4. Convergence
On-line news 2007
The embrace of on-line news by newspaper publishers and consumers over the past year has become so great the sites can no longer be considered "new media" but are now firmly part of the mainstream.
Publishers now consider on-line sites as significant parts of their core news business. The word "cannibalisation", once spoken in fearful tones in nearly all discussions about the likely impact of Internet news on newspapers, is no longer heard. Whereas last year we reported that outside of Sydney and Melbourne the pace of on-line news development had been slow, the big changes over the past 12 months have happened outside these centres.
The strength of the on-line news market was best demonstrated in Brisbane in March, when Fairfax Media launched brisbanetimes.com.au. Not only was this the first mainstream metropolitan news publication in 20 years but more significantly, it was Internet only. The venture has highlighted the economics of on-line compared to newspaper publishing. The site was set up with just fourteen journalists. The only hard copy daily in Brisbane, the Courier Mail, published by News Ltd, has a staff of more than 300.
Described by Fairfax CEO, David Kirk, in April as "an unprecedented success", by May brisbanetimes.com.au was attracting 339,828 unique browsers (readers) a month. Comparably, in the first quarter of 2007 the incumbent newspaper site couriermail.com.au attracted 350,355 unique readers a month.
The site 's success is likely to persuade Fairfax Digital towards similar ventures elsewhere, with Perth tipped as the next market. Perth currently has one newspaper website, linked to its sole daily, The West Australian, published by West Australian Newspapers (WAN). Relaunched in October 2006, thewest.com.au, with its greater access to news reports than its predecessor, has seen a strong rise in site traffic, with around 440,000 unique browsers a month by mid-2007. WAN 's next move in the on-line market is the gradual rollout of sites for its regional newspapers.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the regions the availability of local news through newspaper affiliate sites has increased over the past year. In all states and the Australian Capital Territory the yourguide.com.au sites, now absorbed into the Fairfax group following the Rural Press merger, have increased content offerings with all sites offering full news reports. Twelve months ago the yourguide sites varied from offering full story content on some newspaper sites to first paragraphs only on others.
Australian Provincial News and Media (APN), which has significant press holdings in Queensland and northern New South Wales, is also increasing its on-line investment. Mid-year the company relaunched its Sunshine Coast Daily site with the improved site expected to increase visitation.
Similarly, suburban newspaper readers are also benefiting from the further consolidation of on-line news into the mainstream with most suburban titles also now featuring full stories.
However, on-line newspaper affiliate sites in the regions and suburbs still trail their capital city counterparts. Sites are hard copy issue driven with web updates tied to publication regimes. These sites are still very much newspapers on the web and lack the multi-media dynamism of the national and capital city newspaper sites with their 24-hour news cycles, audio, video and RSS options.
As all sites increase in sophistication news audiences are turning to newspaper sites for information in ever-increasing numbers. In August Fairfax Digital claimed victory for its smh.com.au website when July figures showed it had outstripped ninemsn 's National Nine News site for visits, making the newspaper site the number one in Australia for news information. Nine disputed the Fairfax claim, supported by market researcher NielsenNet Ratings, arguing the newspaper company had manipulated figures and the smh.com.au was 67 unique visitors a day behind.
But with such a small difference, and an upward trajectory of on-line newspaper site readership, it is evident newspaper sites are now an essential, rather than optional, part of the news consumer 's daily media diet.
Australian results of a worldwide media use survey undertaken in May found on-line is the second preferred source of news in this country. TV news was identified by 35 per cent of respondents as their main source of news and information, 18 per cent named on-line, placing it marginally ahead of radio (17 per cent), major daily newspapers (12 per cent) and national daily newspapers (5 per cent).
The on-line preference over radio and newspapers is reflected in quarterly results to March 2007. These show big increases in usage of sites affiliated to major Australian papers. The biggest increase was for the Sydney Daily Telegraph site, which drew 77.9 per cent more people than the previous quarter to 579,169. The Australian site surged 56.2 per cent to 820,337 whilst smh.com.au picked up a 29.3 per cent increase to 2.657,014. The Melbourne-based sites for The Age and Herald Sun, enjoyed similar increases of 27.1 per cent (1,904,711 visitors) and 26.3 per cent (755,801) respectively. Brisbane 's Courier Mail site, which have we have seen is now rivalled by brisbanetimes.com.au, lifted 24 per cent to 350,355.
While the latest quarterly figures were not available at the time of writing, there is no question the upward trajectory has continued throughout the year.
With readers come advertisers and, in February, the Audit Bureau of Verification Services announced the on-line advertising market had reached the $1 billion mark by the end of 2006. All major publishers have significant stakes in the on-line advertising market through real estate, motor, employment and other classified and directory sites. The strength of this sector further entrenches newspaper proprietors in the market.
Publishers also need Internet advertising revenue to support the free information content of news sites. After The West Australian abandoned its former pay-for-view strategy for some on-line content the Australian Financial Review through afr.com.au is now the only newspaper-affiliated news site that charges for new content. However, with Newscorp 's recent acquisition of the Wall Street Journal there is the possibility of affiliated News sites introducing payment for financial news. (See editor 's note below.)
Through on-line readership and advertising growth the blend between hard copy and on-line news is intensifying. The extent to which the traditional and cyber news forms can mesh will be seen in 2008 as Fairfax furthers its "Newsroom of the Future" concept, and News Limited move towards an integrated newsroom.
The concept, announced in April, will see print and on-line staff working brought together in the one newsroom. Editorial decisions will be made with cross-platform considerations of print, Internet and mobile phone delivery including greater emphasis on video material. News Ltd, which introduced 24-hour newsrooms in the latter part of 2006, is at this point still watching such local and overseas digital/print newsroom developments closely before making further changes. [Editor 's note: Separate reports from Fairfax/The Age and from News Limited are published in this section of the Supplement.]
And News, like all other publishers, is keeping a very watchful eye on the still marginal but unpredictable social media sector.
[Editor 's note: Following the purchase of the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch has suggested that the site 's contents will soon be made available at no cost; on 22 September it was reported that the afr.com.au site would be relaunched "in a few weeks" and there was speculation that its contents would, at that time, be made available free.]