Newspaper Outlook 2007 in an excellent report by Earl Wilkinson, CEO International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA). It confronts issues some newspapers have difficulty reporting in their pages (especially Australian newspapers) – the process of transitioning their revenue model from one based purely on print to one based primarily online with some print model. The US$195 report is compelling reading for newsagents as it 75 pages of evidence that the foundations on which newsagencies were created in the 1800s have shifted. As Wilkinson writes:
Unfortunately, the transition will be most painful for the people who are least informed about the over-arching trends in media industry: the editorial community.
I’d replace “editorial community” with “newsagents”. Newsagents don’t feel the change, certainly not to an extent to accept it as real. Not here in Australia yet at least. Newspaper sales are strong. Enough are experiencing growth for newsagents to be confident.
As this report indicates, the future for newspaper publishers is away from paid for copies and the traditional model. Wilkinson says that the “destination is clearâ€:
Internet-First
Local Journalism
Always On and Interactive
Core Product Smaller
Lower Profit Margins
Wilkinson sees a newspaper outlook in 2007 based on publishers moving more investment from traditional product to online and achieving more profit from online. Newsagents must listen to this message. While I don’t expect them to stump up the US$195 for the INMA report, they must take note that here is a respected executive from publisher circles saying that the game we have played for decades is over, it’s a new world and investment in your business must reflect this.