Wastington Post Chairman on newspapers and the Internet

Washington Post chairman Don Graham has been reported as saying for the first time this week that the future of news is on the Internet, not in print newspapers. Graham’s keynote address for UBS Bank’s annual Global Media Conference focused on how the Internet is dramatically changing the way he runs his company.

Courtesy of washingtonian.com, here are some key quotes from Graham:

“Our Web competitors, Google in particular, are coming up with clever new products which are designed to make our life harder,” Graham said. “Young readers are less inclined to read us than I would have guessed.”

“The business is changing faster than I expected,”

“This year for the first time I have come to believe that we will be able to tell you about certain subjects better on the Internet than we will be able to in print,”

I am certain that newspaper publishers in Australia hold similar thoughts. They must pursue the revenue model which is best for their business. This will impact their over the counter and home delivery product. The speed of impact will depends on many local factors. But we are only talking about time here.

I would like to see publishers engage in dialogue with newsagents – not their industry associations who will filter and confuse the message – direct with newsagents so that they (newsagents) might develop appropriate business plans.

While newspapers and newspaper traffic is important to Australia’s 4,600 newsagents, unless there is a dramatic reengineering of the product, it faces becoming non core in terms of traffic and revenue generating for newsagents).

The newsagent channel in Australia was created by publishers. It would be respectful for them to engage with their child one more time to discuss what looks to be a challenging and confusing future. Too many newsagents have no knowledge of the impact of the Internet on newspapers overseas.

The impact of the Internet on newspapers presents an opportunity for newsagents. While I accept there will be a downside, I see more upside as we re-invent and re-invigorate our businesses to a model for the future. And while this will have a place for newspapers, it will also have a place for other traffic generating products and services which ensure relevance of the locally owned operation into the future.