LA Times Signals Industry is Not Dead Yet

I think of Monty Python when I think of the old guard of the newspaper industry. In particular newspaper upper management brings up images of Python’s “Upper Class Twit of the Year” skit. With the print media industry facing extinction the Los Angeles Times has announced with fanfare that online advertising might be the lifeline the industry needs. In 2009, only in the newspaper industry does this come as a surprise.

Los Angeles Times editor Russ Stanton made the announcement stating that the paper’s online advertising revenue was enough to cover editorial payroll. Credit for turnaround goes to Jason Oberfest, Product Strategy and Business Development for LA Times Interactive, whose vision was able to capitalize on the 5-11 million unique visitors to the company’s website.

For an industry in dire need of good news, Stanton’s announcement heralds an impressive achievement. The flexibility that an online presence allows a news organization from a content, distribution and advertising point of view holds a lot of promise for today’s newspaper companies, but only if  the hierarchy of the organizations themselves are willing to embrace this opportunity.

More of the Same

Ability to change is the crux of the problem. Stanton’s declaration perfectly illustrates the lack of imagination in leadership that journalists have to contend with. Stanton states, “Given where we were five years ago, I don’t think anyone thought that would ever happen.”

Really? You mean to tell me that five years ago no one thought that online advertising could support a large publication?  Apparently Stanton missed the first internet bubble completely and feels that 2004 was the Stone Age of online marketing.

Yest the fact that Stanton has managed to cover payroll is a sign of hope. But the achievement that came at the price of cutting nearly 50% of the news staff. There is far more cost to managing a daily than payroll.  Stanton feels that the LA Times should not turn off its presses but how will he pay for those costs? What about other costs like rent, equipment, and distribution? Selling combination packages of print and online display ads in a declining economy will not cut it.

If editors could not imagine turning to online marketing back in 2004 how can they be agile enough to meet today’s challenges still encumbered by the traditions of old red tape?

Adaptations Needed

Beyond hitting the target Jason Oberfest urged the focus on maximizing local opportunity online. Newspapers at their best serve as a local and regional voice, often for those who lack voice. Online news organizations have the ability to provide that sort of forum; Voice of San Diego is an excellent example.

In order to provide a local voice a newspaper must focus on unique content. This is where Oberfest has it wrong. Back in December ’07 when Oberfest first laid out his plan he stated that content aggregation is just as important as content creation. This is a mistake.

Yes, a newspaper should compile stories that are important to its readership, but they fail to engage their readership.   Their sites are “essentially invisible” and often papers simply parrot other content. A reader can find the exact same content online as they do in the print edition or the content is provided through sources like Associated Press which serve as aggregators of a sort.

Content is still key. If newspapers want engagement they need to provide unique content and a method for the readers to interact with that content (something they can’t do offline). Newspapers should create:

• Localized micro-content
• Unique editorial
• Provide Associated Press content but with fresh editorial perspective

And newspapers should give readers a sense of ownership by:

• Utilizing already established tools that provide readers a voice (via commenting, communities, etc.)
• Allow readers to help provide content (photos, etc.)

Beyond content the key is not to simply fall into traditional online monetization strategies. Advertisers have become extremely ROAS focused. The difficulty newspapers have encountered in finding advertisers is not due to the recent woes of the economy. Instead it can be seen referendum on the inefficiency of display advertising both online and offline. To survive, newspapers must adopt new models like CPC, and CPA.

Journalistic Legacy

I grew up reading comics like Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes in the daily paper. Today few papers still relevant carry comics anymore. Despite how many times I have moved I remember each of the editorial standpoints of the city newspaper. When I studied journalism I looked up to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s investigation of Watergate. Today the majority of “real” investigative journalism is done by small local weeklies, independent bloggers, and so-called citizen journalists.

Whether it be gaining the reader’s loyalty through providing access to something light and fun, or by providing editorial analysis on ongoing news, or fulfilling that cornerstone of mandate of journalism in the form of investigation, newspapers will only survive if they embrace the advantages moving online provides and shed the upper class posturing of editorial.

Failing to do will make readers respond to the LA Times cry of “I’m not dead yet”, with Monty Python’s rejoinder “You’ll be stone dead any moment”.