The Definition of Print

This is my first posting on a topic that I feel very passionate about. I am concerned about what is happening within the news industry and the decline of the newspaper and have sought to think of an innovative solution to this problem.


Due to consumers' adoption of technology and the paradigm shift that has been occurring within the media, fewer people are watching the news and even fewer are reading the paper to get their information. Newspaper companies have gone online to save their readership base and have formulated various alternative means of revenue streams, including advertising and annual membership access to news articles. Print has hung on, however, but as internet use continues to grow and fewer people are willing pay for a paper, the very existance of the newspaper is in danger.


To those who love and cherish the time spent reading the paper, its potential decline causes them much conflict, but especially since they too enjoy getting the news online: It's free, it's convenient, and it's really quick. Article headlines can be skimmed through in a matter of minutes and one can feel like they get a glimpse of what's going on in the world without having to leave their desk. And yet, there's something wrong with this. I only know this because the articles that I remember are the ones that I read on Sundays.


Although I wholely embrace online media and keep abreast of what is going on in the digital world, I like to spend my Sundays reading the New York Times. Every Sunday, I usually manage to get through half of the paper in a couple of hours and I find it a meditative practice. It takes a longer time to get through the articles, but I usually find myself better informed and feeling better after having taken the time to flip through the pages. There is a rhythm that is designed into the pages, and after I'm through, the coffee ring stains show that it was loved.


I feel that the majority of my generation would balk at reading an actual newspaper, and forget about asking them to pay for a yearly subscription...the paper would likely pile up in its plastic bag on the edge of the driveway until it was cancelled a few months into the plan.


So I found myself wondering, what if the things that we love about reading the newspaper could be assimilated with those that we love about online news?  What we love about reading the paper is the page turning, the physcial presence of the articles, the layouts. The online version is great for its convenience, easy access, the non-commitment and, for most journals, the fact that it is free. Of course, more and more journals are requiring a subscription in order to read the entire article, so the final attribute may soon see its end. But since the definition of print has traditionally been "ink on paper", what if we began to think of it simply as "static content"?


Technology has changed the face of the industry, and when this happens companies are forced to either adopt or innovate; most news companies have already adopted an online model. Yet, if newspapers feel that they need to serve a substantial segment of their marketplace that desires static content news, they may need to innovate. Combining the two attributes of both models might look like a newspaper that was "wired", with slim LCD panels for pages and a subscription that provides updated content, daily static content, every morning. Consumers would buy the "online paper" from the newspaper companies and pay for an annual subscription. It would be akin to Amazon's Kindle, yet with a much larger surface area and potential layout space for graphics and articles.


The LCD panels are in production. Just last week they released the thinnest LCD panels ever made, as thin as a magazine page. It's called e-paper.  I witnessed Fortune's application of similar video media on the cover of its magazine about a year ago, although it was battery operated and on a loop. Consumers would select the sections of the paper that they typically read most often and pay for a subscription to these sections, as one might for a certain number of preferred cable channels. Then, each morning, the newspaper would update its content with news articles. The consumer could elect to 'refresh' the content to get the latest breaking news, and the ads would, of course, be tailored to the consumer...which would be of great interest to potential advertisers.


This innovation may be well into the future, perhaps too expensive and maybe long after newspaper companies have been abandoned their presses. A good solution for those die-hards who love the New York Times, without the coffee stains, and who may just be willing to may a little more for the experience that the newspaper is.