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I have found myself not signing up for subscriptions renewals for magazines and papers I love even when the rates are really cheap ( some as low as 10$/year promotional rate). It's simply that I can't find the physical magazine or paper when I need to find it. On the other hand, I can always find the same thing online- pretty easily.
Some time ago I had asked a Wall Street Journal subscription person if I could get only the online version, no – I was told because they need to sell the paper version to show the official "circulation" numbers. I guess – this was one of the drivers that drove the Newspaper business to the ground. Every region has its beloved paper going out of business. The Rocky Mountain News is one such example, closed just short of a 150 year run. How very avoidable!
Some reports suggest that Newspapers lost out to free online advertising on Craigslist. They also suggest that a slow move to "online" editions that were free ( like New York Times – now ) is another reason. I guess Newspapers did not understand the changing business they were in. The "news" business has been changing radically with the Internet and you can choose exactly what news you want to hear,read and see. Online Ad delivery systems like Google AdWords then appear with very relevant ads when you look at a particular news item online. The advertiser does not pay unless a reader actually clicks through. Sales results for Ad spending have become increasingly important- particularly in this tight economy and here again paper editions can't compete.
Should the print media be looking at "what business are we in" ? The perennial marketing question made famous by Theodore Levitt in 1960 in the Marketing Myopia ….