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Issue #226 May 2009
It's All About the Content, Stupid!
by Steve Ciarcia
A lot has been written about the demise of newspapers and commercial publishing companies. The popular opinion is that newspapers in particular are going down the drain because the same information is available faster and cheaper via the Internet. I suppose there is some merit to that conclusion, but it sure doesn’t jibe with my explanation for not reading as many newspapers these days. Let me explain.
OK, I’m one of those anachronistic people who still do read “real” newspapers. When I’m away at the cottage, I read USA Today and a local paper every morning. On Sundays, I get the local paper and the Sunday edition from the nearby metropolis. I used to get a second large city paper on Sundays along with the big city daily newspaper, but I cancelled them after getting very tired that 90% of the editorial was always about big city blood, death, and mayhem. That same reason made me give up listening to the 11PM one-hour TV news programs—too much of, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Back in Connecticut, I have a similar newspaper “disconnect,” but for different yet related reasons. I still follow the same morning regime with USA Today and a non-Hartford local paper. But because Hartford is a much smaller city, at least the local TV channels get over the blood and guts earlier and still have 15 minutes of a half hour news program worth watching. Unfortunately, Sunday is a total washout—no newspapers!
But wait. There are plenty of Sunday papers in the Northeast, so why not? The reason is content, not the information delivery speed or cost. For me, the rejection of support for various newspapers and magazines is because of bad content and better competition, not because of faster availability of the same information elsewhere. I used to get the Hartford paper seven days a week along with the Sunday New York Times. At first, I just got irritated that the news presentations and political coverage were increasingly one-sided, but when the opinion pieces and news stories became indistinguishable, I had to draw the line. I wasn’t going to pay for lousy (in my opinion) content. I wasn’t passing on buying the paper version so I could then go to their web sites and read the same content for free. I simply didn’t believe in the credibility of their content anymore.
The Internet is the most open and uniquely diverse source of mass media ever developed. Part of its uniqueness is that it fosters a low-cost interchange of ideas and published materials. At one time, we sat around the campfire and swapped stories. Now, kids sign on to a variety of social networks to hear and exchange tall tales. The beauty of the Internet and the worry for traditional publishers is that the Internet is interactive and not meant solely to push content in one direction to a captive audience. Information on any subject, to any depth of analysis desired, and with virtually any degree of correctness, is available on demand.
In my opinion, a lot of the financial problems in publishing are coincident with bad economic conditions, but certainly many newspapers and magazines are feeling a lot more heat simply because readers no longer trust their content. The fact that readers might seek alternatives on the Internet is a consequence of smart people seeking a better source. It is too simplistic to attribute all print publishing failures merely to cheaper and faster access on the Internet. Similarly, moving from a print venue to an online one doesn’t alleviate the issue of crappy content.
In my opinion, publishing survival—whether using print, the Internet, PDFs, wireless e-paper, or whatever—is all about readers valuing the credibility and content of the message and not solely about the delivery medium. Don’t get me wrong, printing paper is a whole lot more expensive than simply posting an article online. But no one would read Circuit Cellar in any form (whether in print or online) if they didn’t trust us in the first place. I know we owe the trust we have earned to the smart engineers, programmers, and scientists who write the exceptional editorial we publish. In turn, they know we go to extreme efforts to remain both a viable venue for enlightening their interests as well as enhancing their professional careers.
Right now, the entire publishing industry is in flux as it tries to deal with evolving delivery technologies. Like many magazines, Circuit Cellar has an online component. In our case, we view Digital Plus as a complement and enhancement to our print venue and not an escape from print. When the dust settles, the commercial publishing survivors will be the ones, regardless of venue, with superior content. We intend to be among them.
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