4 ms·

Newspapers That Aren't Dying

28 points by sizzle 12y ago

petercooper 12y ago
Along similar lines: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/nyregion/an-unusual-media-start-up-a-local-newspaper.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/nyregion/an-unusual-media-...
ChuckMcM 12y ago
When I did an information economics paper inside Google I pointed out that understanding the value of the information in the context of its delivery system was key (there was an ongoing discussion about ereaders at the time). For many people (and as far as I could tell every single product manager inside G at that time :-) the notion that information delivery on anything other than a smartphone was both poorly conceived, and doomed to imminent failure (ie as soon as the smartphone/app version came out). No amount of data could break down that closely held belief. I'm still convinced that at the right price point and feature set (which at one time I had hoped Plastic Logic could provide), the notion of a cheap (but reasonably large format and nearly indestructible) ereader could be the eco-system for this kind of thing.
- gdilla 12y ago
  There's like two Japanese newspapers in NYC, printed weekly, and it's free. They're usually found where japanese diaspora shop, eat and gather. Great price, great distribution, great visibility.
  - chc 12y ago
    Incidentally, weekly+free is actually a really good approach from the newspaper's perspective, not just for the readers. The weekly run keeps production costs down, and revenue from purchases is generally pretty low compared to the ad money, so for an operation like that it's easier just to optimize for eyeballs.
ape4 12y ago
I like it!
patcon 12y ago
Funny that they mention the Urdu Times as an example of a thriving non-digital newspaper -- HN just had a post referring to how those who speak Urdu are fiercely protective of their script and underserved digitally due to the difficulty of rendering the typeface. So keep in mind that that headlining success story is likely a misleading represenntation, as it's a newspaper that is restricted from going digital.
rm445 12y ago
Very interesting, but does it generalise? People like to remain connected to their local languages once they've emigrated; they have shared tastes in thing such as food that help advertisiers to target the publications; and the shared experiences of an ex-patriate community help to combat the lack of focus that makes it hard for newspapers to compete with the Web. Does that mean the only successful newspapers of the future will be for ex-pat and immigrant communities? Or is it just that printing articles on paper only makes sense in huge cities and with a targeted demographic?
austenallred 12y ago
In the end, one of the main reasons newspapers is dying in the United States because of competition, which is something we can take for granted. There are dozens of newspapers covering the same stories and reproducing the same AP bylines every day, most of them for free online. Would I buy a printed out copy of that the next day? Of course not. Why would I? But If I spoke Urdu (a language that's very difficult to render on-screen), it would probably be a different story. Where would you even go to get the news? That's the interesting dichotemy of the news (and I say this as someone working on a news startup); there's an almost-fundamental need held by everyone to understand what is happening in the world, so why can't producing that make money? Because news is a very, very crowded space. It's all about supply/demand.
Eridrus 12y ago
It doesn't actually seem like the Urdu Times is really "thriving". It manages to employ one person, and keeps all the writers as freelancers. This is one of the symptoms cited of the decline of traditional print media.

28 points by sizzle 12y ago

Along similar lines: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/nyregion/an-unusual-media-start-up-a-local-newspaper.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/nyregion/an-unusual-media-...

ChuckMcM 12y ago

When I did an information economics paper inside Google I pointed out that understanding the value of the information in the context of its delivery system was key (there was an ongoing discussion about ereaders at the time). For many people (and as far as I could tell every single product manager inside G at that time :-) the notion that information delivery on anything other than a smartphone was both poorly conceived, and doomed to imminent failure (ie as soon as the smartphone/app version came out). No amount of data could break down that closely held belief. I'm still convinced that at the right price point and feature set (which at one time I had hoped Plastic Logic could provide), the notion of a cheap (but reasonably large format and nearly indestructible) ereader could be the eco-system for this kind of thing.

gdilla 12y ago
There's like two Japanese newspapers in NYC, printed weekly, and it's free. They're usually found where japanese diaspora shop, eat and gather. Great price, great distribution, great visibility.
- chc 12y ago
  Incidentally, weekly+free is actually a really good approach from the newspaper's perspective, not just for the readers. The weekly run keeps production costs down, and revenue from purchases is generally pretty low compared to the ad money, so for an operation like that it's easier just to optimize for eyeballs.

ape4 12y ago

I like it!

patcon 12y ago

Funny that they mention the Urdu Times as an example of a thriving non-digital newspaper -- HN just had a post referring to how those who speak Urdu are fiercely protective of their script and underserved digitally due to the difficulty of rendering the typeface. So keep in mind that that headlining success story is likely a misleading represenntation, as it's a newspaper that is restricted from going digital.

rm445 12y ago

Very interesting, but does it generalise? People like to remain connected to their local languages once they've emigrated; they have shared tastes in thing such as food that help advertisiers to target the publications; and the shared experiences of an ex-patriate community help to combat the lack of focus that makes it hard for newspapers to compete with the Web. Does that mean the only successful newspapers of the future will be for ex-pat and immigrant communities? Or is it just that printing articles on paper only makes sense in huge cities and with a targeted demographic?

austenallred 12y ago

In the end, one of the main reasons newspapers is dying in the United States because of competition, which is something we can take for granted. There are dozens of newspapers covering the same stories and reproducing the same AP bylines every day, most of them for free online. Would I buy a printed out copy of that the next day? Of course not. Why would I? But If I spoke Urdu (a language that's very difficult to render on-screen), it would probably be a different story. Where would you even go to get the news? That's the interesting dichotemy of the news (and I say this as someone working on a news startup); there's an almost-fundamental need held by everyone to understand what is happening in the world, so why can't producing that make money? Because news is a very, very crowded space. It's all about supply/demand.

Eridrus 12y ago

It doesn't actually seem like the Urdu Times is really "thriving". It manages to employ one person, and keeps all the writers as freelancers. This is one of the symptoms cited of the decline of traditional print media.