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Having worked for a newspaper and, later, it's larger media conglomerate (late aughts), I can say that newspapers have intentionally created a terrible web pres
by rev_null 10y ago
Having worked for a newspaper and, later, it's larger media conglomerate (late aughts), I can say that newspapers have intentionally created a terrible web presence. It's tough to tell whether the company thought it was a fad that would die off and not worth the investment, or if they believed that a terrible web site would drive people back to the physical paper. Either way, the move from print to online was a failure driven by upper management.
As one anecdote, the paper ran an advertising campaign telling people not to use the website on Sundays. Ironically, the commercial ended with a URL for a website with a coupon for the Sunday paper.
- gunnihinn 10y ago> As one anecdote, the paper ran an advertising campaign telling people not to use the website on Sundays. ... but why? What did they hope to achieve by that?
- azemetre 10y agoI don't know for sure, but Sunday newspapers are typically filled with ads and coupons for local businesses. It's probably the day that is most profitable for newspaper and ad sales together. Why they choose Sunday to stack in ads and coupons, I don't know. Might be related to Church services, I wonder if it's the same for newspapers in other countries?
- breischl 10y agoAlmost definitely this. Our local paper has actually tried to literally give away the Sunday edition. ie, a Sunday-only subscription at no cost. Not sure how many takers they got - I didn't sign up.
- Spooky23 10y agoTraditionally people didn't work on Sunday and would do the shopping. Thursday is the other big day, especially for car ads.
- rev_null 10y agoSunday is the most widely read and profitable day for newspapers. It also helps to remember that newspaper readers are not the source of revenue for newspapers. Advertisers are the actual customers. With that in mind, a campaign promoting the best day for advertising makes more sense.