It was a bold enough statement for me to take note - and to recount now more than 20 years on. While on a study tour of the US in 1996, I was talking to a senior media executive in Chicago who emphatically declared, without a hint of self doubt: “In 10 to 15 years, people will look at a newspaper and laugh”. Sure enough it’s been a rollercoaster ride, but print still matters - not just to news folk but also to those in the communications business finessing their media ecosystems. Print has a future. I don't say this because I am romantic about newspapering. Rather, print - quite simply - does things digital cannot The power of print was evident to me in the first week of my job as a cadet journalist at a small weekly newspaper in rural Australia. One of my duties – as well as writing – was to deliver the paper to newsagents, hot off the press. The editor lit up another cigarette and kept the motor running while I delivered bundles of papers, outlet by outlet. This was in 1984, and people milled around the counter to get their hands on their weekly digest of local news, to check if their kids’ sports results were published, and to catch up on the town chit-chat. It was tremendous validation as a journalist that the work I did had value. In the past decade or so, newspapers have been under siege. Across the globe, newspaper advertising revenue and circulation have plummeted dramatically. Australia and Oceania (including New Zealand) has experienced among the steepest declines, a loss of towards 25 per cent over five years, according to the WAN-IFRA World Press Trends survey. But there is life left in the old girl yet. In China, India and other parts of Asia, newspapers remain a booming business. The slide has been arrested in other countries, and even in my neck-of-the-woods some publishers are meeting and beating their circulation budget. Over more than 30 years working in the industry, I have seen all the ups and downs of newspapers, and I remain an optimist about print. I continue to work with companies with significant print holdings, and my mission is helping them to save their newspapers – or at least make them stronger for longer. This is not just because I am romantic about newspapering, but because print does things digital cannot. For anyone who thinks print is just ink on dead trees, here’s five reasons why print still matters: 1. Print = trust Research shows even the millennials, who have no affinity with traditional media, trust print more than other sources, particularly social media. The Yellow Social Media Report 2018 (Australia) found 73 per cent of those surveyed trusted traditional news sources, including print media, well above what appeared from news sources on social media (16 per cent) or from friends and family posts on social media on what was happening (11 per cent). As well, a third of respondents admitted to reacting to something on social media that they later discovered was untrue. Digital gets our attention, but print gets our respect. 2. Print is tactile The tangibility of print ignites senses in a different way to what we see on a screen. A marketing colleague of mine tells the story of how she was pitching an idea to a prospect. It was hard going, until she presented him with a brochure that succinctly described the package on offer. Sold. Print provides us with a comforting lay-back experience. Nothing better than a macchiato and the morning newspaper. 3. Print is utilitarian Newspapers, magazines and brochures have proven to be enduring formats. The mobile phone is the ultimate utilitarian device, but you can do a lot with paper too. The best print products curate what we need to know and enlighten us about the world without us having to trawl across the world wide web and mentally piece it together. 4. Print is permanent We process, retain and recall information better via print. A Temple University (US) study found paper beat digital in a host of areas, including for creating an emotional reaction and a desire for a product or service. The study found print marketing activated the ventral striatum of the brain more than digital media. Another study found physical material was more real to the brain and hence could be categorised and processed. Print has impact and permanency. 5. Print is swag Print is the new digital. It has fresh currency in a digital world where everyone has a website and lives out their personal and business existences ostentatiously on social media. The Economist honours the written word in its beautiful formulaic weekly news magazine. Monocle is a monthly magazine that exudes a strong internationalist, hip personality. A HarperCollins executive told our 2017 INMA New York study tour that Amazon’s online sales of print titles had soared 15 per cent year on year. Why the resurgence? Printed books hold people’s attention and are permanent. And 18- to 29-year-olds were most likely to read books.
It may not be lost on you that, for all these reasons and more, I committed to putting my best thinking down on paper. In print. In my book, The DIY Newsroom. In the digital world everyone can be a publisher. But print can offer quality and cachet that elevates it above the usual media noise. Whether you are a media outlet, business, council, educational institution, non-profit or elite sporting body, bespoke printed products can connect organisations to their target market. With print, you can put yourself, your organisation, in the hands of existing customers and prospects. You can use print in a targeted and creative way for rebranding, campaign launches and histories and anniversaries. Print is a magnificent third-party tool. Provide books (like I’m doing) to your clients as a value add. Tell your stories in a photographic compendium – in print. In print, consider:
Print can be beautiful. And it punches above its weight category in a world where digital is fleeting and so often vacuous in nature. * Stuart Howie is a former editorial director with Fairfax Media (Australia) and executive director of Flame Tree Media. This is an excerpt from his new hardback book, The DIY Newsroom.
2 Comments
6/6/2019 03:57:10 pm
I like that you said that - reasons why print and newspapers will never die Thanks for pointing out the reasons of using printing.
Reply
Stuart Howie
7/6/2019 11:43:45 am
Not only is print important for all those reasons I outlined, there's also a thriving industry around it. Increasingly, it's a more sustainable approach too. Keep those presses rolling!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorStuart Howie is a Canberra-based media and communications strategist. He has worked with private and public organisations in Australia and New Zealand, helping them to discover, shape and tell their stories. He is the author of The DIY Newsroom, which won the social media/technology category at the Australian Business Book Awards. Categories
All
|