> RESEARCH ROUND-UP The end of the newspaper

Heather Maitland explores how newspapers have been adapting to sales and revenue losses as a result of deep societal transformations

t’s not a good time to be talking In the late 1980s, Alan Rusbridger pundit who contrasts the carefully about press and public relations. announced that he would not be written and edited story that is central The first six months of this year particularly surprised if the ‘dead to network news with cable news Isaw every national newspaper tree’ newspaper would be a thing where 89% of airtime is broadcast live. suffering a drop in circulation of the past by 2010. It looks as if he The ‘journalism of verification’ is being compared to 2009, with the quality was not far out. The Northern Echo’s replaced by a ‘journalism of assertion’. papers worst hit.1 Steven Barnet circulation fell by 6% in the first half of So what? Objectivity in the media is believes we are seeing ‘probably the 2010 but its online version saw a 22% relatively new. Newspapers asserted most cataclysmic financial crisis in year-on-year increase in daily visitors.6 the interests of specific factions until journalism since the beginnings of The most successful of the national the early twentieth century when high- an unfettered press’.2 And the gloom newspapers’ websites, Mail Online, speed printing presses made economy is long term. Over the past 20 years, increased traffic by 44%.7 This isn’t of scale the best business model. most regional daily newspapers have just a UK phenomenon. In 2008, the Objectivity meant that newspapers lost more than half of their sales.3 How top 20 US newspapers had 13 million could appeal to mass markets because did the press get into such a mess? readers in print but more than 60 they alienated no one.11 Back in 2003, four of the UK’s million online.8 Commentators mourn ‘original, most influential editors convened So, the internet is killing the challenging and informed journalism’ at the ICA to discuss the future of newspaper. Or is it? as staff numbers are slashed across newspapers. They concluded that Emily Green argues that newspapers, radio and television. too many similar titles are fighting newspapers have been adapting to Why do you need journalists when over readers in an oversaturated the loss of their status as exclusive the internet makes it possible market. Content and style gets purveyors of news for the past 60 for anyone to become a content targeted at the same mass market years.9 And the crisis is even older provider?12 But even this blurring of so each is unable to stand out in the than that. Newspaper proprietors the boundary between reader and crowd. This makes them less able to were complaining about an writer was a feature of eighteenth compete for the restricted leisure oversaturated market both at the century newspapers. time of their customers, sales drop beginning of the eighteenth century, So, newspapers have an extraordinary and so does advertising revenue.4 In when there were 5 newspapers, and ability to transform to survive. Not all the 1990s, Rupert Murdoch described decades later, when there were 15.10 the recent transformations have been newspaper classified advertising as In the 1960s, television was blamed effective, though. ‘rivers of gold’. By 2005, he was saying for the decline in mass-market, large- Some regional dailies have that he didn’t know ‘anybody under format magazines in the USA. But increased their cover price and seen the age of 30 who has ever looked at as their circulation slumped, niche- much larger falls in circulation than a classified ad’.5 The problem has been market magazines flourished. This their competitors.13 The Manchester compounded by the move away from wasn’t the death of the format but its Evening News is now distributed one-size-fits-all marketing that was fragmentation. Dick Reavis also sees a free but circulation is still down 64% such a good fit with the newspapers’ parallel in the past couple of decades compared to 1989. Peter Robins mass-market readerships. of US television news. He quotes a suggests that the papers with defiantly local identities have done ... newspapers have seen a huge increase in best and those that have suffered the biggest cutbacks have done worst.14 readership. The problem is that no one has When Richard Desmond bought the Express Group, he promptly closed its yet found a business model that generates websites because they were giving enough revenue. away content that readers would

