Tim Nott

Newspaper Websites Still Feeling Their Way, But Some Progress Noted

The all (entire print edition) or nothing (single article) take on PDFs is about par for the course in the industry. What about PDFs of select articles and features?

Yesterday's most-read/most-popular + crossword, sudoko, etc. Any number of micro subscriptions could be delivered. Maybe I just want the sports page - better yet, just prep sports.

Or, let users flag articles and features they'd like to print as they browse the site and then make a PDF on the fly.

People still like print for many reasons. Portability, higher quality display, ability to take notes, posting on bulletin boards, scrapbooks, on and on.

Why not cater to this and drop in some ads? The niche nature would allow for great targeting.

I'm interested to see where the Berkley printcast project goes - it seems to be going in this direction.

While the web has made a more level playing field for the likes of blogs, TV stations and social networking start-ups, the depth of coverage is still in the newspaper. The web is better suited to quick reads - but it could be a launch pad for continued delivery of in-depth coverage.

The demise of print is greatly exaggerated. The purveyors of print simply need to adapt to the needs of a changed world.