IFRA Trend Report for July 2008

Business

Baltimore (Maryland, U.S.A.) now has a new free daily newspaper.
It is simply called “b” and is targeted at the city’s large young
population. People can pick up the newspaper from more than a
1000 bright orange boxes that are strategically located in areas that
are frequented by young adults.
> http://free-daily.blogspot.com/2008/04/q-about-launch-of-baltimore-b.html

Following the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune
has now made an appearance in the burgeoning United Arab Emirates
newspaper market. The paper is printed in Dubai. A tie-up with
the Khaleej Times could lead to joint forays in Africa and the Indian
sub-continent.
> http://www.arabianbusiness.com/518087-iht-to-be-printed-in-dubai?ln=en

Ten years from now, newspaper advertising revenue in the United
States could be just a quarter of what it is now. Most of the advertising
would migrate to the digital space. As print circulation continues
its slide in the developed world and as broadband technology
expands, several newspapers and magazines, especially high-tech
publications, are now seriously looking at an online future. However,
it is a different story in the Middle East where the ad spends
on newspapers and magazines are going through the roof.
> http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/4/up_for_grabs_42_billion_of_newspaper_ad_
revenue
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/business/media/05idg.html?ref=media
> http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120960729082958321-lMyQjAxMDI4MDA5MTY
wMDE3Wj.html

Technology

Michael Zimbalist, vice president of research and development at
The New York Times, recently talked about his company’s efforts
aimed at linking print and mobile. “We’re excited about the ways
that print can become an executive digest of all this rich digital
content that’s available,” he told Beet.tv’s Andy Plesser. Zimbalist
also discussed the company’s growing interest in making use of
2-dimensional bar codes.
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13953_3-9961900-80.html

Although Amazon’s Kindle (e-reader) impacts the reading experience,
it does not offer much more than reading printed text on a
screen. The challenge for Amazon and others is to take the reader
beyond the world of an ordinary book or newspaper – a world that
is open and interactive. As of late May, 18 newspapers were already
available on Kindle, with the latest being the Shanghai Daily.
> http://www.cjr.org/cover_story/the_future_of_reading.php
> http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200805/20080509/article_358834
.htm

Technology is increasing storytelling options for reporters by the
day. A mobile phone that can stream video and a hosting device
now makes “livecasting” possible – reporters can stream video to a
newspaper’s website anywhere, anytime. Indeed, the mobile journalist
who can record, shoot and write stories without sitting at a
news desk has arrived.
> http://www.naa.org/Resources/Articles/Digital-Media-Online-Video-BRoll-Take
-Television/Digital-Media-Online-Video-BRoll-Take-Television.aspx
> http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_conten
t_id=1003805733

Newsrooms and newspapers

If analysts are to be believed, then a future scenario of large cities
in the United States without newspapers could be real. What’s more,
regardless of whether they are published in print or online, a newspaper
might lose relevance in the years ahead and a print-and-online
strategy could be a failure. Classified advertising could well be
non-existent, and the only survivors might be small newspapers
and free dailies.
> http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4517

Newspaper publishers in the developed world are trying their best
to fight declining revenues and survive. One of the ways seems to
be selling part of the equity to rich investors in the Middle East.
However, the scene is not so dismal elsewhere. Although Scottish
newspapers, for example, are struggling to stay afloat, and in Denmark,
many have lost credibility and relevance, in Spain more people
read newspapers than they did five years ago and newspapers
form part of their lives. In developing countries such as India, the
newspaper market is not only on the upswing, reading a newspaper
almost confers a certain status on the reader. And in Australia,
people still cannot do without newspapers. An expert study suggests
that if the print media is to survive, it will have to cater to
niche audiences and build a brand image for itself.
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7403830.stm
> http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=143465
> http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/05/newspapershiftare_print_newspa.html
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/new-press-markets-people-want-to-be
-seen-reading-a-paper-830547.html
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/business/worldbusiness/20newspapers.html?
_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogin
> http://www.rolandberger.com/expertise/publications/2008-05-14-rbsc-pub-Prin
t-media-in-the-digital-age.html