Hugh Martin reports "The Australian Press Council has just released The State of the News Print Media in Australia Report 2006…… I can’t help but think there’s a lot of wishful thinking going on in this report. The authors are by and large working editors, with a couple of academics thrown in for good measure."
I haven’t read the report yet but this graph above (click on it to bring up the full size version) pretty much tells the true story. Look at the graph on the right. Look at the decline in circulation since 1999. Now grab a ruler and extend that line downwards. If you are so inclined, make the decline exponential.
Face it, my friends in the newspaper business. Things are changing faster than many of you care to admit. I know Hugh isn’t one of those. Neither is Mark Jones at the AFR. Don’t forget to buy a copy today to read about Telstra v Tom Reynolds.
I had always thought I would enjoy subscribing to a newspaper.
When I came to Melbourne a year ago I ordered a daily newpaper subscription of The Age (fairfax). Albeit left wing, I enjoyed the articles… for a while.
However, old habits die hard. I went back to Google News, ABC, CNN, NY Times, news.com.au and several others within a short amount of time.
Now, a newspaper delivery for me is just an excuse to ask the dog to get the paper. At least he enjoys it (especially on Saturday’s when there’s two papers to retrieve).
Several newspapers really have no clue on this.
Australian Financial Review basically require a subscription before you can read anything.
Even worse, back in my home town, Perth, the West Australian (only newspaper in town) supplies about 10 articles a day – the rest are only accessible significantly delayed or not at all.
The “Electronic Edition” (ie online) costs $60 for a month’s subscription. ie ABOUT DOUBLE THAT OF A DAILY PAPER-based SUBSCRIPTION.
West Australian News (ASX:WAN) – wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late!!