Newspapers

An interesting move by the San Francisco Chronicle as reported by the Editors Weblog. The newspaper The paper will launch a 30 minute television program, ‘Chronicle Jobs TV’, to run Monday to Wednesday at 5:30 PM. While only time will tell if TV/newspaper classifieds work, I’d suggest that they are doomed. This is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. It’s also a step sideways. The world is looking for classifieds online in a searchable form so we can look local or look at what specifically interests us. A TV program provides none of this. Sure it might be interesting but innovative it is not. Newspapers need to take bold steps to protect their classified revenue.

January data, for the month so far, in my newsagency is showing year on year sales growth for daily newspapers (The Age, Herald Sun, The Australian, Australian Financial Review) of 16%. During the same period I am seeing the Trading Post down 15%. The conclusion I draw from that is that, yes, print classifieds are dying rapidly whereas print news, in my part of the world, is strong. The strong sales are due, in part, to people not traveling this holiday period.

Jeff Jarvis today at his blog, BuzzMachine, deconstructs the newspaper, section by section. He post is an excellent contribution to the debate about the future of newspapers. While it’s written from a US perspective, here in Australia the newspaper sections are the same and the challenges very similar but I suspect our newspaper publishers do not feel the pressure being felt in the US. We are insulated by the size of our marketplace and the lack of true head to head competition. That is not a reason to ignore Jarvis’ opinion or the opinion of other equally eloquent and knowledgeable commentators such as Tim Porter.

In Jarvis’ own words: The point of this exercise is to peel away the layers of the onion that a newspaper no longer needs so it can get to the core of what it really is, what it does best, what it must be to survive and prosper. You can pose the question one of two ways: What do we kill to save money, or what do we kill so we can shift resources to more important things? Whichever, you can’t stay the same and certainly can’t develop new features until you cut the fat and flesh.

Jarvis argues that publishers need to drive newspaper readers online and to reconfigure their print product in terms of content so it is more relevant and cost model so it is a sustainable medium. Once you read the whole blog entry be sure to read the comments.

I wish we were having this conversation about Australian newspapers and that the conversation included newsagents. While News Ltd is in the final weeks of completing its review of newspaper distribution in Australia I’d prefer they put this project aside and engage in a robust review of the future of their newspaper products. Such a review should also include newsagents – the 4,600 small business operators created solely to distribute and retail, newspapers.

The games on competitions, DVDs, CDs, Calendars, Wrapping Paper and every other device being used to gain single copy sales does nothing to address the core issue of relevance which is central to the Jarvis analysis. As one who sells the product and relies of newspaper sales for a key part of traffic to my store, I crave a more relevant product. It goes to the heart of the future of my business and the relevance o the retail channel to which I belong.

Editor and Publisher is also reporting on the Jarvis post.

PaidContent reports that the Chicago Tribune has announced that it will cease publishing stock listings except on Saturdays. They are introducing a phone in service for people who want quotes – talk about a step back in time – as well as promoting online access. The paper points to the impact of the Internet as a reason for the change. Crosswords, Sudoku and quizzes are on the Net. Will they drop those from the newspaper as well? Newspaper customers are newspaper customers and a publisher pushing their customers online must have a plan.

How people consumer news and information has changed yet too many publishers are running things the way they used to – with fractional coverage over the peak summer / holiday period. Newspaper publishers especially. Thanks to the immediacy of online and the accessibility of mobile, people consume more by grazing and doing this almost real time as opposed to after the event. While sales of newspapers may dip at this time of the year, to publish a product which is but a shadow of its usual self is only a turn off and demonstrates a lack of regard for consumers. I see it in my retail situation – customers comment that they should be charged less for a thin newspaper.

Newspaper publishers are demonstrating daily why online is more important for news stories and advertising this summer.

I’d prefer them to embrace summer and either use the different traffic to attract new readers – they are there – or, offer summer pricing in recognition of the different summer offer.

But then I look at their websites and it’s business as usual so maybe they do get it.

Leading the field in building online consumer connection, The Guardian has released a branded news feed reader for the desktop. Another brilliant move from the folks at the Guardian. They’re getting plenty right with their online model as well as their over the counter offering.

