Newspapers: Get controversial or give up
Newspapers: Get controversial or give up
Newspapers: Get controversial or give up
Newspaper sales have been in a steep decline for quite some time now. Is this surprising? No, of course it isn't. And you really don't have to be even mildly intelligent to work out why. Even an x-factor contestant could figure out that it makes much more sense to read the latest news for free on the internet, rather than hand over some of their hard earned incapacity benefit to a newsagent for a copy of the Daily Dross.
So why would I ever need to buy a newspaper? Well, obviously not for the news. A new car maybe? What about properties for sale? Nope, no need, all easily available with the click of a mouse.
The end was in sight the day that some bright spark (probably jobless now) thought that it would be a fantastic idea to deposit all the latest news online, and then charge nothing for it. Rupert Murdoch has recently tried getting around this by introducing his paywall, which, as we all know, is never going to work, for exactly the same reason. It could only work if all newspapers followed suit and charged a fee for their online media.
All the major newspapers have an online presence these days, but some are doing considerably better than others. Take The Daily Mail, for example. Their online version has increased its readership figures by at least 40% every year. So why is this? I hear you ask. Because they're controversial, that's why. It's not enough to just print the news anymore, and then hope that someone just happens by to read it, it needs to be interactive, it needs to stir up enough passion that the reader wants to get involved.
The Daily Mail are brilliant at this. I'll give you one example to explain what I mean. The much loved and talented Stephen Fry recently made a humorous, tongue-in-cheek comment to someone about women not liking sex. The Daily Mail got wind of this and printed a huge column feature attacking Mr Fry and his beliefs.
Now, as many of you will know, Stephen Fry is a big fan of the micro blogging site, Twitter, and currently has just under 2 million followers. This, of course, meant that when Stephen complained on Twitter that The Daily Mail had upset him, hundreds of thousands of people would have followed the link that he provided, straight to The Daily Mail website and the offending article. It's creative marketing at its finest.
Simon Cowell does it all the time. Every week there's some shocking scandal revolving around the x-factor. But do they try to cover it up? No, of course they don't, it's free publicity, and the whole country gets involved. Cowell himself said on a recent show 'There's no such thing as bad publicity'.
Many smaller newspapers groups in this country are struggling to survive, and things are only going to get worse if they don't start 'upping their game'. They can't keep playing it safe. The internet is a level playing field, it's a global marketplace with millions of potential readers, but nobody wants to read a 'nice' article written by Mr Polite.
As readers, we need fresh columnists who aren't afraid to speak out, get offensive, and be controversial. It's the only way to attract new readers these days. We are contrary by nature. We scream at the television on a Saturday because the referee is an idiot, then we go down the pub and argue about it with our mates. We shout abuse at the judges on reality shows because we disagree with their opinion, then get involved in heated discussions on Facebook and Twitter. And yet we pick up a newspaper, read an article, then put it down and forget about it.
On a personal note, I recently sent a number of emails to a major South Wales newspaper group asking to whom I needed to speak with regards to writing a regular column. You will note that I never actually asked for a job, I just wanted to know who to contact. I received no reply. I then emailed the local newspaper office in my home town, twice, and asked them the same question. Still no reply. I visited the office in person and asked the same question again and was given an email address for the Cardiff headquarters. I think you know what's coming next. Yes, you've guessed it, I'm still waiting for a reply.
If they can't communicate with the readers that they already have, what chance do they have of attracting new ones?
It doesn't take Mystic Meg to predict that many of Britain's long established newspapers, whether big or small, will cease trading altogether if those in charge don't pull their fingers out of their backsides and change with the times. (no pun intended)
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Get controversial or give up.
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