Feel the fear

December 19th, 2005

Powerful stuff from Jeff Jarvis at Buzz machine . And I think a good dose of reality too for newspapers, on how to survive the digital age.

I was reading in the FT just the other day about the Johnston Press in the UK who have been suffering falling classified ad sales as the switch from print to digital continues to grow. So a drop of 25% in employment advertising revenues means a drop of 7% in income for the Johnston Press.

The question is how do you win back your market before others come and take those revenues and profits forever? There has to be a better offer both for advertisers and those searching for jobs. It has to be a win win for both sides in an unfair battle for knowledge, information and search.

Before the internet and google our means to search was limited and we were at the mercy of a controlled distribution system. Today that is no longer the case. I once asked a group I was talking to if they could go to work tomorrow and do their job without search. There were a few puzzled faces. Whilst this week I heard Google described as the bible of information.

Newspapers once controlled ‘the search’ and the information that those looking for a job/car/house etc. would find. Today that is no longer true.

Its not a small tweak in the offer and business model, its more fundamental that.

But alas, sometimes companies die as days always do, gasping for every last ray of light.

Last year we urged the newsprint industry to make their digital strategy the hub of their long term plans and not a peripheral one.

Broadband strategies in a converged world Life is local – Also worth a read Last of the presses

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