The Mario Blog

05.15.2009—6am    Post #615
Friday notes: highlights of the WAN Report

TAKEAWAY: It is full of information that should prove interesting and valuable to publishers worldwide, the new PricewaterhouseCoopers/WAN report reminds us of the power of a newspaper’s brand and leads us to pay attention to digital strategies. Yes, readers are willing to pay for online content. ALSO: Advertising coming back?AND: Why stitch your newspaper

Updated Friday, May 15, 19:31 Paris

How are the J-schools training the next wave of storytellers?

I am exploring the question myself. As a former academic (is one ever a FORMER academic?) having taught at both Syracuse University and the University of South Florida for many years, as well as assorted stints and Master classes at a variety of universities worldwide, I am keen on finding out how the curricula of journalism schools adapts to the new realities of our industry. From writing to editing and visual presentation, the game has changed dramatically, and I am sure that the best and most avant garde professors out there are already incorporating multi platform storytelling into their courses.

Please let me know who you are. I would like to write a series of blogs on the subject, profile those colleges and universities who are doing it right, and talk to the professors and perhaps even the students in such programs.

Counting on you to help me here. If you are participating in the programs I describe here, or if you know someone who does, please let me know via email: mario@garcia-media.com

Earlier this week we reported about a new report that demonstrates that newspapers have a long term future, but must invest on digital strategies.

Now that report, Moving into multiple business models: An outlook for newspaper publishing in the digital age, by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in cooperation with the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), is ready to be presented at the upcoming Power of Print Conference & Expo, to be held in Barcelona, Spain , on 27 and 28 May. Those interested in attending can still register: Our Rodrigo Fino, of Garcia Media Latinamerica, will be one of the feature speakers.Full details can be found
at http://www.wan-press.org/powerofprint2009

The PwC report is based on surveys of 4,900 consumers in seven countries,
interviews with leading publishers, advertisers and media buyers around the
world, and industry reports, analysts reviews and PwC expertise. It can be
found at http://www.wan-press.org/article18128.html (download from bottom of
the page).

Highlights of the report, according to WAN:

Among other findings, the report says consumers are willing to pay for
online newspaper content
, a point we have made repeatedly in this forum, and one I hope will become the centerpiece of discussion in newsrooms across the globe.
Two-thirds of respondents in a global survey said they were willing to pay for general news content
online and all are willing to pay for it in print, despite the advent of
the free daily newspaper. But newspapers need to develop strategies for
monetising their content and intellectual capital.

– Despite the huge potential for growth online, print remains the largest
source of revenue for newspaper companies
, and will continue to be so for
some time.

– General consumer spending on the internet will increase in the next few
years, and this will change the mindset of consumers who are now expecting
to get everything for free.

– Consumers don¹t only appreciate journalists for their general news
reporting but they place high value on the deep insight and analysis provided
by journalists.

– Traditional newspapers still have a strong and relatively loyal reader
base
, as their reliability is perceived as being greater than that of other
media. This gives newspapers the opportunity to lead and to follow
audiences as they use online and portable electronic media. The report found
that the core principles of deep analysis and trusted editorial translates
well online the newspaper brand is more important than the medium.

The market for mobile devices is growing rapidly. But mobile news delivery
is low on the list of consumer preferences because of the difficulty of
reading on the devices.

Good news in advertising front?

Good to wake up on a Friday morning and read some positive news about advertising revenues and how it is possible that its decline has bottomed out and perhaps the needle indicators start inclhing their way up.

John Fry, chief executive of the regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press in the UK, said today that advertising revenue had begun to stabilise after a year of steep decline – but signs of recovery were not likely until 2010.

“It would be dangerous for me to start talking about economic recovery, but we are not seeing it [ad revenue] drop like last year. We are not in the green shoots area yet, we are still bumping along the bottom.”

For full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/13/johnston-press-john-fry-ad-revenue-stabilise

Related:

– UK: Is the worst of the advertising recession over?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2009/may/13/worst-recession-over-advertising

– Australia: News Ltd chief John Hartigan sees ad slowdown easing
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25483175-7582,00.html

– Australia: Newspaper circulations hold up and buck global trends
http://business.smh.com.au/business/newspaper-circulations-hold-up-and-buck-global-trends-20090514-b4sl.html

Benefits of stitching your newspaper

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There are many benefits to stitching newspapers, especially compact formats, so that the pages stay together , which I consider a bonus to readers: now you can download a publication by Tolerans, the Swedish stitching company, that tells you all about it..

Of special interest: links from the IFRA Executive Service

– UK: Further publishers investigate moving to paid-for content
http://www.nma.co.uk/further-publishers-investigate-moving-to-paid-for-content/3000483.article

– UK: Newspapers need to be more print-like online to profit, says BBC’s Huggers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/13/erik-huggers-bbc-newspapers-online

– USA: Find the right buyer for your paper [NY Times]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/94729314-3eec-11de-ae4f-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

– USA: All the News That’s Fit to Buy – Inside David Geffen’s play for The New York Times.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/196997

– ‘USA Today’ Offers App for Mobile Android Market
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/online/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003972792

– Dow Jones to expand in India
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-jones-to-expand-in-india

Follow the Marios

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Two Marios. Two Views.
Follow Mario Jr. and his blog about media analysis, web design and assorted topics related to the current state of our industry.
http://garciainteractive.com/
Visit Mario Sr. daily here, or through TweetsByDesign (www.twitter.com/tweetsbydesign)

:blog post image
To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
https://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

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