Tough Times for Old Media
Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that three large newspaper publishers — McClatchy (-14%), Tribune (-28%) and New York Times Co. (-69%) — posted first-quarter profit declines. No surprise there.
Faced with competition for ad dollars from the Internet and other media, many newspaper companies are launching niche publications and offering revamped online products to attract new readers and appeal to advertisers. But those efforts have yet to prove they can sufficiently replace the ad dollars that used to readily migrate to the print editions.
On Tuesday, Podcasting News cited new data suggesting that podcasting and MP3 players are taking audience from radio. Hmmmm.
According to Dave Van Dyke, President of Bridge Ratings, "By 2010, today's 94% penetration for terrestrial radio will have sunk to 85%."
27% of people 12-24 attribute their reduced use of radio to MP3 use; 22% attributed it to tired radio programming; 3% attributed it to podcast listening.
It's impossible to not see the writing on the monitor. New media formats are eating up the old media with alarming speed. This should be of great concern to old-school media companies, but provides great opportunity for communicators.
Yes, of course, we should all continue to work with the mainstream media. These organizations still have big audiences and very professional reporting staffs. Much of their work also finds its way into the new media.
However, podcasting, blogging and other forms of new media communications allow us — the communicators — to be the media. If companies and individuals can reach out directly to their customer bases, why not?
Write a blog for your customers and allow them to "opt in" with an RSS or e-mail subscription. Send them a link to a podcast that highlights some of your best thinking. Put MP3 files on your Website and literally talk to your visitors. Take advantage of advances in video formats to show them what you want them to see.
Today, we can all be the media to an extent. It's clearly worth doing. And if the numbers we see are any indication, we'll be joining a lot of others already doing the same thing.