Internet not killing newspapers

Not only are citizen journalists saving print, the apparent slow death of newspapers is myth. Former Guardian editor Peter Preston reveals that newspaper circulation is up… so long as you count the freesheets.

Preston makes the case that it is not the internet, but owners who are responsible for the industry’s malaise. They and their poor quality management have simply failed to respond to a changing world, allowing their freebies to cannibalise the profits of established titles and failing to meet new challenges.

It’s certainly true that many newspaper groups have opted for the route of managed decline, concentrating on cutting cost while accepting that going for growth is not an option. Accepting one’s fate is almost always a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And yet paper remains a near faultless information technology in its own right. It’s versatile, cheap… and green.

The business model is everything. Some say today is Google’s ninth birthday. Before Google took hold, the search engine of choice was AltaVista. It was great for a time, but its owner, Digital, couldn’t see a way to make money out of it. They neglected it to such an extent that by the time Google exploded onto the market it took around six months for AltaVista to add a page to its index. It’s little surprise to learn that Digital isn’t around any more. They got broken up and sold off. Google’s great achievement wasn’t to invent the search engine, but to invent a business model that made search profitable.

With the right attitude and a little creativity, there’s no reason the print media can’t survive and flourish alongside the new media.

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