Bad news year
Posted May 15th, 2010 by debritz
Newspaper sales in Australia are declining, but in an impersonation of Nero fiddling while Rome burnt* or an ostrich with its head in the sand, the official body representing publishers is reportedly blaming a "slow news year". The simple fact is that the population is rising but newspaper sales are falling -- across the board, by 3.1 per cent. Not only are papers losing numerical sales, they are reaching a smaller and smaller percentage of the total population. They are in grave danger of becoming irrelevant. Rupert Murdoch knows this; that's why he's fast-tracking plans to sell online content (but, as I've mentioned before, some of his titles really haven't got their online act together). I'm not prepared to set an extinction date for newspapers, but the figures don't lie (well, not since they changed the methodology) . Urgent action is needed not just on the online front, but in bolstering the print editions by paying attention to what people who buy newspapers actually want to read, rather than filling them with dross meant to appeal to people who don't buy newspapers and never will. (I'd suggest it's no coincidence that the Sun Herald, a huge offender in this area, dropped by 7.7 per cent.)
P.S. Of course, if Newspapers Work boss Tony Hale is right and it has been a slow news year, maybe Fairfax and News should channel William Randolph Hearst and commission staff to go out and create better news.
* Yes, I know the fiddle wasn't invented in the first century AD and the story is spurious.
I was brought up in a newspaper reading home, trained and worked as a journalist, and I still can't bring myself to buy the tabloid Courier-Mail, despite being offered a half price 10 week subscription as I was two days ago. I'm not a typical reader, I guess, but there is little to tempt me to pay the cover price, though I would like to support fellow journalists. As you say, the content is dross. I get my news from other sources now, and occasionally buy the Weekend Australian and Australian Financial Review. Urgent action and investment is needed or papers will indeed become extinct.
Brett. The problem is that newspapers are ignoring the three main principals of their profession. What makes a newspaper is stories, stories and stories. I didn't realise this before but the Oz reported on Sat (today) that the C-M's political editor is a fly in flyout (to canberra) journalist. The paper is not in touch with Federal poitics and it shows. I can't talk about the other state papers but the C-M is hopeless. I stopped buying the week day paper when it ran eight pages (one day ) on the Broncos and the Sat editiion when the main arts page story was (once again) about the music critic's favourite ablums. I didn't care the first time and less the second. Why waste your time when you can pick from the best papers on the world on-line. I am told that a story going around town is that a class of journalism students were asked who took the C-M and only one or two put up their hand. If the C-M hopes to make a profit on line it will sink without trace . The S-M is even more useless. Who cares. If these newspoapers represent moden journalism maybe we are better off without them. The only paper I buy is the Sat Oz. The rest I look at on line. If the C-M wants me to buy it on line - forget it .