Reflections of a Newsosaur: What’s next for newspapers?:
“News is the most valuable commodity in the world”
Not so very long ago, the newspaper business was a snap: Build the largest possible audience, sell the most possible ads, charge the highest possible rates, print the fattest possible papers and pump out the biggest possible profits.
This enviable model worked exquisitely for generations, because publishers had little, if any competition. But it is now clear, as attested by the 50% drop in newspaper advertising since 2005, that the old ways can no longer succeed.
So, most publishers – after arguably procrastinating far too long – are faced with choosing the best possible going-forward strategy for their mature, if not to say declining, businesses.