Newspapers are Folding, and We’re Part of their Problem!

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

The fact that Newspapers are folding, left and right, is hardly News. It’s a long-term trend playing out, due to the ‘Market Forces’ of the Internet.

What is News is the effect that Internet Bloggers (aka Citizen Journalists) are having on the long, slow fade of “Traditional” News.

It seems fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for their News, these days — and WHY should we when we can find it FREE on-line, often with a dash of humor and wit throw-in, for free too!

One Problem though — Bloggers to maintain credibility, have this little habit of citing those very same “Traditional” News Sources who are quietly fading away, as we speak Type.

I think there is a “Chicken and Egg” thing going on here — just few of us have yet to realize it.

Could be someday we go out to get our Information Breakfast — and it turns out that both “nutritional items” have turned up MISSING! (the Blogger and the Source)

Here are the Eggs for Today’s News Omelet … Pardon me while I take my customary “break”.

(See ya in 10 for that Java refill.)

Do Newspapers Have a Future?

By Michael Kinsley, Time.com — Sep. 25, 2006

It seems hopeless. How can the newspaper industry survive the Internet? On the one hand, newspapers are expected to supply their content free on the Web. On the other hand, their most profitable advertising–classifieds–is being lost to sites like Craigslist.

[…]

Newspapers on paper are on the way out. Whether newspaper companies are on the way out too depends. Some of them are going to find the answers. And some are going to fritter away the years quarreling about staff cuts.

[…]

Now the problem is to get people under 50 or so to pick up a newspaper

[…]

Some believe that the answer is to restore local ownership. Newspapers were born free, and yet everywhere they are in chains, like Gannett.

Link to pg 1

[Kinsley continues …]

People don’t pay for their news in traditional newspapers: they pay for the paper, which typically costs the company more than it charges for the finished product. So in theory, giving away the news without the paper looks like a good deal for newspapers, if they can keep the advertising.

[…]

The “me to you” model of news gathering — a professional reporter, attuned to the fine distinctions between “off the record” and “deep background,” prizing factual accuracy in the narrowest sense — may well give way to some kind of “us to us” communitarian arrangement of the sort that thrives on the Internet.

Link to pg 2

Nice summary Michael! (How much did Time pay you, for that in-depth analysis?)

Did you hear about the latest? (Turns out you were right, sir!)

Growth in Search Ads Problematic for News Sites

Mark Hachman, pcmag.com — Mar 15, 2010

Growth in search advertising and a corresponding decline in display advertising is creating a depressing trend for news-based sites, the Project For Excellence In Journalism and the Pew Internet & American Life Project concluded.

The report on the state of the news media in 2009 included a section on online advertising, with data largely collected by eMarketer, an online research firm. The study found that ads generated via search – and largely benefiting search engines like Google – grew by 3 percent in 2009, while display ads – used by news and other sites – declined by 2 percent.

The other category of ads used by news and other sites, rich media, also dipped to $1.5 billion, down from $1.6 billion from the year before.

[…]

What this means, Pew found, is that a greater chunk of advertising is going to search engines, rather than the sites that actually generate the content the search engines index. Twenty-eight percent of all ad revenue went to search sites, versus 14.4 percent [f]or business, finance, and investing sites. TV stations received 6.87 percent of all ad revenue, with newspapers pulling in 4.84 percent.

[…]

Once the staple of newspapers, classified ads, which were significantly affected by free services like Craigslist, plunged by 30 percent to $2.2 billion, and just 9 percent in overall ad spending.

So WHERE will we get Today’s News, when Google News, has No More “News Sites” to ‘put on their Menu’?

What/who will mere Bloggers like me cite, when the likes of the Pew Report are no longer, being funded, or covered by “credible” News Sources/Reporters? … The sands are ticking indeed!

The State of Newspapers? Think of Sand Falling in an Hourglass, Pew Report Says

Jennifer Saba — Mar 15, 2010

NEW YORK Newspaper advertising revenue plunged an astounding 45% over the last three years forcing publishers to make drastic reductions to the actual size of the print edition, to the space devoted to news to the ranks of employees.

[…]

Despite the flourishing of new media organizations the report gets to the heart of the problem: cost effective technology has yet to translate into dollars. “Unless some system of financing the production of content is developed, it is difficult to see how reportorial journalism will not continue to shrink, regardless of the potential tools offered by technology,” said the report.

