I love news. Consume it all the time in many different ways. But would I pay for it? And has it ever paid for itself?

Let’s talk about newspapers again for a moment. Mainly because it’s an industry in crisis. And they’re blaming the web for their demise – something that always perks me up!

Is it the web’s fault? Well yes in part; but not fully. Newspapers have been steadily dying for years. TV didn’t kill them. Radio either. The web? It will. Eventually. However, I have little sympathy.

The problems

People want to consume news now. Have it up-to-date and get it for free. They can get that online (and on tv and radio). Not have to wait until tomorrow for yesterday’s news. Those days are long gone.

However, if that wasn’t harmful enough, the press have another argument. They say the web is taking away revenue. And they’re right!

Cover fee

Don’t be fooled. The 20p to £2 you pay for a newspaper in the news agents has little influence on journalism. That ‘micropayment’ simply covers the overheads to get the news from the newsroom to your coffee table.

Printing presses, ink, paper, printers (people & machines), factory space, trucks, drivers, petrol and much more. That’s where the cover fee is sunk. Not on journalists and original journalism.

Oh no, this has traditionally been funded by the advertising space sold within the paper. So, if papers didn’t have those costs ( which they don’t online) they should be able to fund themselves as they normally would. Right?

In theory yes. However, you see this is where the real crisis is happening.

Classifieds

Newspapers have long used other sources to fill the pages and wrap around news. This is where the real money was made.

All those special supplements and classified ads were only there for one reason – to make money. But with the rise of the web this has eaten into these sources badly.

Before, we used newspapers for all kinds of things. Selling your car, house, old golf clubs. Promoting cinema times, fetes and what’s on. Checking out Sunday league scores or your child’s school panto.

We used to put this in print and pay for it. Then we used to buy a copy just to check it was it, correct and see how it looked. All this boosted sales and circulation. And in turn this helped raise ad charges and kept the cosy little circle rotating.

Now we put it online instead. eBay, autotrader, rightMove, odeon official, ents 24 and all the thousands of other sites do this instead. If a pub football team or primary school can host their own sites, really how difficult can it be?

And if these new websites are doing it, it means newspapers aren’t. As this was the main draw it’s seriously affected sales. The knock-on affect has meant other advertising can command less. Simply an unsustainable business model.

News

So, I go back to my original question. Did news ever pay? Based on this I can’t see that it did. It was all the stuff that simply got in the way while people were selling stuff.

What now? Well I don’t think we should be fooled into thinking because you’ll pay for a newspaper, you’ll pay for a web page.

We know the overheads aren’t the same. Given this why should we? They’re different business models.

However, like anything, good journalism should have a value. Unfortunately, for too long it’s been devalued and used as wrapping for ads, boobs and two-for-one coupons.

And whatever Mudoch may claim now, he’s been as guilty as anyone by giving the London Paper away for free.

I agree about one thing. It’s time for a change. It’s just hard to swallow when the argument’s coming from those who least deserve our loyalty.

We’ve been screwed over for too long. Maybe it’s time ‘new’ media really did take a foot hold.

Posted on September 3rd, 2009 in Blog