Jeff Jarvis blogged at his Buzz Machine blog about his Dell experiences. With each entry the story seemed to get worse. Jeff’s attention to Dell service attracted a collective scream in the blogoshpere. Now, three UK public relations / marketing firms have collaborated on a white paper, documenting what they claim is Jarvis’ influence and the influence of bloggers and blogging more widely. Jarvis doesn’t buy it. He says he doesn’t think he influenced anything. He’s wrong to the extent that he reported his experiences as they unfolded and his blog entries were the pebble in the pond which became a tidal wave for Dell as so many others wanted to tell their stories.

This is where blogging is different to newspaper, TV and radio reporting. Through Jarvis type real time experience documenting, readers are living the story, warts and all. Some are passive in this while others are adding their knowledge to what is known. It is this social interaction which makes blogging compelling for so many and so powerful.

Craigslist, the community connected website has decided to charge for more listings. More employment listings will attract fees as will listings by apartment brokers in New York. This is seen as good news by newspaper publishers who have been fighting what some say is a losing battle with Craigslist for advertising products and therefore revenue.

Meanwhile, over at The San Francisco Weekly they have put together a nine page story about Craigslist and the damage they see it and similar free websites doing to publishing companies. It’s a considered piece if not a bit off the mark in pitching newspapers as the underdog in the advertising battle with Craigslist. For example, the article claims that the San Francisco Chronicle loses $50 million a year because of ads which have migrated to Craigslist.

Craigslist is live in Australia but is yet to gain significant advertiser traction.

Today’s Herald Sun came with a 2006 calendar from the creative pen of cartoonist Mark Knight. It’s been an ideal promotion for the newspaper. Better than other promotions since this one is directly linked to the product. Plus, the circulation department provided excellent counter POS material which boosted interest. Checked in on a couple of petrol outlets and a supermarket and, of course, they did not have the calendar on display. Publishers need to realise that newsagents are the best channel for driving promotion based sales.

We all know from the Napster and Kazza experiences that poor quality and ‘infected’ content access through a free service damages the standing of the service and could be a tactical response.

Maybe I am imaging things but I sense that there has been an increase in stories like this one – South SF police find prostitution ring on Craigslist. All Craigslist listings are free. They don’t have resources to edit or approve advertisements. This means there is plenty of junk on the site and, as recent events have shown, some criminal entries.

A payment, any payment, for a service qualifies use of the service. This is an opportunity for newspapers in the fight to retain classified advertising revenue.

Today was the first day of the A2 section of The Age in tabloid format. This follows the introduction some weeks of a tabloid real-estate section. Is there a pattern here? Anyway, it looks good I guess. But it’s not the broadsheet format I prefer. However, I am sure their market research shows enough punters will like this to make it work. Over the counter comment seemed positive – especially that it’s stapled.

Now that I’ve had the tabloid real-estate section for a few weeks I’ve decided I don’t like that. The coverage is different, different enough for me to notice and not enjoy reading the articles in that section as I used to.

Time will tell whether the tabloid A2 as launched today will work.

At my own shop I can’t measure sales success because they short supplied us by 30% and they were out of stock and couldn’t fix their mistake.

I’ve been looking further at sales data for the Trading Post from several newsagencies and each is showing a 16% to 29% fall in sales in September-October 2005 compared to 2004. What is interesting is that most of the sales hit has been taken on the first day of the seven day on sale period for the title. Every lost sale represents, potentially, a customer lost to newsagencies.

If I were Trading Post I would be working hard to reposition the title in newsagencies. I’d do it by focusing on content rather than a consumer competition of gimmick. Off the top of my head I’d suggest:

Provide newsagents with a slim floor space friendly display stand into which we can put the Trading Post. Let’s get the product away from the traditional newspaper stand and back in front of more eyeballs. Make sure the unit is bold and allows easy display of the front of the product.

Provide newsagents with promotional posters showing what’s in the publication.

Promote the Trading Post on TV as being available at newsagencies and promote content.

Reward newsagents who achieve sales growth.

I’d bet that after four weeks of a campaign along these lines sales of the Trading Post would be stronger.

Courtesy of the Online News Association is this report of Arthur Sulzberger’s keynote at the 6th Annual Online News Association Conference. Sulzberger is Chairman of New York Times Company and publisher of the New York Times. I found the entire text of his prepared speech here at the NYT website. It’s a must read. Here are some of the highlights:

Unquestionably, Real Journalism is more necessary than ever in 2005. It drives our understanding of this increasingly complex world and enables us to make the decisions necessary to keep democracy alive.

…

As chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of its flagship newspaper, I am fully committed to making use of every available digital tool and innovation.

