How Papers Have Survived & Why We Need Them.

"The report of my death was an exaggeration", remarked Mark Twain, on hearing that a newspaper reporter had been sent to find out if he was still alive (it was actually his cousin who was ill). The newspaper industry itself might now be forgiven for issuing a similarly satirical statement, given that many, including myself, have been forecasting the demise of the printed word. But, as a recent article by the Economist makes clear, newspapers may have undergone huge changes, but they have survived.
This is not only a result of clever adaptation, but in my view, the very nature of the way it delivers news to us.


The long and the short of the Economist article is that while many people now digest their news online, flitting between articles without payment, and while advertisers have shifted their spend to search engines, rather than newspapers, many publications have nevertheless remained profitable. Indeed, some companies are now worth substantially more than they were in 2009. There has certainly been pain, redundancies and bankruptcy, but these have been part of adjustments that have included steeper cover prices, staff reductions, and some clever adaptations - such as a greater focus on key customer markets willing to pay for particular news. There has also, in some cases, been a spreading of stories across sister papers (46 local Gannet-owned titles now carry national stories from USA Today, for example), while in other areas there has been a refocus on local news and sport, leaving the national news to national titles. The cost of paper has also fallen sharply, which is a stroke of luck, and many companies are using cheaper, thinner product. The success of distinctive coverage has shown that it can persuade advertisers and paying customers to come onboard online and has allowed the FT and Wall Street Journal to create successful paywalls.


But there is another factor, and that is the way in which we absorb information.


The British comedienne Jo Brand once quipped that the Internet was "like putting the British Library inside a brothel". With the prevalence of flash based online advertising, multi-media content, device convergence and social media applications, it might now be fair to say it’s like cutting up the library and distributing its contents throughout a busy market place. This issue was recently touched on by author Nicolas Carr in The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains – adapted here by Wired Magazine. Carr points to several academic studies and papers that have shown that our assimilation of information read on the internet tends to be very shallow. Large numbers of hyperlinks to other content and the inclusion of multi-media, instead of increasing our grasp of the issues, actually dilutes what we take in. So people who read an online article all the way through will have a better understanding of its contents, and be able to discuss the issues more fluidly, then someone who has followed all the hyperlinks and been distracted - their information is very ‘bitty’, rather than ‘whole’, even though its draws on more sources. Of course, as twitter has shown, there is a place for small, ‘bitty’ bits of news and information, but combine this with the continual distractions of facebook and email alerts, and you have internet users with attention deficit that know a very little about everything, rather than a lot about something. This creates a great challenge to productivity and is the reason that software is coming on to the market that actually switches off your social media. Its not just companies that may see this as a good thing – consumers themselves, unable to concentrate for more than a couple of minutes, are crying out for it. The technology that has allowed collaboration and information on an unprecedented scale, while undeniably pushing human capabilities and learning forwards, also adds a plethora of distractions that hinder our ability to get the job done.


Bringing this back to newspapers, there can be little doubt that sitting down and reading a newspaper, magazine or journal with less distraction and the ability of the text to ‘absorb’ you is vital for people to garner a greater understanding of the issues they are reading about, as well as being better for your eyes, and makes a welcome break from the constant buzz of electronically delivered messages via laptops, mobile phones and other devices.


The internet may change a great deal, but targeted, distinctive newspapers and publications certainly have a place in this digitally illuminated future.



Now go click those hyperlinks….