Can the ‘mortal’ newspaper survive?

Good journalism is not free: Rupert Murdoch

Recently, Google bowed to the persistent demands of media giants and decided to look at options to restrict the free accessing of unlimited news via the online platform. This has attracted widespread attention as it is a clear indication of the growing population of online news readers. The Google assurance came in the backdrop of massive fall in newspaper circulation in USA. Reportedly, there has been an over 10% drop in newspaper circulation in the country in 2009.

The rise of Internet is one of the biggest nightmares for the print media industry. An ubiquitous internet is still growing manifolds with better and faster technology. This is palpable looking at the significant growth of online readers in the past few years.

An online newspaper is easy to use and it can be accessed even through your mobile phone. Better search options and unlimited archive facility makes it all the more lucrative.

The major contributing factor to this spurt in online popularity is that a large part of the population is the technologically advanced younger generation. Besides, internet is also more easily accessible and its penetration is growing faster than ever before.

So, does this spell the end of the print media?

Current Status:

Recession has a marked impact on the media at large. While the print advertising revenues reported a drop of 28.95 percent, the digital newspaper advertisement revenue dropped more than 17 percent in the US (third quarter data of 2009).

Print media advertising revenues also fell across the continents with an estimated drop of 20 percent in North America, 19 percent in Eastern Europe, 16 percent in Western Europe, and 11 percent in the Asia Pacific in 2009, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In the past one and half year several newspapers and magazines closed and several others went online to cut expenses and to stay in the business.

Even big newspapers like Guardian, Time, The Daily Telegraph and the New York Times has had to embrace newer platforms like smartphone applications to stay in the business.

The Indian Readership Survey, which was published earlier this year, highlighted the plight of major publication in the subcontinent.

While few English dailies gained in readership, most have suffered and lost a big chunk of their readers. Magazines received even a bigger jolt – 13 out of the top 20 magazines have seen a drop in average issue readership.

According to a study conducted by the Madison-Pitch, print media advertising has seen a 32% drop in the first half of 2009 compared with the previous year; and television, 19%. Only the Internet saw an increase in ad revenue by 16%.

So is it that the rise of internet is luring away the print media’s target audience?

According to World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), Japan, which is most digitized society in the world today, boasts 612 copies of newspapers for every thousand people. The same figure for India is 142 copies. In terms of reach, 91 percent of Japanese continue to read a newspaper daily despite being a technologically advanced and ‘well-wired’ society.

Moreover, the newspaper circulations globally are up by 1.3 percent in 2008 and have risen by 8.8 percent in the past five years.

WAN-IFRA further said that the newspaper circulations increased in about 100 countries of the world. Globally, 1.9 billion people choose to read a paid newspaper everyday and its reach is 34 percent of the total global population while 24 percent use the Internet. Also, newspapers reach 41 percent more adults than the World Wide Web.

Moreover, out of the total USD 182 billion advertisement industry, the newspaper digital advertisement revenue accounted for less than USD 6 billion in 2007 and it has been forecasted by PricewaterhouseCoopers that it would grow to no more than 8.4 billion dollars by 2013.

Also WAN-IFRA has said that digital advertising will not replace the print advertising in foreseeable future.

The Future

The newspaper industry is centuries old. It has been in the society since the days of yore when kings and their anarchic kingdoms circulated it in the form of leaflets. Over the years it has developed as one of the four pillars that are an essential part of contemporary democracy.

It has embraced newer techniques to reach out to the audience. The recent struggle of print media industry with its online cousin is palpable. Already the newspaper industry has started making good use of the online media to the best of its capabilities.

Also, the growing concern on climate change will pose a challenge for the industry. Paper, which is the lifeline of the industry, is produced from wood. Though paper can be recycled several times, cutting trees can be prevented. At some point of time we have to stop this and embrace more ecologically viable options.

It remains to be seen whether newspapers can adapt to multitude of challenges that it is facing.