I am also fully committed to conveying the highest quality news and information to our readers, viewers, and listeners, maintaining our standards and our traditions, and staying true to our 154-year-old reputation for journalistic excellence.

We make this commitment because we firmly believe that every organization has a moral center that must be protected through thick and thin, as it provides the reason and rationale for its very existence.

…

This leads to my second major point: the inherent conflict between the demand for immediate information and our ability to provide it.

This brings us to “The Titanic Fallacy,” a phrase coined by Dr. Peter Smith, the new Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO. In a guest column in The Times, he said:

“What was the Titanic’s single greatest problem? An arrogant captain? The iceberg? No. Even if the Titanic had survived her maiden voyage, she was doomed. The iceberg, the captain and the disaster only confused the situation. The real problem facing the greatest cruise ship ever built was the airplane. The seeds of destruction for the ocean travel industry were sown a decade earlier in Kitty Hawk.”

His point is that the faulty design of the Titanic was an overreaction to a perceived competitive threat. The news media regularly makes the same intellectual error. Our relentless focus on ratings, readership and pageviews has become so intense that it is easy to forget that reporting and editing are serious tasks with profound social and political ramifications.

Too often, we respond to competitive pressures by making less of ourselves – by offering our readers the perception of vitality in exchange for hard reporting and thoughtful analysis.

I could go on. This is another excellent speech from Sulzberger.

I’d like to see Australian newspaper publishers and newsagents around a table and discussing his key points.

I’ve always believed that in lean times you invest in your business. In the case of a newspaper it’s the editorial department – where the reputation behind the brand is established. This is why I am surprised by the Fairfax plan to cut positions. Maybe I am naive but if it were up to me I’d be hiring to strengthen the print and online reporting. This is what will bring eyeballs and eyeballs attract advertisers.

Fairfax could use more reporters to get closer to the community and to report the stories that matter. Fairfax could also invest more in developing its people with a goal of improving its already strong print and online products. Training could enhance online newsgathering techniques; online writing and its citizen/professional reporting interface. Online is where the reporting action is and while Fairfax is leading the way, it could do more with better editorial resources.

Such an investment at the core of the business would produce a better result than hacking away at the asset.

Newspapers are local products. Melbourne people want to read stories from a Melbourne perspective. In a shrinking newsroom this is less likely as resources are stretched. There will be more AAP and other ‘outsourced’ stories. The distance between the community of the reader and the reporter grows and with that perspective changes.

It’s only a matter of time before we see viable citizen journalism sites start up in Australia and this move by Fairfax to cut editorial staff will encourage those playing in the space. If enough journalists leave they could have an online product running in days. It’s happened elsewhere.

Now is the time for expansion in the newsroom for companies like Fairfax. Bold expansion. I reckon that’s how a newspaper person would see things. Bean counters have a different view of course. They always do.

History will show that the successful newspapers are those which invested in editorial and used that investment to lead to a new newspaper/publishing model.

Melbourne daily The Age launched its new website a couple of days ago. It’s a good step forward from its predecessor. This site makes news more the focus. The Planner is a welcome innovation. Well done!

Another paper from Scarborough Research profiling online readers.

Good research paper from Scarborough Research on the impact of free newspapers on paid newspapers in several US cities. Packed with valuable information anyone involved in the newspaper business will find useful, this paper provides perspective we will be able to draw on as more free newspapers develop in Australia. Publishers of free newspapers will point to the research saying that they are not cannibalising paid sales. True. The paper also talks about the decline in paid sales circulation.

Toward the end is this which sums it up for me:

So, the emergence of free dailies does not yet address the very critical issue of why readers are defecting from
traditional print newspapers. Moreover, neither is the free daily going to solve the circulation declines.

I’ve been looking at day of week sales data for newspapers in several states and am seeing some interesting trends of specific days of the week which are contrary to the dat reflected in the Audit figures released a couple of weeks ago. While for many a Monday through Friday view of sales is okay, I find this day of week data more valuable. For example, a fall, year on year, in sales for a capital city daily of 12% would be news I would have thought.

Since my post earlier today about the Andrew Jaspan, (Editor-in-Chief of The Age) speech covered online at theage.com today, I’ve had a chance to catch up with more internet / newspaper related coverage in The Australian, the Australian Financial Review, The Age and the Herald Sun. There is more I am sure. This transparent naval gazing is welcome. Online will impact newspaper sales. In developing their online models publishers will benefit from working with the existing supply chain. To do otherwise will encourage the existing supply chain to turn their back and pursue their own interests.

