What will the press of future?

he Press crisis, particularly strong in the United States, is deep. According to the Pew Research Center, which has published its annual report on American journalism, Newspaper ad revenues have fallen 23% in the last two years. Some papers are in bankruptcy, and others have lost three-quarters of their value. By our calculations, nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001 is now gone, and 2009 may be the worst year yet. Perhaps least noticed yet most important, the audience migration to the internet is now accelerating. Now, the fundamental question facing journalism was whether the news industry could win a race against the clock for survival: Could it find new ways to underwrite the gathering of news online, while using the declining revenue of the old platforms to finance the transition?

Last year, American newspapers have lost 4.6% of their circulation during the week and 4.8% Sunday. Since 2001, this decline is 13.5% on weekdays and 17.3% on Sunday. Advertising revenues fell by 23% over the past two years and 5,000 jobs, about 10% of the workforce, were eliminated in 2008. On the web, however, news sites have seen their audience grow by almost 16% to 65 million visitors in the third quarter 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.

The problem is that for most newspapers, 90% of sales still come from the paper edition. However, printing and distribution account for 40% of manufacturing costs. But move to digital is not necessarily the solution because the economic model of Internet remains to be found.

For the Pew Research Center, the economic model of traditional media-based advertising will not be the new media. On the Internet, said the research institute will be diversification, may be adopting the model of cable TV (pay a monthly subscription to access content), create online shops with specific sites, develop products for specific niches such as executives, establish partnerships to share editorial articles (it is the case of local newspapers in Florida and Texas).

Beyond the economic model is a change of mentality that will cause. The report recommends, for example, a journalism links on the Internet. Instead of seeking to expand its audience by the attractiveness of its contents, place its content on as many platforms as possible seems a more effective means, including investing in social networks. Another study by the Pew Research Center also shows that online journalists are more optimistic than their colleagues on the future of the press.

http://www.edemocracy-forum.com/2009/04/what-will-the-press-future.html