Rupert Murdoch’s comment last week that printed newspapers have a shelf life of 15 years seems to have sent the commentators racing. But it’s hardly breaking news for those in the industry.
Sure, there’s been a steady decline in print readership for some time. But it’s gradual and offset by the rise in digital news access.
Roy Morgan Total News readership data shows 97% of readers currently access news via digital channels, yet more than half (56%) also still read printed news at least once a month.
While the University of Canberra Digital News Report showed there was a steady decline in printed newspaper audiences over the last three years, it also confirmed a combined greater increase in those who source their news online and via social media.
This shift towards digital should be seen as a natural progression within the context of the digitisation of our media world, the on-demand availability of digital formats and the fast-paced nature of our lives.
Importantly, the news industry has for years been responding to these trends for the benefit of readers and advertisers alike.
Australia’s leading publishers now offer high-quality, digitally-led, data-driven, multi-media environments and world-class identification and targeting technologies.
Data scientists are now commonplace in leading publications. One of their jobs is to analyse article performance to optimise future content. The aim is to finely tune it to audience habits and preferences boosting what is already a highly engaging medium. This creates more lean-in moments for audiences and brands advertising within the content.
Publishers also sit on a treasure trove of deep and accurate first-party data based on reader behaviour. They can now tell advertisers who a reader is, their media behaviours, whether they’re part of a target market and what stage they’re at in a purchase funnel.
They can also help inform campaign development with rich insights into channels and formats as well as creative aspects such as imagery and message choice. Campaigns can then be created, managed and monitored all within the news publishing ecosystems themselves.
Put simply, advertisers can now run audience-led, multi-media, data-driven campaigns from start to finish seamlessly and effectively within the high-quality, credible walled garden environment of news publishers.
As the saying goes, “the world ain’t what it used to be” and neither is news publishing.