Chapter 1
Do newspapers have a future?
Traditionalists believe that the Internet is no more likely to bring down newspapers than the advent of TV half a century ago. The special attributes of newspapers, their immediacy, involvement, credibility, creativity, consistency and flexibility of use will continue to ensure their longevity.
The traditionalist argument makes many good points, including that newspapers are the most flexible of all news products and the role of editors and journalists in bringing the news together for readers is uniquely valuable.
Traditionalists are, however, being stalked by doubters, including most recently The Economist (August 2006) which is following the line that extinction of all or some of the papers in the UK is only a matter of time. It claims '…that newspapers are on the way out and that it is only a matter of time before there are closures with half the world's newspapers likely to close in the foreseeable future because 'business of selling words to readers and selling readers to advertisers, which has sustained their role in society, is falling apart.'
Which is it?
One step towards answering the question, as this study does, is to take a considered view of the state of Australian newspapers today by assembling relevant data and identifying major newspaper trends. It has been prepared by a unique collaboration between academics from Australian Journalism Schools and industry members of the Press Council under the guidance of a Steering Committee comprising both1. It has involved ground-breaking news content research from a nationwide sample of newspapers.
The study is not intended to be either partisan or polemic, that is, as a similar American study puts it, '…it is not intended to start an argument.' Rather the intent is to present as far as possible an objective analysis of what and how the news is reported in Australia in the print press
The data are threatening. Reading habits are changing. Some age groups are reading newspapers less. Circulation is threatened. Nearly half of those who read Australian metropolitan newspapers are over fifty. Successful responses to the ubiquitous Internet challenge are essential.
Consequently newspaper companies are clearly in a transformational phase. The universal response is to embrace and try to make the Internet a second source of revenue. Nobody is sure where present trends will lead (free-to-air TV is feeling the Internet's effects in the same way). Preferences for modes of access to news as hand-held downloading devices become more available and online access more universal are yet to unfold fully.
Within newspapers the news priorities adopted by editors will have much to do with their future. The chapter on news content analysis presents data on current priorities of newspapers.
Other chapters explore credibility and regulatory issues.
Such is the significance of the 'new media' for the future of newspapers that the relevant data concerning the interaction of print and online versions of newspapers and the first reports on the rapidly developing blogosphere are essential inclusions.
A national study of the news print media has been needed for some time. Although this study differs in structure and the focus is solely the print press, the particular spur to action has been the excellent The State of the News Media (prepared by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, within the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism).
Our study presents a picture, primarily of the English language news-oriented metropolitan print press, based on data to the end of 2005, updated by 2006 information where available. The hope is that any data gaps will be overcome in later editions.
Undoubtedly it is an exciting, risky time for Australian media companies. The best business model for a prosperous future for newspaper companies is not obvious. Yet emerging evidence of the value of building on the longstanding skills and reputation of newspapers for credibility is almost certainly part of the answer.
Terminal decline is not a description that is warranted for the Australian press, certainly not yet, given the innovative and vigorous response of newspapers to the challenges they are encountering. But the juggernaut of change is challenging everybody in the print part of the news industry.
