As the newspaper industry has struggled with declining revenue, some analysts predicted that college newspapers would weather the storms of the changing media environment better than their peers in the wider industry. (See also this Chronicle of Higher Education article.)
Now the national economy indicates that the future might not be quite so rosy: The widespread economic pains in the media environment are finally hitting college news outlets, and many college newspapers are scrambling to deal with the squeeze.
The issues--declining ad revenue, increasing print costs--are similar to those faced by your typical MSM paper. Interestingly enough, though, going on-line has been even more of a challenge:
Online advertising doesn't yet make up a significant part of college media advertising. As I wrote earlier this year, it's an estimated 1-2 percent of total revenue for many college media outlets -- if that.
The reliance on local businesses may be part of the reason. "Web ads are a very tough sell to local businesses," Waack said.
[...]
"Students read the print edition, not the online edition anyway," he told me. "Online is for parents, alumni, sports fans not in our distribution area for the most part, so they would not be reading the print edition."
Vindication for Bourrie, perhaps, who has argued that "go local" is the best way forward for a print publication.
1 comment:
The UofR student union's Carillon sought a couple-buck increase from students just the other day, and were defeated by a handful of votes (like 256 to 246 or something). They'll hang in there I'm sure, one way or another. More student papers may go entirely online, however.
Post a Comment