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RezXtra Feature: The Rise of Social Media and the Future of the Newspaper Industry.
RezXtra
A wise businessman once said, "Change is mandatory, but survival is optional". Today that quote could sum up the changing media landscape, especially for the declining newspaper industry. With newspaper advertising sales declining and social media rising, one has to question the future of this once flourishing industry.
In today's digital age, Social media and blogs are breaking news stories faster than traditional media, newspaper advertising sales are declining while digital advertising is booming resulting in many survival tactics, such as CanWest Global, the company that once owned this newspaper (LeaderPost), being forced to sell its Global Television division to Shaw cable and its newspaper division (Leader-Post and 10 other dailies) to Post Media Network.
RezXtra Feature: The Rise of Social Media and the Future of the Newspaper Industry. Back to video
With all this press about newspapers declining, does this mean the death of the newspaper is evident?
PostMedia Network President and CEO, Paul Godfrey (who was quoted in a Leader-Post story by Bruce Johnstone) doesn't think so saying there is a future, but was very cautious and optimistic in discussing the issue.
"Are we going to have newspapers 10-15 years from now? Well, I believe we will, but the mix is going to change," Godfrey told to a group of business people at a Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week in Regina.
He said that "mix" will be in the amount of content being delivered through it's digital media division (such as the Leader-Post website) and how it's delivered (reporters equipped with iphones and camera phones to record extra content).
AMERICAN NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY DECLINING
If there's any indication like what Post Media's American counterparts are feeling – the future for the newspaper industry remains uncertain. And could it have an larger affect on Canadian newspapers?
According to Business Insider; In 2009, 105 newspapers in the U.S. were shut down resulting in 10,000 jobs being lost, with an overall 30-percent decline in advertising sales.
There's also a website, Newspaper Death Watch that keeps tabs on dailies being shut down and monitors current trends by major newspapers trying to keep up with the changing digital landscape.
They reported, the New York Times will soon charge subscribers a 10-dollar monthly fee for complete access to its website early next year. Whether or not it will work is unknown.
However, the newspaper industry in Canada has not been affected as bad, but that doesn't mean it's safe. Between 1999 and 2009, newspaper advertising sales in Canada declined by 15-percent.
"Circulation is dropping (and) advertising is dropping — two major revenue sources for newspapers," said Godfrey.
DIGITAL ADVERTISING BOOMING
On the other spectrum, digital advertising is booming, so their might be a beautiful future after all.
According to a study by Accenture Media and Entertainment , internet advertising revenues around the world now exceeds $45-billion and growing. Which is why Post Media Network is making moves to grow with the internet, such as providing extra content not seen in the daily newspaper (blogs, videos, interactive ads).
Aside from extra content, new templates are driving this industry as well, such as smart phones, like blackberries and iphones, along with ipods and ipads turning your average magazine into an interactive one with cool graphics, pictures and video.
But aside from all the crappy and unorganized content the internet offers, what exactly is driving the billions of dollars in digital advertising sales?
It is mostly due to the movement of social media and popular blogs.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOOMING
(Homer Simpson tweets regularly to his 175,000+ followers)
Websites like facebook are unintentionally making journalists out of anyone who has a large network of friends; they are posting concert pics before the newspaper, reporting celebrity sightings before TMZ and spreading vicious rumours about their BFFs before People magazine (possibly one reason why facebook doesn't allow any one member to have over 5,000 friends, otherwise they would become the most uncredited and bias reporters ever…or not).
Twitter on the other hand, allows its members to have an unlimited amount of "followers". Celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian, Ashton Kucher and even cartoon character, Homer Simpson already have millions of followers. Well not Homer Simpson, he has only 175,545 followers, but that's still a large following.
At any given moment Homer Simpson can break the news. Think about that for a moment.
There are also many blogging sites that generate huge traffic, such as PerezHilton.com that receives almost 3-million hits per month. It was reported that on one day alone in 2009, PerezHilton received 14-million hits. With numbers like those it's no wonder why people are turning to the internet, because it's unlimited.
