Paid-for model is the key
The paid-for model is the key to reviving the deteriorating newspaper industry, according to some panellists at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of National Newspapers’ seminar yesterday.
Two decades of free content has led to an over-supply, according to News International’s Paul Hayes, who later confirmed that Rupert Murdoch plans to charge a “fair price” for both print and online content.
Hayes said he expects to see a lot of changes over the next five years, as media companies focus on evolving and valuing what they produce.
He admits News International don’t have all the answers when it comes to the paid-for model but believes newspapers can replicate Sky – “we found compelling content and then charged people for it,” Hayes said. “Find the right property and people will pay for it”.
However, fellow panellist Phil Georgiadis, of Walker Media, said the industry shouldn’t overlook the free market, especially in terms of how much customer satisfaction goes with it.
“Free is a big part of the mix, especially with young people,” Georgiadis said, which opened the debate up to how the paid-for model and changes coming into play now will later affect the youth of today.
Claire Enders, founder of research company Enders Analysis, argued that “kids are growing up in a different reading environment now, it’s not about long-form, dense, paid-for content”.
While Enders believes that “we will always have newspapers” she also believes that young readers are apathetic and are now living in a social network, TV and screen culture.
Enders took Hayes’ point about newspapers being in a position to charge for quality high-end content but said the industry needs to recognise that young people have a different relationship with quality news.
Guardian News & Media’s Tim Brooks said the trouble is that people, especially young people, are used to getting free content – “if you can get it for free, you will.”
However, Hayes thinks “kids grow up and become more interested”, using the example of how many school children read the Metro, which he sees as a positive, although the industry will have to “figure out how to monetise them”.
Talking about Morgan Stanley’s 15 year old Matthew Robson, Hayes said: “Young master Robson does not want to pay for any media. He also does not want to be interrupted by ads in what he does not want to pay for: That’s a very bleak media future. We don’t want to be part of that.”
Whether newspapers believe in charging for online content or not, Lawson Muncaster, managing director of City AM‘, thinks the industry needs to follow online, replicating the experience and packaging information in such a way that it can be consumed in 20 minutes a day.
Speaking from the audience, Muncaster said people, young or not, like online because of the short, fast content available as they “just don’t have time” in today’s society.
However, Georgiadis begs to differ. “People will get bored of Facebook. Brands come and go online but something like the Telegraph will still be around in 30 years”, he said.