Out of Print

The Tribune Company’s decision to file for bankruptcy was only the latest in a series of setbacks for the American newspaper industry. Even before Tribune—which owns the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and its namesake Chicago Tribune—announced its filing, the chain was wracked by layoff and forced buyouts. The Times alone lost 150 staffers—17 percent of its employees. Smaller chains, like McClatchy, are close to defaulting on their debt, and even giants like The Washington Post and The New York Times are making cutbacks.

While the decline of print journalism is an unfortunate development, it is also an inevitable one. The Internet has pulled subscription and advertising dollars out from under newspapers, and free services like Craigslist have replaced previously profitable classified ads. Fighting to preserve current print circulations is a futile endeavor. However, there is a place for journalism online. If newspapers can develop a new online business model and adapt their content to the new requirements of the Web, they can and will thrive.

Newspapers’ success online is dependant on their ability to make Internet content profitable. As it stands, this is very difficult. Even the hugely popular web newspaper Politico raises a full 60 percent of its revenue from advertising in its miniscule print edition. However, new, more sophisticated behavioral advertising techniques are making online content easier to marketize. While still in their infancy, studies suggest that behavioral advertising methods both attract significantly more clicks than conventional methods, and can attract those clicks much more quickly. If newspapers can harness this technology effectively, online journalism could become a profitable enterprise.

That said, newspapers must change more than their business model if they are to stay relevant online. The Internet has made information a far less valuable commodity, given the range of sources available to readers. Newspapers must cater to those areas where they still hold an advantage, such as editorial writing and investigate journalism. Most blogs and other Internet sources do not command the authority that newspaper editorialists do, and most lack the resources to do substantial investigative work. Indeed, many of the more successful existing online newspapers specialize in these endeavors. The success of opinion-heavy sites like the Huffington Post and The Daily Beat, as well as of investigative outlets like ProPublica and the Center for Independent Media, proves that this type of content is in high demand online. Hence, newspapers still have a vital role to play in these two arenas, and would do well to shift resources toward editorials and investigative reporting if they wish to stand apart from the competition.

While going online will require major shifts on the part of traditional media outlets, they should not discard the best elements of print in the process. In particular, editorial cartoons, artwork, and design risk losing importance in digital journalism. In transition to the Web, newspapers should retain a focus on graphic design and cartooning, and indeed exploit the medium to innovate in those areas. The Internet provides a great opportunity for new, engaging artistry in journalism. Newspapers must not let that opportunity pass by.

None of this is to say that print journalism should be abandoned completely. There will always be a market for the written word, and sustaining print is especially important as papers experiment with new business models online. To keep print journalism alive, we encourage all readers who believe in its value to subscribe to print newspapers and sustain the industry. Ultimately, the power to save print newspapers lies with the readers, a power they ought to exercise.

Transitioning away from print and toward the Internet will be a painful process, as the Tribune example indicates. However, it need not wreak permanent damage on the newspaper industry. The fourth estate can sustain itself, and even thrive, if it is able to use the resources of the Web to develop innovative new methods for advertising, content, and design. If the industry proves itself adaptable, the Tribune bankruptcy will be seen not as the beginning of the end of print, but as a birth pang of a new model for journalism.