in an article named “Winning Online” — A Manifesto on Editor & Publisher website, tom mohr pleaded the newspaper industry in the united states to wake up. this was in the wake of one of the top newspaper companies being sold in pieces, print ad-revenues on a precipitous decline and online ads not catching up. he pleaded -
- Local newspapers will not be the innovation source for top online products.
- “Local” is not, in itself, defensible online.
- The big money is not in newspaper websites, but in gaining access to top-tier product via partnerships with vertical online leaders.
- Moving newspaper websites onto common platforms will deliver improvements in quality, cost reduction, traffic and revenue.
- When networked, newspapers bring critical assets to the table that strengthen their competitive position vs. online-only players.
- The window of opportunity is closing; failure to act will compromise the future of the
business. - Ultimately, the key is leadership at the highest levels.
fast-forward to today, and it was deja-vu to read this article on ContentSutra with a title If We Don’t Invest In Other Media Forms Now, We’re In Trouble. ashish bagga of India Today Group makes pretty much the same points above. be sure to listen to the audio cast in the article.
may be local news and advertising is primed for innovation in india? may be indian newspaper industry should follow the US market and form a consortium and do a partnership deal with one of the portals?
5 responses so far ↓
1 Vijay // Mar 13, 2008 at 6:35 am
Local advertising etc is too fragmented in India (for now)… for instance for me “local” could mean Jayanagar and not Bangalore… still a ways to go
2 spandana // Mar 13, 2008 at 8:18 am
rather than fragmented, it would be more apt to call it ‘vastly untapped’. take for example, how you could sell your used car. what would you use? ad-mag? classified? you probably sell it to someone you know that knows somebody. that’s Rs. 500 of potential ad-spend not being tapped.
newspapers still think of themselves as news distributors, political king-makers, etc., they should start thinking themselves more as media outlets with strong print distribution. that’s probably what ashish bagga meant.
3 Vijay // Mar 14, 2008 at 4:40 am
Social Commerce … enormous potential for this kind of thing…
4 timothy // Nov 4, 2008 at 10:35 am
India-born entrepreneurs empower US voters
Shukoor Ahmed ran for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1998, after coming to America a decade earlier from Hyderabad, India. Campaigning door-to-door, he was surprised so many voters did not know who represented them!
After his race ended slightly short of victory, he took advantage of his Master’s degree in Computer Technology and Political Science to build StateDemocracy.org, a website he launched in 2001 to connect citizens and lawmakers. His website’s motto encapsulated its mission:
5 mark // Nov 4, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Shukoor Ahmed ran for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1998, after coming to America a decade earlier from Hyderabad, India. Campaigning door-to-door, he was surprised so many voters did not know who represented them! After his race ended slightly short of victory, he took advantage of his Master’s degree in Computer Technology and Political Science to build StateDemocracy.org, a website he launched in 2001 to connect citizens and lawmakers. His website’s motto encapsulated its mission.
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