Some observations by media economics expert Robert Picard about the challenges of media today, from an interview done by the University of Navarra Faculty of Communication:
Media companies need to develop revenue from many more sources than they did in the past.
Media companies are diluting the quality of their product by chasing reader clicks with light or frivolous digital content. "This is not bringing in money, and it's not bringing in audience."
Maybe 15 to 25 percent of the reading public will pay for serious news, Picard says. These are the people who really want news.
Journalists think their work is really important, and for the journalists, it is. But for most people, they just want to get on with their lives. If something important happens, then they will go online and read it somewhere, but most of the time they won't pay for it.
Newspapers have to stop thinking of themselves as a product for a general audience. The people who still subscribe tend to be the most active politically, socially and financially in their communities. Newspapers should be selling that aspect of their audience, not a massive audience.
James Breiner is a former ICFJ Knight Fellow who launched and directed the Center for Digital Journalism at the University of Guadalajara. Visit his websites News Entrepreneurs and Periodismo Emprendedor en Iberoamérica. This post originally appeared on News Entrepreneurs and is republished with permission.
Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via Steve Petrucelli.