However, this could be bad for journalism over all. Imagine 100 Perez Hiltons running the media? It could happen. That's the scary thing.
The good thing is traditional media is starting to catch up, yet there is still a large gap between mainstream media and independent media, one that Post Media Network is trying to close.
INDEPENDENT MEDIA BOOMING
While the mainstream media was being hit hard by the recession, independent media was not only surviving, but growing.
More readers went back to their local newspapers, because they were providing a local feel to its stories. Things were going back to the way it used to be, but this time with the internet providing an extra voice.
Which might explain why the city of Saskatoon, SK now as six independent newspapers that seem to be doing well (Mainstream publications, Planet S, Verb, Saskatoon Express and Aboriginal publications, Indigenous Times, Indian Time and Eagle Feather News). Flipping through its December issues (which is the largest advertising selling month of the year) there are many pages of ads, sometimes more then the content.
THE FUTURE OF ABORIGINAL NEWSPAPERS
However with the mainstream newspaper industry facing more declining ad sales in 2011, will that soon have an affect on the independent and Aboriginal publications or is it already having an affect?
The answer is yes, says Bert Crowfoot, CEO of AMMSA (Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta) which publishes Windspeaker, Canada's largest Aboriginal publication.
"This decline in advertising revenue affects Aboriginal media the same way it affects all other media. We (AMMSA) took steps a couple years ago to change how we operate and it has helped up stay financial viable in today's technical and financial climates," said Crowfoot through a facebook message.
"We changed some of our focus and are focusing on on line advertising…we just need to increase traffic to our (AMMSA) website so that we can increase our advertising avails. This will lead to increased advertising revenue".
Other challenges they have faced include the advertising scandals in government, says Crowfoot.
"All the advertising scandals in government has also greatly reduced the amount of advertising revenues we received from the federal government. Also every time there is an election there is a freeze on advertising from govt. Given the minority government status. this can happen anytime as well".
Although, the biggest challenge of all for Aboriginal newspapers going digitial is the lack of resources in some remote communities where there is slow or sometimes no internet connections at all, there by slowing down this digital movement.
John Lagimodiere, publisher of Eagle Feather News once said, it's a huge reason why he still prints – to reach those readers in remote communities and the older audience who are not computer saavy.
It's the same reason many Aboriginal newspapers still print. But for those with interactive websites providing digital editions, like Eagle Feather News and Windspeaker, they are already ahead of the curve.
REZXTRA'S PERSPECTIVE
As a magazine publisher (on and off) for 14-years, I think it's time to go exclusively digital. If I had a choice I wouldn't print another copy, I've already started this process by putting everything on the internet though my RezX website . This already has saved myself huge expenses, but to stop printing all together – that won't happen for a while, the industry won't let me.
If Aboriginal communities and internet providers could just invest more money into these communities getting everyone on-line, it could result in more on-reserve First Nations people buying computers, making it easier for the Aboriginal publisher to reach their audience.
As for many of those with faster internet connections and actual connections and ofcourse great cellphone coverage, the digital movement is already taking place.
For a small population of society, we're already seeing Aboriginal people posting pow wow results on their facebook statuses, discussing what took place at the latest First Nations University rally and revealing who won what at what awards show, weeks before the average Aboriginal newspaper publishes.
Aboriginal Publishers who want to rely solely on their print will soon have to face the big decision – change or die. AMMSA already knows this. It's the same thing Bert Crowfoot, publisher of Windspeaker once told his competitors, when the Alberta government was about to cut off funding for its Native Communications Program in 1990 – change ways to generate revenue or die. Godfrey, echoed that statement when he recently talked about the newspaper industry as well – it has to change or it will die.
Hip Hop star DMX even said it too, "Ride or die!" You might not interpret it that way, but you get the idea.
Indeed Change is mandatory. But survival is optional.
– Chris Tyrone Ross
Aside from RezXtra, you can also find RezX magazine on-line @ www.rezxmag.com, on twitter @RezXMag and on facebook