Building a Better Print Newspaper

By: Steve Outing Updated at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Nov. 4

I've been involved in online journalism for about a decade, but before that I had a more traditional media career -- working at daily newspapers, mostly. I've often been asked if I think printed newspapers will eventually be replaced by digital news services. The short answer is: No, not in my lifetime. (I'm in my mid 40s.)

However, I think tomorrow's newspapers will be different than what lands on our driveways today. They'll be influenced by the Internet and the inevitable evolution of media convergence.

So if printed newspapers aren't going anywhere anytime soon, what can they learn from the cyber world? How would you start a newspaper from scratch in the Internet era? The answers to these questions should be useful for:

* entrepreneurs looking at starting new newspapers;

* existing publishers launching spin-off print editions aimed at niche markets (such as the Tribune Co.'s RedEye, which targets younger people); and

* traditional newspaper publishers who simply want to enhance the relevance of a dated product to a modern audience.

One Size Doesn't Fit All

In an era of broadband Internet, wireless connectivity and media convergence, the daily newspaper is somewhat of an anachronism. Perhaps because of my age, I still subscribe to it. If I were younger, I might prefer to get my information solely through digital channels -- rather than my current diet of both print and online.

Yet, I hold out hope that younger people will keep printed newspapers alive, reading them as well as spending time online and getting news via wireless devices -- assuming that newspaper publishers adapt their products to achieve that end.

Publishers must recognize that one size does not fit all in the digital era. A modern publisher needs to be platform agnostic -- publishing to multiple platforms, and treating each as equally valuable. Someone starting a newspaper today cannot afford to let the old mindset creep in: that the print edition is superior to other methods of news delivery just because (for now, at least) it's the biggest cash cow.

A key ingredient to the "newspaper of tomorrow": Let the consumer decide how he wishes to receive the news, and offer it in many forms. Don't just offer a broadsheet print edition published once a day plus a Web site. Here's how the ideal newspaper company of tomorrow might be publishing:

* Print broadsheet edition.
* Print tabloid edition.
* Digital-replica edition (for PC and Tablet PC reading), delivered daily.
* Reformatted paper edition delivered digitally for output on home printers; delivered daily.
* Web site, updated 24 hours a day (or as close to that as is practical).
* E-mail edition, published daily.
* E-mail alerts, published as required, 24 hours a day.
* RSS feeds, updated 24 hours a day.
* Wireless news alert service for cell phones and wireless PDAs.
* Partnership with broadcast media, offering its video and audio reports on digital platforms.
* Selected news coverage shared with partner broadcast media.

Those first two options are interesting. While broadsheet-format newspapers are most common (at least in the U.S.), the tabloid format is gaining favor. Mario Garcia, world-renowned newspaper designer, recently said in an interview, "In 20 years, all newspapers will be tabloids." His reasoning: "Less is best. Smaller is better. Readers everywhere prefer the small format."

The move to tabloid preference is in part because of the influence of the Internet and the news & information overload that it has wrought. Combine that with hundreds of television channels, and it's understandable that "less is best," as far as the information-burdened consumer is concerned. Tabloids are a faster read, and easier to handle.

Somehow I have a hard time imagining, say, The New York Times converting solely to tabloid format. But a tabloid alternative to that newspaper stalwart does make sense, even now. Especially for a paper like the Times, a tabloid newsstand edition might be popular with New York City's mass-transit commuters.

Am I crazy suggesting such a thing? Not really, when you consider that the trend in news publishing is toward multi-platform publishing systems: Write once/publish to many platforms, enabled by automation technology that parses content for publication so that it works for the printed page, the computer screen, and the tiny screens of mobile phones and PDAs. Adding an alternative tabloid edition is, in theory, just another output channel requiring a sophisticated set of template rules.

The Independent newspaper in London has already implemented exactly such a scheme -- believed to be the first that gives customers a choice of printed format -- which it credits with a gain of 30,000 papers sold a day. (See this report on the experiment from the World Association of Newspapers.) It's not crazy. It's the future.

Hiring Considerations

The multi-platform "newspaper" company, obviously, needs to think equal parts print and digital. That means that newsroom managers are trained in both, not just the print side or the online side. When hiring for a new print launch, select candidates who are experienced with multi-platform journalism. That shouldn't be too difficult these days, especially if you hire young people from university programs that emphasize cross-platform journalism. And 10 years into the online-media world, there are now plenty of experienced journalists and news managers who have handled multi-platform work.

The daily news meetings at a new newspaper should have only a handful of specialists, but plenty of individuals whose responsibilities cross platforms.

Reporters should go out into the community equipped not only with cell phones, pens and notepads, but also digital audio recorders, digital still/video cameras, and the means to transmit digital content back to the newsroom. They should be trained in how to look for and collect audio and video clips for use in digital publishing formats, as well as more traditional reporting methods.