[…]

Thirty-five percent of Americans said they have a “favorite” news site and among that group only 19% responded that they would continue to visit their favorite site if confronted with a pay wall.

They ignore online advertising as well. The survey found that 79% of online news consumers rarely if ever clicked on an online ad.

The report picked up on a symbiotic relationship between traditional media and the mushrooming of commentary of media. The authors’ analysis of more than a million blogs and social media sites found that 80% of the links are to U.S. legacy media.

There’s that “Chicken and Egg” thing again. There is an Uprising of Citizen Blogging and Personal Networking, all based on a “legacy media” that can’t change fast enough to survive its content ‘being borrowed’ — all to fuel that the Netizen appetite for a endless Free Lunch.

Hey I like the Internet as well as the next person. I think it has empowered the People, with the power of OUR own Free Press.

BUT, exact how “Free” is it, really? … and for how much longer? We all got to ‘pay the piper’ someday.

Maybe once they can “wire” our every need — maybe then that Big Portal in the Sky can capture our daily attention, and then our {buying} Loyalty …

Internet

future.wikia.com

[…]

Currently, the Web has been going into another transition to Web 3.0, which is the internet in a more seamless environment. The internet will begin to spread out to other devices such as the automobile and the television. The internet will also try to “get to know you” and start suggesting you queries that are based on your previous searches and your interests.

The future ideal goal is the transparent integration of desktop and the Internet and transparent device-independent ubiquitous computing.

Sounds pleasant, and even helpful (like a Waiter, schmoozing for the Tip.)

But there is a “dark side” to the organic growth of “Social Media Sites” — it’s called a Digital Footprint. Big Brother loves that about us — and we sure do leave a lot of them … (PS. Modern-day Marketers love that about us, too!)

Growth in Search Ads Problematic for News Sites

by Mark Hachman, pcmag.com — Mar 15, 2010

“Facebook can go to advertisers with an enormous amount of data about its users – their age, gender, where they live, their relationship status, who their friends are, what groups they have joined, the kinds of purchases they post about or discuss with their friends, and lots of other behavioral facts – that can be mined to sell ads at a much higher rate,” Pew wrote.

Thanks again Pew for that little Golden Nugget. (Standby a sec, while I go remove my FB ‘Status’, LOL)

Meanwhile, Meet ‘HAL’ — er, I mean ‘SEO’ — the Future of Revenue Generation on the Net …

PS. Newspaper Owners take Note, if you have any wish to maintain your long-term survival … here’s the Trick — remember all that “external linking” to your News Content? … Well that IS the “unit of currency” in the Search Universe … IF you know how to cash it in. Research and Learn Earn! It can be useful to have this, especially when it comes to local SEO services which could help you to reach your local audience.

SEOStyle is the industry leader … {out of hundreds of SEO’s}

Why Do I Need SEO Services? (Search Engine Optimization)

— 90% of users find new sites through search engines.

— 80% of search engine users don’t browse the results deeper than first two pages.

— 75% of online purchases and orders are made on websites found through search engines.

— 80% of Internet users browse search engines every day.

— 95% of users consider sites found through search engines being the leaders in their market field.

— Search engine browsing is the most popular kind of Internet activity along with email usage.

SEO Ad-Targeting IS the Future of the Web! (it’s what made Google ‘King’, and it is what people like Nathan Gotch help teach others about!)

And guess who is in the SEO-Marketeer’s cross-hairs?

Just little old internet consumers — like you and me — Us Bloggers who’s time is more valuable, than our privacy, it seems. (or a few bucks subscription.)

Ultimately, we all search for things online nowadays and therefore if you want people to find your content first then you need to optimize your website for search engines, whether that be by following a local SEO checklist or by using other means. The way we search is ever-changing, however, and a plan that works one day may not be the best for the next. You can learn more about the importance of SEO and other digital marketing strategies by heading to myseosucks.com.

BTW, Here’s your Check for Today’s News Omelet: $0.00 — and a Coupon for FREE Hash-Brown, if you drop back by within a week. See Ya!

and have a Great Day, Compadres!

(Pssst! Just leave the Tip, in the Jar, on your way out. And Thx a million! Hurry back now!)