Publishers ‘are going to have to make a leap’ says Dow Jones’ Jonathan Wright
Publishers need to “make a leap” in working out their business models, value their content and “not be afraid of partnerships” says global managing director of Dow Jones, Jonathan Wright.
Wright, who made the comments at a media round table discussion in Sydney yesterday, urged publishers to rethink their business models in their search for a sustainable future.
Funny how these guys sound like they’re apologising for their product. Until publishers seriously commit to delivering customer value and believe it themselves they’re going nowhere. The WSJ like so many others spend too much time drinking their own bath water.
Much easier for publishers like Dow Jones and WSJ to charge for their publications because their content is, as Wright points out, niche, specialised and differentiated. It’s also targetted at a demographic (business types) who are wealthy and prepared to pay money for information that will help them make more money (ie financial information, news, data). They also have a national and global audience. Most publishers do not have these advantages ie they are targeted to a much smaller (ie local) audience, much of their content is generic/general news coverage widely available from other sources (including those that will always be free – think ABC).
That’s a very weak argument. And a lazy one. Fact is that journalists argue all the time about the vital fourth estate but when forced to price it they offer pissant excuses. Newspapers must be commercial and if they’re not based on ads then it must be paid sales. Digital makes that easier because it removes the cost of manufacturing and distribution.
As for the puerile arguments about the abc you should be ashamed. There is zero chance the abc can or will compete with either the age or the Dubbo liberal. What those publishers need to do is focus on giving people something they will pay for. It ain’t rocket science and it does not rely on so-called niches. Just requires a bit of reality checking.