AN BOCEL EAR Sr aE Peet
the good news
(Guess who gets 1.6 billion hits a day?)
Prior to 1996, iF you'd trotted up to someone
and sid, "Hey, so what have you ‘Googled’ today?"
you would have met with a blank stare and quite
possibly a straiht jacket. Thankfully the days of those
carly misunderstandings misdiagnoses eve ave long
tone and today Googling objects, and often people is
not just common parlance but common practice too.
In fic, the rte ofthe internet hasbeen well ceived
in the minds of most; except allegedly the newspaper
industry, which is supposedly “ling spar” because
ofthe digital age.
‘Theirony is thatthe digital mania brought bout
bythe internet adits phenomenal progress sactully
contributing to the growth of the newspaper industry
ton The USSabllin investedin newspaper technology
during the past I8 months hae given rise to digital
smmagery, competerised printing processes and specdier
information-exchange, all of which serve to enable
newspaper executives to deliver a beter, mare poled
product, ister than ever before
‘The lies, or pechaps that should be headlines,
ae being blured because strangely enough, i's those
same executives whose plentiful pockets ae providing
the backing for the new media, And with a recent
online news report claiming that browsing the net
has usurped watching TV as one country’s preferred
leisure activity, it makes sense for media owners to
have theirinky fingers ina number of progressive pies
But despite the fact thet the majority of newspapers
are already online, thee are some ierefutable truths
5 t0 why millions of readers around the world will
continue t favour the rustle of a newspaper to the
trindings of search engine.
Unlike electronic medi, the newspaper may be
actively consumed atthe reader’ pace, 8 opposed to
the reader being pusively exposed to barrages of byte
Sioa bulletins 1 the only news you can sead on the
run, anywhere, any time, Because it not only requires
no battery, it also needs no power source. And you
know what? Nobody ever pot Repetitive Strain Injury
from reading abrowdsheet The newspaper has freedom
of length, breadth and depth, in content, thought snd
deta. In fact we might even be so bold as to s8y
‘that award-winning journalism requires more than a
cursory glance. Pardon the pun
[Newspapers enjoy the luxury of being able
to tell you everything your news broadcaster quite
simply doesn't have ime to communicate They dont
crash or hang, yet they provide breaking news the
minute you sit down to read it, Talking of sitting
down, when last dd you settle into a comfy chair
to read your downloads? What's more, advertisers,
rather sensibly 4a ae closet newspaper fins too Rated
as the worlds second largest advertising medium
(29.8%) newspapers exceed the combined spend of
radi outdoor, cinema, magazines and even, believe
1 or not, the internet. To which we say “Yahoo!”
Iisa common misconception that we are ‘has
‘been’ newshound sully licking our wounds since
the net's phenomenal success. But the point is that
there always has been and always will be a place for
newrspapers 550 milion people worldwide stil view
the presi as the most authentic form of news, with
thote newspapers geting into the hands ofa est 1.6
billion readers per day. We employ nearly two milion
employees who produce the nearly 11,200 patd for
daily Uiles workdwide, And our globil newspaper
circulation siles were up 2.39% in 2006, a consistent
‘increase over the past 5 year, Last time we checked,
the newspaper was thriving as the most lightweight
portable, easy to consume news source in the word,
‘which explains why the newspaper industry is valued
ata whopping USSI9Obilion globally.
‘And that brings us neatly tothe good news That
‘we will continue to provide it’ in whichever format
you would prefer, fora lng as you remain interested
‘nsecevingt because the news ofthe future, whether
obtained online oof thestree corner isalready being
supplied by us Ves we Feely admit thatthe digital age
Ins radically altered the mass commsnication media
Jandscope And yes, the net hashed profound affect
con the way we all do business. And should the day
cventually come tht Google can boast daily readers
ot just inthe millions but in billions ae newspapers
4a well be the first to report whether in your paper
‘ron your screen,
g
‘World Association of Memspapers