Part I
It’s just around the corner from rate-hike season at the newspapers and the advertiser back lash is growing stronger every year. Since newspapers are a business, and they’re in business to make money, it’s really hard to fault them for wanting to make more of it. Their old line (and I mean old) about their rates going up because their value is growing…that and the thinking behind it (or lack thereof) has got to stop.
Frankly, the newspapers don’t have a choice but to charge more even though their product value is declining. Why? Because they haven’t adapted their business to the times and they’ve made themselves slaves to Wall Street. The newspapers are dying not only because they’re not adapting quickly enough, but because there are too many better advertiser alternatives that cost less money.
Oh sure, you want an example to back up my drivel?
Let’s talk about the big Kahuna of newspaper profits: job ads. No, it’s not the sale ads from Macy’s – those are the ones you hear about though. Why put a job ad in the newspaper when you can get a better response from a less expensive (or free) online alternative? And why should you pay what have quickly become the ridiculous rates of the big online job boards, like CareerBuilder or Monster, when you can often get what you need from a free Craigslist ad (or one that costs pennies on the dollar in comparison to those mentioned)?
The answer has a lot to do with a lack of imagination on the part of the advertisers (in this case HR marketers) and ad agencies that support this model. It’s like the old saying, “well, you’re not going to get fired for buying IBM.” It’s the accepted practice – the road most taken, the one that has zero perceived risk and almost the same amount of actual value. It’s a lot of lazy or uneducated HR marketing departments and the ad agencies who are similarly lazy and uninformed, who like the newspapers, are only too happy to take a fool’s money.
Question: Since the newspapers are dying anyway, might it be a good time to try something different? Fault them I will, for applying the same old bullshit tactics to the new problems that they face.
The problem didn’t start and won’t end with the advertiser rates.
It starts with the core product: content, which typically includes news, editorial, information, resources, and don’t forget advertising. Yes, people do buy newspapers for the ads. Even when they don’t, when the ads are good (relevant, timely) they can be useful. Not all content is good content and that goes for editorial content and advertising content. But let’s get back to the news and editorial content which is the primary reason for buying a newspaper. How should newspapers respond to the fact that their political bias pisses their readers off to the point that they stop reading? Bias is one thing, lying by omission is another. Social media like blogs have demonstrated that all media organizations have an agenda and consistently pursue that agenda at the expense of mere facts. And print media lie with the best of them (T.V) but they do it while acting like they’re legit. The bullshit isn’t any better on one end of the political spectrum either. Regardless if your newspaper is bleeding heart liberal or right wing zealot, the majority of us are turned off by patronizing messaging. It’s hard to like someone when they look at you as fundamentally unintelligent. Pay us some respect – you might get some in return. Yes, it is a problem when you believe your own bullshit. Just stop – it’s not working.
On the advertising side things are a little better, but not by much. It’s not that the advertising side of the house is any better than their higher-than-thou editorial brethren, it’s just that they aren’t held to the same ideal. Instead of honesty, balanced information and facts we expect sales and marketing people to stick a hot poker up our ass and tell us all the while that it feels good. You’d have to admit that it’s a different standard.
Tomorrow I’ll put my money where my mouth is and provide some recommendations on how to change things.
For those of you who read me regularly (all three of you) and wonder why I am so passionate about this subject it is because I have such love and respect for the core value that news and content organizations deliver. When done right, not only is there beauty and utility in what is produced, it transcends the print medium. Even if you don’t read newspapers, the arguments I’m making effect the content that you read online.
–Julian
Technorati Tags: Newspapers, Print Media, Online News
EXCELER8ion is where Shannon and Julian Seery Gude write on Social Media & Recruiting, Digital Marketing, Technology, Internet Business, and other Geekiness. 
9 comments ↓
then again, maybe not. 8. Recruiters seek geeks for cyber crime. 9. Something Job Central has been saying for a long time. 10. Her cheeks are nice and rosy. 11. Steve Levy is a poet. 12. How did you get your head up there? 13. Getting paid to breathe. 14. Resumes? We don’t need no steenkin’ resumes. 15. Finally, the nominations are in.
anyone who does not agree with them. (My apologies to good reporters who might take exception to seeing radio talk show hosts lumped in with them.) As I said, the landscape has changed and Julian Seery over at Exceler8ion presents some good points for newspapers to consider. More to the point: in today’s world, there seems to be an underlying movement by bloggers to take over the media’s job of “setting the agenda,” with the net result being that any biased reporting and reckless shaming the devil will
Your view of this is dead on. I have to tell you a story about a newspaper job board. One of my competitors in the job space in Connecticut (ctjobs.com) was recently bought by a consortium of newspapers. They proceeded to gouge the old customers with new rates that were outrageous. They asked companies who were paying about $1,000 per year for unlimited postings to pay $24,000 for the same thing! Are they F@%*king kidding?
Just goes to show their mentality when it comes to online revenue. They truly do have their head up their ass.
Chris should charge $23,995 for his unlimited posting packages. Not only will his clients save themselves some money, they’ll definitely be dealing with someone who cares and does a great job.
I think that newspapers may be slow in turning to more profitable models, but it is strange that this is coming from the recruiting industry that could unfortunately be even farther behind the cue ball than their newspaper comparisons.
The nature of the news beast is to profit from things in secret as long as possible. Some big newspaper chains are embracing social media and profiting wildly from it, but I doubt any of them are going to come out and produce numbers outside of the executive room and tell competitors how they are up 10% from last year because of X, Y, and Z.
The same holds true for the idea that yellow page advertisers are dying off, several of the big producers are still very strong and doing well. I can’t blame them for not putting a spotlight on the “secret recipe” for making a print advertising company do well.
[...] Part II (read part I here if you haven’t already). [...]
[...] Part II (read part I here if you haven’t already). [...]
[...] Here’s a post from Exceler8ion about the rate hikes that daily newspapers have and will continue to make as we move into the new year. How the dailies can justify raising their advertising rates is beyond me given the consistent weakening of their value proposition, the deteriorating quality of their content, and the steadily declining readership stats. [...]
[...] 11. Steve Levy is a poet. 12. How did you get your head up there? 13. Getting paid to breathe. 14. Resumes? We don’t need no steenkin’ resumes. 15. Finally, the nominations are in. [...]
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