Newspapers and How I Would Change Them

Only 50% of Americans get their news from a national or local newspaper states a 2010 survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. While 61% of respondents state that they get all or at least some of their news from the Internet.

“Well… duh… where have THEY been?!”

Let’s face it, most of the time newspapers suck! It’s the same boring content you can get through about 100 (if not thousands) of other channels. Is there a group of people that still read them? Sure… but they’re decreasing a few percent each year and already fall below half. So what can news publishers do in this new “digi-world”?… besides lay down and die (which I’m not stating at all that they should.)

You Have to Understand the Puzzle to Create the Solution

No matter how hard you try, you cannot put together a puzzle if you don’t have all the pieces. I believe this is something that news organizations need to double-check that they have. If they do find that they have them all, then they must not quite understand how the pieces fit together anymore… or they’re trying to force them to fit into the finished puzzle they want.

Let’s take a look at just three primary pieces of their puzzle:

1. What problem/need do newspapers solve? What’s the product?

Answer: They provide a solution to peoples’ need to know what is happening in the world around them. Their product is not the “paper,” it’s the content that is delivered through the paper. Remove the product from the delivery mechanism and now you have the right piece to complete the puzzle. (Okay, so maybe I’m saying that news-PAPERS could die and we’d be fine.)

2. Who is their real audience?

This is where I think the news organizations are really missing it.  They no longer have ONE massive, general audience. They have many, each with their own preferences in the topics they desire to read about, the way they want to access the content, the time in which they want to receive it and even how they want to engage (respond) to it. It’s time to recognize that and learn how to deliver for those unique audiences.

Think content. Think reach. Think delivery. Think platform. (Notice I worked backwards.)

3. Who are their competitors?

Citizen journalism, online-based publications, bloggers, your next door neighbor with a personal website, Facebook, Twitter, and the list goes on and on. Newspapers that once cornered their geographic areas are now contending with thousands of other sources of news that can be accessed instantly through the web. It’s no longer the newspaper next door.

An interesting point: the survey reports that 75% of respondents say they get their news from friends through a forwarded email or on social networking sites.

Huh? You mean some “Joe Smoe” is telling people what to read instead of our advertising proclaiming us as the best source for timely and accurate news information? We spend millions on that and you’re telling me it’s basically worthless?”

… yup.

Oh, and by the way, the survey also states that only 37% say that they share news through email or post to social media sites.  Wow! So, 37% of people are deciding what  those 75% read? Interesting.

Do you see a new audience? Because it’s certainly not a competitor… it’s a distribution channel.

Three Potential Ways Papers Could Change

With only three pieces being looked at here we can already see why the news industry has been turned on its head. Now, how do we piece the new puzzle together? Here’s just a few things to think about.

1. Modify your content specific to your audience(s)

Sixty-five percent of respondents say that they do not have a single preferred source for news. That should tell you that loyalty is pretty much out-the-door. Face it, you’re duplicating content anyway (at least the storyline) and people know they can get it from wherever, so why get it from just you?

With that in mind, it’s time to tailor your content to unique audiences… not just the masses. That means, it’s time for a new format that invokes a response from a specific psychographic more than a demographic.

How do you present the same content in a new way? Or, do you find new ways to deliver all new original content (and hope it isn’t copied?) Maybe it’s time for some news sources to become a little bit more biased… err... engaging.

2. Simplify the design/layout

Have you ever noticed how most news websites look like a vomited mess of text, images, links, and video? Do you know where they get that from?

Look at the newspapers. Ten articles on the front page each with semi-matching headline font styles and sizes. (“Which one do I read George? Which one do I read?”) Article after article with no easy way to find exactly what I want to read (instead I have to skim through it all… oh… I guess that’s for the advertisers whose ads I just skip right over. Right?)

Make it easy for readers to find what they’re looking for for crying out loud. Come on, that’s web design 101. Again, this focuses on targeting specific audience, not a dump of content for the masses to weed through.

3. Create a platform to increase the engagement, thus reach of your content

Okay, 37% share the news to 75% of people. Let’s court them. Let’s make it so freakin’ easy for them to find, read, and share our news that they won’t even know they’re doing it. Okay, maybe they will and that’s the point. We need THEM to find us the new readers and those numbers will fluctuate depending on how engaging our content is and how easily it can be shared. So our platform better increase those chances.

For that to happen, you need to make your articles easily transportable. Can I access it through Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? My friend’s blog? On my mobile phone?

It’s got to target, it’s got to engage, but most importantly it’s got to be highly mobile to reach as many people as possible, thus increasing readership, which in turn get advertising dollars.

Just publishing “news” won’t work anymore. You have to publish conversations and there are few news organizations that get it!

My Ideal “Newspaper”?

Here’s what I want: A news platform where I create an account, tell the system my topics of interest, add some filters into the types of content (text, images/slideshow, video, etc.,) and maybe even how long I want the articles to be (less than 500 words) and BAM! I have my own personalized newspaper with relative content, in the format I want to consume it in, in the length that I have time for, and easily sharable to my colleagues, clients, partners, and friends who I think may find it interesting.

Problem solved! Now, someone go make that happen!

How would you change newspapers/news organizations?

Tell me in the comments! Come’on! I know you have some ideas!

Photo by: Mike Bailey-Gates