With 24-hour news channels and Web sites that offer much of the news content free, newspapers are at a critical time in their life cycle. How does one run a profitable newspaper is a crucial strategy question.
The key issue is to be able to shape the newspaper to satisfy the needs of different potential target groups. One reads the paper for different kinds of news (world, national, regional, local), opinions, advertising of different forms, and so on. Entry into this industry at a local level was relatively easy (one could subscribe to newsfeeds, and add some local reporting), and there were few substitutes.
Trying to establish a regional or national reputation took a lot of work, and required investment in bureaus, sharp reporting, and skills in leading the news, by highlighting issues before they were common knowledge. Papers built their reputation for scoops, and the reputed ones worked hard to maintain integrity, which not only meant truthful reporting but also keeping news coverage separate from opinion and hence drawing readership from all sides of the debate.
The question now is whether it is only the medium, that is, how we get the news, that is challenging the existence of the papers, or also whether ease of access to the news has made the customer pickier about the kind of news the reader wants.
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