New Media Reflections

According to an article I read on paidContent, Craigslist has been devastating the revenue for newspapers in regards to classified advertising. This is no surprise. If I am looking for an apartment or a job, do I want to go out and buy a newspaper with local-only listings, or do i want to go to Craigslist online and in the comfort of my home, or at my desk at work, sift through a large variety of classified ads which can be targeted to my area, or opened to a larger possibility of sources. I can access the online version anytime, anywhere. If I forget my newspaper at home, I’m out of luck. Of course, until we all have WiFi, my laptop may be useless on the road, whereas I could have my newspaper listings with me at any time. I hardly consider that important enough.

I think that the newspapers, or newsmedia, since they need to move to the online world, need to reconsider what news is. I realize they have been able to gain revenue in the past by having a classified ads section in their newspapers. But times have changed, the model doesn’t work any longer. Unless they become online powerhouses and can go up against the organization and utility of Craigslist, they should consider just dropping classified ads. What do newspapers provide for us? Personally, I expect to find news; stories of events local, national and world. I don’t consider classified ads to be news. Maybe they need to get back to their core business and concentrate on hiring good reporters who will present compelling stories that we want to read. All of the news I need can be found on TV or the internet, but it still comes down to readability for newsmedia. If one source has better writers than the other, I will gravitate to reading their version of the news. Most sources have the same information, and, just as in sales, we “buy” from who we like.

I think anytime you ask for comments on what you are offering, something useful is likely to be gleaned from it. I suggest that all of the newspapers start some sort of dialog with their users and with those who don’t use them, to try to develop a strategy and a vision of what news presentation of the future should look like. Those that don’t won’t be in business in the next couple of years.

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