FROM PRINT TO PIXELS

THE WASHINGTON POST’S TRANSITION INTO THE DIGITAL AGEA CASE STUDY Mark Potts

CU Digital News Test Kitchen12/7/11

IN THE BEGINNING

A trip to Silicon Valley…and Japan

The Post should “design the world’s first electronic newspaper…

“Our electronic Post should be thought of not as a newspaper on a screen, but (perhaps) as a computer game converted to a serious purpose. In other words, it should be a computer product.”

– Washington Post Managing Editor Bob KaiserMemo to Post Publisher Don Graham, Aug. 6, 1992

The Call to Action

September 1993:

PostCard

“I don’t want to create another Compuserve. … If we can come up with an electronic equivalent of the crossword puzzle, I’ll be happy.”

– Don Graham, December 1992

Not So Fast

To Boulder…and Beyond

“All we’re doing is inventing the future.”

– Bob Kaiser, somewhere over Middle America, April 1993

HOW TO SPEND $250 MILLION

“We recommend that The Washington Post create a new corporate electronic media unit to aggressively develop new products and services that will protect our current revenue base and create new streams of revenue.”

– The Digital Ink Business Plan, October 1993

Washington Post Online

November 1993

TWO DAYS IN SILICON VALLEYFROM MY NOTEBOOK, JANUARY 1994

Intel: “Very interested in cable to PC”Mosaic (seen at Hewlett-Packard)

•“Developed by U of Illinois”•“Internet information browser”•“Assembles multimedia info from various sources on the net.”

FROM PROTOTYPES TO PRODUCTWASHINGTON POST EXTRA/DIGITAL INK MAY 1995

THE MYTH OFNEWSPAPERS’ORIGINAL SINDID NEWSPAPERS FORGET TO CHARGE ONLINE?? (NO!)

Reality Check: 1995

“The marketplace is telling us something we may not want to hear.”

– Washington Post internal memo, January 1995

THE MOVE TO THE WEBWASHINGTONPOST.COM IS BORN

WashingtonPost.com

First EditionJune 19, 1996

2000: The Dot.Bomb Bust

Newspapers Declare Victory!The Internet—Just a Fad! (We told you so)

All Is Well! All Is Well!

Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley…

From Print to PixelsNewspaper Industry Trends• Revenue down 50

percent since 2005• Circulation down 25

percent since 2005• Newspaper sales:

<30 million copies a day; 1940: 40 million

WashingtonPost.com Today

WashingtonPost.com Today

WashingtonPost.com Today

• 12 million unique visitors/month• 190 million page views/month• 90% of traffic from outside the DC area• Annual online revenue: About $100 million

– But down 14% in latest quarter

• Print circulation– 1993: 832,000 daily; 1.1 million Sundays– 2011: 519,000 daily; 737,000 Sundays

WashingtonPost.com Today

• For the most part, a newspaper on a screen• Print-first mentality in newsroom, business side• Local coverage de-emphasized• Strong competition: Politico, BGov, TBD• Some innovation:

– Facebook Social Reader app– iPad app– Trove– Online discussions– Emmy-winning online video

What Does It Mean To Be a Newspaper

Today?Digital FirstWhen do you stop the presses?

Aggregation and Curation

Do what you do best—link to the rest

Be Mobile/Location-AwareHyperlocal—Own Your Market

Niche Products—FocusEngage the Audience

News is a conversation, not a lectureUse social tools

Explore New Business Models

How do we pay for news?

Innovate, innovate, innovate

THE BEST STORY WE’LL EVER COVER

THE BEST STORY WE’LL EVER COVER

Is Journalism in Peril?• No: Newspapers, magazines and broadcasters are

in trouble• Their fundamental business model is broken• Journalism ≠ newspapers (or magazines, or broadcast)

We’re in a Golden Age of Journalism

• There’s more journalism, being committed in more ways, by more people, than ever before

“No one experiment is going to replace what we are now losing with the demise of news on paper, but over time, the collection of new experiments that do work might give us the journalism we need.” – Clay Shirky

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable, March 2009

THE BEST STORY WE’LL EVER COVER

A Final Thought

“All we’re doing is inventing the future.”

– Bob Kaiser, somewhere over Middle America, April 1993

It’s up to YOU to invent the future!

PS, From Clay Shrky“If you believe, as I do, that many of those institutions are so mismatched to the task at hand that most of them face a choice, at best, between radical restructure and outright collapse, well, in that case, you’d probably find the smartest 25 year olds you know, and try to convince them that now would be a pretty good time to start working on Plan B.”

—Institutions, Confidence, and the News Crisis, Dec. 2, 2011