HAMBURG - Newspaper editors around the globe are optimistic about the future of their publications, but see no end to the reshaping of newsrooms under the pressure of the multi-media revolution, according to a global survey.
The survey released by the World Editors Forum and McKinsey & Company on newsroom attitudes and strategies revealed that three-quarters of respondents - chief editors and other senior newsroom personnel -- were optimistic or somewhat optimistic about the future of their newspapers.
The editors also believe that the ongoing digital revolution will keep reshaping the newsrooms through an evolution towards multi-media integration and a "pay for information" model - they foresee a multi-platform publication model, including print, and more payment for news.
The survey titled '2010 Newsroom Barometer' questioned 525 senior newspaper editors in all geographies between April and June. The 40-question survey covered included newsroom organization, journalism, threats to the newspaper sector, digital performance and newspaper economics. The survey found:
The present: a challenging context
Thirty-seven percent of editors said the biggest threat facing the future of their newspapers was declining readership among young people, while 24 percent cited the internet and digital media as the biggest threats.
Grounds for a new model are discussed
Digital revenues are already significant, providing about 14 percent of total revenues overall, according to respondents in the survey. On average, only 16 percent of digital revenues were produced by the sale of digital content, but the editors expected that to rise in future.
Editors see these revenues growing substantially in the next 10 years and expect digital revenues to provide just over half of total revenues by 2020, according to the survey.
"Pay for information"
Nearly half of respondents expected a "pay for information" model to be introduced in the future, but there was no consensus or clear view on what form that model would take. Editors from emerging countries favoured subscription models while European editors thought some form of sponsorship would be the norm. Only 35 percent of respondents thought information would continue to be mostly free, and 17 percent were unsure.
Social media
Nearly nine out of 10 respondents described social media as an opportunity for newspapers, with the total rising to 95 percent among editors under 35.
Multiplatform publication model
Forty-four percent of respondents report working in a fully integrated multi-media newsroom in 2010, rising to 81 percent in North America. Only 38 percent of European editors in the survey reported working in integrated newsrooms, about the same as in emerging markets.
But there was a strong consensus that digital media will play an increasingly important role, with a multi-platform model dominating most newsrooms. |
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