Local newspapers are a key method of connecting with communities but they are in as much danger as the village post office or pub. Recently Johnson Press publisher of a number of regional newspapers in the UK decided to charge for content online. Newspapers generally have been suffering falling circulations - the UK nationals are down nearly 20 per cent in a decade.
In a recent Guardian column, its columnist Roy Greenslade referred to a number of factors but only referred obliquely to the key factor: the decision made in the late 1990s to put content online for free.
This could be likened to wine producers saying that you can have as much free plonk as you like, but if you want it in a bottle, it is going to cost you substantially more.
Although newspapers may huff and puff and try to charge for content, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. For example, the BBC has vowed it will never charge for content online, so why go any further for general news? Certainly some specialist papers like the FT and Wall Street Journal may get away with charging, but it will not work for most
Online advertising will never bring in the same money whether it be due to the conservatism of advertising agencies or a perceived general lack of effectiveness.
Newspapers are certainly ailing, but they are not dead. However, they certainly need to reinvent themselves...and quickly.
It would be a shame to lose this quintessential part of community life.
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