The Media & The Future
IT is not news anymore but it is ongoing - the web as a news medium is killing traditional news sources, primarily newspapers.
Is this the case - I think it is, but not just for news content. To be honest if you want in depth, well researched content then pick up a quality newspaper.
If you want up to date, as it happens news, turn on the TV or radio, the content will not be as deep but you get the news first.
Hence the print media is being killed by the speed in which news is delivered, TV I would suggest followed by the web, and then by the general lack of desire for real news.
What do I mean by that, a lack of desire for real news?
Quality papers have been struggling for many years to keep their readership at a profitable level, thay have been losing out to the more sensational newspapers, tabloids, red tops or whatever they are called in your region of the world.
We live well and truly in a sound bite generation - people want snippets and the web and TV provide that - cutting well and truly into the newspapers readership figures.
Not that newspapers rely on their readership to make money, but the dropping numbers affect advertising revenues, which is how the papers survive.
This is the real killer for the papers when it comes to the world wide web - advertising. With the onset of Google’s Adwords, and now others, the advertising budgets of national and even more so regional and local papers has been slashed.
As a business owner you would look at the cost of an advert in the paper and then think about who will read it, of those that do read it how many will it apply to - out those how many are looking for your service or product at this moment in time.
Now compare that to web advertising, it is targeted, even geographically, to those who are looking for what you have to offer and not only that it links straight into your web site, where you can gather information and sell the service or product and do a lot more than in a static advert.
There is no way that traditional media can compete with that.
I want to see newspapers survive, I like newspapers but I must admit I buy them less and less. Newspapers are trying to fight back by publishing on the web, with the current thought of charging for content - I am not to sure if that would work.
At Enigin we encourage our Distributors to use Google Adwords, and will soon be offering a service to do it for them, as it is very powerful, works and can be easily analyzed for its effectiveness and return on investment - which after all is what business is all about.
The future fir newspapers look bleak, but don’t give up on them yet - I have a feeling they will survive, some at least.