The Age today offers online a copy of a speech delivered Oct. 14 by Editor-in-Chief Andrew Jaspan. Jaspan delivers some gems including:

Newspapers in terminal decline ? I think not.

That is not to say there are not challenges for media companies like The Age. There are.

There are ferocious pressures on newspapers to reinvent themselves.

For a long time people, in part, tended to buy newspapers for ads and classifieds.

In a sense this masked circulation and sales issues of some newspapers.

This may have also masked journalists’ opinions that readers bought papers purely for the journalism.

Not often you hear a newspaper person in Australia speaking in such a forthright way.

Then there is this indication of their future focus:

We are not in the business of slowly managing decline.

It is about managing the transition to a new environment while rejuvenating and capitalising on The Age’s traditional strengths.

I thought that Arthur Sulzberger Jr, publisher of The New York Times had it right when he recently said “we will follow our readers where they take us. If they want us in print, we will be there in print. If they want us on the Web, we will be there on the Web. If they want us on cellphones or downloaded so they can hear us in audio, we must be there”.

It is good that we have an editor of a major Australian daily putting these issues on the table in a public forum and now through the resources of their newspaper. This invites discussion and that’s what I hope follows between newsagents and others in the traditional supply chain and The Age. Jaspan is right to point his newspaper to where the eyeballs are. We need to, wherever and however possible, make that journey with him.

Okay it’s not the best photo in the world but it’s all I have. This is one of the new Sony PSP game devices being used to display home delivery details for my newsagency. A bit of Velcro on the back of the PSP allows it to attach to the dash. Scrolling is easy. Screen clarity is fantastic. While we can display run retails on many portable devices, why not the PSP – it makes it a deductible business machine.

I have some friends in Adelaide who print 25 pages a day listing home delivery requirements. With one of these Sony PSP devices they could eliminate that and save printing 9,125 pages a year. Add to that printer wear and tear, toner and time taken and you soon get significant savings from this little device.

This is another way smart newsagents are improving the accuracy of home delivery of newspapers.

It lists the totals for the delivery run so the driver can get the right quantity. Another form eliminated.

And for the delivery drivers who prefer only the changes, the PSP lists what we call the stops and starts:

In response to newspaper publishers putting their product into more outlets we are developing several strategies to boost sales. In a typical newsagency there are zones which customers enter, make their purchase, pay and leave. In many cases they are oblivious to other product categories. We already co-locate newspapers and feel that by adding at least a third location we may get the kind of sales boost we are seeking. This is about eyeballs and while newspaper publishers want us to have product in an official stand in one location we already know that an additional location can lead to above average sales growth. This one os the strategies we’re working on.

I wish Australia publishers provided in store display material like their UK counterparts. This would make co-location easier.

There is a fundamental difference between newspaper retailing in the UK and Australia. Here in the UK retailers display the front page. In Australia they don’t. While there are flat stacks of newspapers in the UK, every major daily has the front cover displayed in their retail units.

Sales of The Guardian jumped 18% from August to September and the pbisher claims it is as a result of their shift to the Berliner format. Year on year they are tracking 7.4% growth. I wouldn’t be surprised to see format change for a couple of Australian newspapers soon.

Aside from very solid gains for the Sunday Age and the Sunday Herald Sun, The Australian and the Saturday Daily Telegraph, the latest Audit results for six months to September 30 are not great. This is despite what seems like unprecedented marketing effort in the form of product giveaways and other promotions to drive sales. Through this same period we’ve also seen publishers placing product in non traditional venues in pursuit of sales – Starbucks, McDonalds and more cinemas.

A smart publisher might want to trial putting an incentive on the table for above average growth achieved by newsagents. I am certain that the right incentive for sales growth would see growth achieved. It would also move the publisher / newsagent relationship to a more commercial and entrepreneurial level. Indeed, the right incentive could be a win win.

I know newsagents who have significantly outperformed these latest audit figures yet they receive no reward. Okay, they (we) get the 25% GP from the extra sales. But on a product selling for $1.00 it’s not much. If they were to receive bonus GP on all sales if they jump a pre agreed hurdle then more newsagents would be engaged.

The current contractual arrangement is not business like in this area. Look at any other traditional supplier / retailer contract and you see incentive bonuses for performance.

The first publisher to create such a program with newsagents should expect to have a better audit result in six months time.