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Papers defy the death notices (29 August)
Reports of the death of the newspaper have been greatly exaggerated. Fear for the survival of the printed paper has become a popular topic, triggered by a surge of readers going online for their news. But it seems that for now, anyway, this fear is misplaced.
Although major Australian newspaper websites have noted a rapid growth in the number of browsers visiting their sites, traditional newspaper circulation figures provide data that suggests the printed paper may also be here to stay.
Online newspapers provide consumers with constantly updated information and reports, combined with audio visual material, creating a draw card to internet news. The option for instant comment and opinion on news through the use of blogs is fast becoming a feature of many newspaper websites.
This instantaneous and interactive environment can only be provided with a medium such as the internet; providing an advantageous environment for both consumers and newspapers.
The Australian Audit Bureau of Circulations released the latest newspaper circulation figures, (not to be confused with readership figures that are estimates of how many people read a single paper) at the beginning of August, for the quarter to June. Surprisingly, for many, newspapers across the nation either maintained prior circulation figures or dropped only slightly.
Fairfax’s Victorian paper, the Age, showed a rise in figures across the board. The Monday to Friday papers rose in circulation, as did the weekend titles. The Sunday Age displayed the most significant rise, Sunday circulation rose to 210,000, a 5 per cent increase. In conjunction with the printed paper’s success this quarter, Fairfax reported unprecedented readership levels on the Age website. The number of browsers to visit the site rose by 27.2 per cent, from 2.5 to 3.2 million browsers per month.
A recent report by George Colman, a Citigroup analyst, highlights a popular view that the newspaper is susceptible to lose in a battle with its online counterpart. “The vulnerability of newspapers in this age of ubiquitous access and proliferating new media sources is particularly high,” he said.
However as with Fairfax’s results in the last quarter, News Ltd’s the Australian joined the trend to challenge Colman’s theory of the newspaper as a vulnerable entity. The paper reported a 0.2 per cent rise in sales over the quarter, in addition to a 32 per cent rise in visitors to the paper’s website. Mark Webster, circulation director of News Ltd, said, “Given the current economic climate, the circulation results highlight the resilience of our printed newspapers and that newspaper content is reaching new audiences online.”
The dramatic increase of browsers visiting Australian news sites is in contrast to the climate in the United States, where a survey released by the Pew Research Center in July shows approximately one third of adults frequently go online for news, a figure that has not increased in two years. The same survey reported that people in their 40s frequent news sites more regularly than young adults.
It seems that traditional media in Australia has its roots firmly planted. Maybe a greater amalgamation of the two mediums is what we should be anticipating, rather than the death of one. Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, said, “The online news audience is maturing, and at this point it is wider than it is deep.” This comment is reflected in the current Australian media environment.
The exaggeration of the death of the newspaper seems, at the moment, to be just that. Indications are, that while the printed product may battle for growth on its own, the combination of paper and web has a lot of life left in it.
By Clare Chapman
Related Stories: Asia Media; Pew Research; Morgan; Bloomberg story
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