Time for an Update

Looking at the printed newspaper that was delivered to my house this morning, not much has changed from when I subscribed to it 20 years ago. Here's what a new newspaper should look like:

The front page:

My local newspaper on the morning I wrote these words contained a mere two non-print elements: In the flag at the top of the page is the URL for the paper's Web site, and the URL is repeated at the bottom of the page under "To subscribe: ..." That's it. But an Internet-era newspaper should be part news and part multi-media promotion vehicle. Because the modern newspaper is not just print, a fair bit of front-page real estate should be devoted to non-print content produced by the company. A few examples:

* Extensive promotion space for online or other digital content. Don't relegate it to a box of "Web stuff" on page 2 (as is common practice), but rather celebrate digital features produced by the company out front -- multimedia packages; reader discussion forums; reader polls conducted on the Web or via cell phones; Web logs; reader photo submissions; etc.

* Invitations to readers to participate and offer feedback. All significant staff-written stories (and not just on the front page) should have feedback invitations, with simple directions to join a discussion on the topic with other readers. Likewise, printed articles need the writer's contact information at the end -- to keep writer and reader connected. Reporters can participate in online chats when they have significant stories -- promoted on Page 1, of course. The idea is for the newspaper of the future to be more two-way. It can't possibly match the interactivity of the Web, of course, but a strong attempt at interactivity should be made.

* Pointers to updates. As I write this, the top Page 1 story in my local paper is the Southern California fires. Besides the top text story and photos, there's only an "Inside" blurb: "Additional coverage: 3B." The modern newspaper should promote "Ongoing updates through the day" available on its Web site; or promote subscribing to fire updates via a cell-phone alert service. The thoroughly modern newspaper doesn't say, "This is all we've got today; come back tomorrow." It says in print, "Here's what we've got in print now; and hey, we've got a lot more in our other publishing channels, so don't go away -- just move over here!"

* Pointers to on-demand video. If your newspaper doesn't already have a sister TV outlet, or a partnership with one, get one. Then use your top stories to promote on-demand video clips posted on your paper's Web site or available for download to multimedia-capable cell phones.

Newspaper front pages are a bit more exciting than 10 or 20 years ago, but not by much. A generation accustomed to dozens of TV channels and thousands of Web sites is not often impressed by traditional newspaper design. The influence of the Internet on the audience requires that print editions perk up their designs. This isn't merely a ploy to attract young people with shorter attention spans; all ages of news consumers are affected by media overload, so it only makes sense to crank up the volume a bit with sharp designs and efficient navigation to ensure their attention.

Take a page from Mario Garcia, who recommends a "condensed" version be made available to those readers too busy to spend more than 5 minutes with the paper each morning. (See his "5-Minute Herald version of The Miami Herald.) This might be a print feature of "here's all you need to know today" or an online version promoted in print.

Citizen journalism -- in print

In my last column, I broached the subject of "citizen journalism" -- community members "reporting" on their experiences without benefit of an editor or a paid relationship with the newspaper. Citizen-reporter initiatives are at a fledgling stage in the news industry, and what is being done is mostly online, not in print.

A new newspaper might want to take up the citizen-reporting model and apply an abbreviated version of it in print. The print edition could publish the "best" of the citizen contributions -- whether it's community members' reports from meetings or about news events, or photographs submitted by members of the public. Employ an editor to sort the wheat from the chaff and you'll have some worthwhile content for the print edition, plus gain the goodwill of the community for letting citizens have a voice in the newspaper.

Classifieds

A new newspaper expecting to collect classified advertising revenues obviously should be thinking outside of print. Indeed, publishers better turn the traditional print-comes-first model on its head. With classifieds these days, online ad databases come first, print second. Promote the power of the paper's Web classifieds service, with printed ad publication as a powerful inducement to choose the newspaper classifieds venue over non-print competitors.

Spin Off Ideas From the Web

Throught the last 10 years, we've been used to taking print content and publishing it online -- sometimes simply "shoveling" it online, and sometimes taking print-original content and creating Web-enhanced versions featuring supplementary material crafted into multimedia forms.

Now it's time to go the other way. The new newspaper publisher shouldn't always think of going to print first, then having digital/online as an afterthought. While not yet commonplace, increasingly I hear about Web initiatives by newspaper companies that later turn up in print.

A good example: The Lawrence, Kans., Journal-World's college-oriented Lawrence.com, which was spun off into a free weekly newspaper featuring the best of the site. It's distributed to homes in the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Kansas. Another: Some of the experimental blogging of major local events by the staff of The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash., done for the Web originally but with excerpts published in print.

Today's newspapers, for the most part, still haven't absorbed the importance of the Internet and digital media. Newspaper companies may have grasped it, but most print editions still don't look as though they do. Many newspaper Web sites are incredible. But many print editions seem stuck on the idea that print is king, and online is an afterthought worthy of only limited promotion.

I can only hope that whenever new print titles are launched, their editors grasp the notion that all is equal when it comes to media platforms. Print won't be king much longer with an Internet-era audience.