From Print to pixels
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FROM PRINT TO PIXELS THE WASHINGTON POST’S TRANSITION INTO THE DIGITAL AGE A CASE STUDY Mark Potts CU Digital News Test Kitchen 12/7/11
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From Print to pixels. The Washington Post’s TRANSITION Into the Digital Age A Case Study. Mark Potts CU Digital News Test Kitchen 12/7/11. In the Beginning. A trip to Silicon Valley…and Japan. The Call to Action. The Post should “design the world’s first electronic newspaper… - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of From Print to pixels
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
