences than the newspaper as a whole. Niche is where it's at (which is as true online as it is in print . . . but that's a different, though related, subject).
Cole Danehower
Northwest Palate magazine