WASHINGTONPOST.com EXEC SEES SUNSHINE

By: Todd Shields Schroeder Isn't Disheartened By Dot-Com Slump


WASHINGTON -- The sun is rising, not setting, on Internet news
delivery, a top Washington Post Internet officer told a
shrunken new-media conference Friday.

Christopher M. Schroeder, CEO and publisher of
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, pointed to quick growth in
Internet usage and the medium's ability to offer advertisers
precisely targeted audiences. "The fundamentals say there is
something very, very big happening out there which we are in a
position to maximize," Schroeder told newspaper Web workers
gathered here by the Newspaper Association of America.

Organizers of the Connections conference, an annual event, said
there were fewer attendees than last year and as a consequence
fewer vendors. Figures were not immediately available.

The washingtonpost.com Web site that Schroeder oversees ranks
fifth in size of audience among news and information sites,
according to Media Metrix. Schroeder said the site has the
nation's highest local penetration.

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive is the new-media subsidiary
of The Washington Post Co. It also publishes Newsweek's
Web site.

The company has tightened its belt during the economic slump, but
hasn't seen the massive layoffs that have hit many newspapers and
Web sites. Earlier this week, Schroeder gathered his staff and
informed them that there would not be any layoffs this year,
according to an employee at the company who asked not to be
identified.

Schroeder said Internet users are mainly unwilling to pay for
content, leaving subscriptions as an unlikely source of revenue
anytime soon.

However, he pointed to surveys showing that advertisers expect to
spend a growing portion of their budgets to reach online users.
He portrayed online users as demographically desirable, and
virtually awaiting an ad pitch as they use the Internet during
their workdays.

"This ... will find real dollars," Schroeder said. "It would be
historically unprecedented for there not to be an advertising
proposition" for the millions who are online.

Shortly after Schroeder's speech, the Washington Post Co. said
recent gains in online revenue have helped to offset declines in
print advertising. For the first six months of the year, the
company said, advertising revenue fell 10% at its flagship
newspaper while online publishing revenue increased 26%.

The recent dot-com shakeout does not mean the Internet is
foundering as a business, Schroeder said. He said the Internet
reached 50 million consumers just five years after its
introduction -- an audience breadth reached by radio 38 years
after its introduction, by television after 13 years, and by
cable television after 10 years.

In any field, 90% of startups fail, he said. He drew an analogy
to the automobile business, pointing to the existence of more
than 200 automobile manufacturers in the early 1920s.

"When shakeout and consolidation occurs in a life-changing
industry, the strong not only survive -- they dominate. They win.
And they win big," Schroeder said.

Schroeder offered several steps toward success. They included:

Develop and promote Internet sites as entities independent of
their sister newspaper. "We are not a neat way of repackaging the
news. We are not a national magazine," he said. "We are a
medium."

Offer advertisers better targeting -- while ensuring customer
permission -- through the use of registration and cookies.

Cross-promote. He suggested constant on-air mentions help CNN
and MSNBC enjoy a much larger Web audience than leading newspaper
sites.

Deepen cooperation between Web sites and newspaper staffs,
including ad sales.

Maintain close consultation with advertisers.

Schroeder stepped in as a speaker after Washington Post Co.
Chairman and CEO Donald Graham canceled. His mother, longtime
Post Co. leader Katharine Graham, died Tuesday.



Todd Shields (tshields@editorandpublisher.com) is the Washington editor for E&P.



Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.