4 > JAM 40 otherwise pay for.15 In contrast, from the news sector. Consumers’ Are we really willing to pay to see all Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. spent reluctance to pay for online content those News of the World video scoops? $1bn buying up new media businesses has been dented by Apple’s iTunes But the established players are including Intermix which owned and iPhone apps. STV made £1.6m vulnerable simply because they need MySpace.com. It was not a good buy, from its online operations in the first to cover the losses made by their with media commentators this year half of 2010, licensing programmes printed platforms. Will the dinosaurs writing headlines like ‘MySpace now to YouTube and creating a network be superseded by newcomers, better likely worth less than Murdoch paid of ‘hyper-local’ websites.19 Spotify, able to survive on lower revenues for it (if it’s worth anything at all)’.16 a successful online music service, is generated by niche markets? Only Perhaps this either/or approach based on a mix of free, high-quality time will tell. is unhelpful. Research in 2009 services supported by advertising indicated that journalists by and alongside ad-free subscription and large accept the internet, in contrast other premium paid-for services. to the resistance seen in 2004, and The key to success seems to be to publishers now see themselves as build a huge user base through free producers of information platforms.17 access and then charge for added After all, if you add together online value. It has worked before. BSkyB’s and offline figures, newspapers have monopoly was founded on subsidising Heather Maitland seen a huge increase in readership.18 access to technology and subscription Consultant and Associate Fellow at The problem is that no one has for exclusive content. So, what does the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, yet found a business model that that mean for News International’s University of Warwick generates enough revenue. There decision to add paywalls to the online e [email protected] are some promising signs but not versions of all its UK newspaper titles? w www.heathermaitland.co.uk

1. Oliver Luft, ‘National ABCs: Year-on-Year 6. Oliver Luft, ‘Regionals Web Traffic: 12. Barnett , op. cit. Circulation Drops for All’, Newsquest Sites Up 21%’, 13. ‘Regional ABCs: Morning Papers Fall www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?section www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?section across Sector’, www.guardian.co.uk/ code=1&storycode=45856&c=1, code=1&storycode=45903&c=1, media/2010/aug/25/regional-newspaper- consulted 27/8/2010. consulted 27/8/2010. abcs-morning, consulted 27/8/2010. 2. Steven Barnett, ‘Minding the Regional 7. Oliver Luft, ‘ABCs: Record-Breaking Mail 14. Robins , op. cit. News Gap’, British Journalism Review, Online Top for Seventh Month’, 15. Bell, op. cit. vol. 21, no.13, 2010, pp. 13–18. www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectionc 16. For example see www.businessinsider. 3. Peter Robins, ‘The Long, Hard Fall of the ode=1&storycode=45910&c=1, com/henry-blodget-myspace-worth-zero- Local Press’, www.guardian.co.uk/media/ consulted 27/8/2010. 2010-2#ixzz0yCDIeZ2r, organgrinder/2010/aug/25/long-fall-local- 8. ‘The Electronic Subscription Model’, consulted 31/8/2010. press, consulted 27/8/2010. http://futureofthepress.com/future/, 17. Leopoldina Fortunati and Mauro 4. Uriel Heyd, ‘New Hacks, Old Hands’, consulted 27/8/2010. Sarrica, ‘The Future of the Press: Insights Journalism Studies, vol. 10, no.4, 2009, 9. Emily Bell, ‘End of the Offline?’, from the Sociotechnical Approach’, pp. 522–535. British Journalism Review, vol. 16, 41, 2005, The Information Society, vol. 26, no.4, 5. John Plunkett, ‘Murdoch Predicts Gloomy pp. 41–45. 2010, pp. 247–255. Future for Press’, www.guardian.co.uk/ 10. Heyd , op. cit. 18. Bell , op. cit. media/2005/nov/24/pressandpublishing. 11. Dick J. Reavis, ‘Down for the Count? The 19. Robert Andrews, ‘Ambitious STV business1, consulted 27/8/2010. Future of the Daily Press’, Expects Strong Online Income Growth’, www.counterpunch.org/reavis11192005. www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/ html, consulted 27/8/2010. aug/26/stv-group-hyperlocal-media, consulted 31/8/2010.

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