I predicted this would happen almost year ago. And while some may mourn, just as they did when milkmen and blacksmith’s started to lose their jobs, I see it as the dawning of a new era.

The following is a reprint of an entry from May, 2008: Newspapers Should Know Better.

But I’m not all “I told you so.” There are solutions.

When you’re done with this, read another one from February 2008: How Old Media Can Get Back in the Game.

The Canadian Newspaper Association is meeting in Toronto this week. To jive with the annual conference, the CNA is placing ads in their properties blowing their own horn with the following campaign and a “Know better. Newspapers.” tagline.

Okay, so 16 million Canadians a week read a newspaper. Woah -that’s a lot of paper getting used once, or twice and getting tossed – isnt it?

Enviromental concerns aside, I’ve got to think the CNA is starting to wise up to the reality that newspapers are in trouble. And they’re scared as hell.

SMALLER IS BETTER

For the record, I dont think newspapers are totally doomed. I mean, movie theatres didnt go out of business after the advent of the VCR. But just as music companies, radio stations, tv networks and other “old” media companies face new challenges in an internet world they’ve been slow to harness, newspapers are feeling the pinch.

Newspapers, especially the small dailies like 24hrs, can carve out a niche in our busy lifestyle. They fit in your pocket, and give you all the news you can read on a bus ride. Big, thick juicy newspapers that are hundreds of pages, are the ones that are really in trouble. Most of the stories are cut and pasted from news service websites, much of the content is syndicated and repeated across multiple platforms – including the internet.

WHAT DOT COM BUBBLE?

It’s the web that’s squeezing papers, just have a read of Jeff Jarvis‘ column on a weekly basis. He’s constantly ringing the death bell for large print operations.

The public is online, the new means of gathering and sharing news is online, the medium is more efficient and cheaper to run, the old business model is shot. [source]

Much of the advertising that is still in newspapers will vaporize. Much of it already has vaporized. Papers in top markets are down tens upon tens of millions of dollars each in classified revenue that has disappeared. Those former advertisers are using free or near-free substitudes to bring in and serve customers: craigslist, real estate agents’ own sites, car dealers’ own sites, and other new competitors. [source]

Those in Silicon Valley are licking their lips, waiting for the beast to die and dig in to the estimated $42B ad carcass that will be left rotting in the sun.

After another jarring 3.5% decline over the past six months, print-paper circulation will drop to about 50 million this year–the lowest level since 1946 (62 years ago). That’s during a period in which the US population has doubled, meaning that per-capita newspaper consumption has been cut in half. [source]

And internet usage, the place where people are going to get their news, and the place where the ad revenue will follow, is not slowing down, either. Here are stats from 2 1/2 years ago.

94 percent of young people access the Internet from home, with students as early as Grade 4 beginning to rely on the Internet to stay connected to friends and explore social roles. [source]

That’s a generation that in another 10 years will have as much use for a newspaper as they have for a VCR.

RADIO’S AT IT TOO

The CNA is not alone in making a useless effort to try and revitalize their industry in the eyes of the public. The National Association of Broadcasters unveiled a campaign to promote radio listening at their convention last month.

Complete with retro lightning bolts, it was mostly laughed at.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

Here’s the deal – instead of wasting dollars promoting your current broken business models, spend some time and energy to figure out new ways to do things.

Add more content to your websites. Turn yourdailynewspaper.com into THE portal for local news.

Give me updates throughout the day, don’t make me wait to read a cut and paste syndicated piece the next morning.

While you’re at it, lighten the load of your paper, toss the classifieds and stock quotes, and give me something I can read cover-to-cover in 20 minutes.

Want to take it one step further? Stop printing your paper altogether and just put it on the web. That’s what a newspaper in Wisconsin did.

Cmon newspapers, you should “know better.”

The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?

Tags: news, newspaper, tech