It’s pretty rare these days that I’m moved emotionally by an article, but this one yesterday in the UAE’s The National managed to do the job. It was a commentary piece on how print can not just survive but thrive in today’s digital world.
While the article meant well, there were so many flaws that I had to write a counter-piece. One of the arguments used was media will have to specialize and focus on audience segmentation – they’ve been doing this for years through B2B publishing. Another was the need for publications to embrace social media – most journalists and publications are online, but it’s rare for digital advertising to replace print revenues.
As a former journalist, I’m passionate about the media. As a communicator, I value the ability of a professional journalist to cut through the crap and get through to the heart of the story, to report the news in a way that the publication’s readers will both understand and appreciate. Granted, we now have a plethora of ways to reach our target audiences, including social media and influencers, but nothing beats a great news piece or feature item. At their best, the media are impartial, influential and engaging.
It’s no secret that newspapers in the Gulf have struggled of late. Advertisers have moved marketing budgets online, mainly to the detriment of print. This isn’t a local phenomenon, and the issue has been discussed at length in the West for years. One answer is charging for content – the likes of the New York Times and the Washington Post have used paywalls to drive revenues. They’ve found that people will pay for good content.
The idea has been suggested here too, to charge for content to develop a new revenue stream. The question is, would you pay for locally-produced media? Is it of a high-enough quality for readers to subscribe and pay? My feeling is no. Compared to the US and Europe, there’s little original news or investigative journalism. This is understandable, given who owns many of the newspapers in the region. Publications here are often used to relay a government viewpoint, which explains why there’s so little variation in what you’ll see from paper to paper.
The countries where print thrives promote a plurality of viewpoints. Look at India, where print is thriving. If the print industry wants to succeed, it’s going to have to invest heavily in reporting news that readers want, rather than what owners want to publish. Print has a future, including in the Gulf. But we’ve got to think about what readers want, and will pay for if the media is to become a service people will want to pay for. Otherwise, we’re looking at a slow decline for what once was a thriving industry. I for one hope that day will never come.
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