Print companies talk about adapting for the digital age at nextMEDIA
Encouraging news for concerned journalists: print may be dead, but that doesn’t mean our profession is.
That’s what a panel at nextMEDIA had to say today when asked how mobile would change the way content was distributed. Representatives from major publications and digital companies (Globe and Mail, Torstar, Kobo, Yellow Pages) spoke about how print businesses can learn a lot from mobile, and start using mobile content as a new
The session began with Glogovac [of Kobo] citing Verizon as a business role model, saying she admired how it transformed from “a sleepy carrier into a 3G powerhouse, unafraid to cannibalize its own business.” Torstar Digital’s Faktor then pointed out how businesses should realize there isn’t one centralized approach to mobile. “Each brand and business should look at the market to see how it’ll define their business,” she said.
Faktor hinted Torstar will soon be offering daily deals for mobile users, a connection that makes sense considering Torstar’s acquisition of group-buying company WagJag. A mobile push requires a multi-pronged approach, she said. “Torstar’s mobile experience is a collaborative effort between the content management system, the content producers and the ventures group making everything work. There are many challenges when you have a big organization such as ours.”
The Globe & Mail‘s Angus Frame said the past two years were “intense with lots of experimentation in the digital space.” The Globe and Mail views mobile as a “catchpoint” for its customers: users accessed their mobile apps when print readers usually put the paper down, such as in the evening and on the way to work. “It’s not a black and white transition, to engage with customers on different platforms,” Frame noted. He added its apps, such as the iPad app, also attracted traditional national advertisers as well as new Globe readers.
So it seems like things are a little less doom-and-gloom for the fourth estate. There are indeed opportunities in digital media that print workers can snatch up, and they’re not too far-fetched. It makes sense that Torstar is looking to buy WagJag; they are in the classified business, after all, and social buying could be part of the future for classifieds.
Glogovac also spoke about how the journalists’ roles are also changing. Gone, she says, are the days when journalism was a one-way street. Now, journalists need to be able to have a back and forth with their readers to keep them engaged, especially in a world where social media is king.
