While it has been the case in recent years that local weekly newspapers have seen a reduction in print sales, it appears at least in the case of a reasonable number of regional dailies that their online audiences have been increasing. With this, (regional) publishers have been working to reinvent their business models to adapt to this change in platform.
The changing face of content
More 'serious journalism'/'hard news' isn't necessarily what the general public are more receptive to and actually 'softer' stories are usally what they take to more. This idea of evergreen content seems to be something that's now becoming increasingly prevalent too whether it be about stories to do with places to eat or even walk.
Capitalising on new channels
Journalists that once used to work solely on newspapers now see themselves having to become content providers across a number of platforms whether it be Twitter or TV. Social networks like Facebook have meant that publishers also have to receive training on what it takes to develop 'high-quality posts with local relevance and a high propensity for sharing.' Through the use of machine learning, technology is also being used which allows journalists to know optimum time and place to actually post stories at as oppose to just doing it anyhow. Something notable that was said by Henry Faure-Walker, the chief executive of a publisher of a number of titles, was that although Facebook acts: 'a competitor for ad dollars, it is better to work with them and reap the benefits of community engagement in our cities and towns than treat them as the enemy.'
Tapping into data
Small teams of 'data units' now work to crunch data that they publishers receive. This same data is what gets interpreted locally to be the driving force behind a story. In the case of Trinity Mirror, their data unit has managed to get funding from Google which has meant that they've been able to create an app called Perspecs which as well as working as a news aggregation service, also lets readers see other perspectives of certain stories.
Finding new ways to survive
Although online is an area that regional papers have decided to go into, with its ad revenue increase, they still see diversification into other areas as being imperative. This can range all the way from mobile apps and general e-commerce to even leisure offerings like ice rinks.
- Local weekly newspapers losing an average 9.2% of sales in the second half of 2015 compared to the same period the year before
- Facebook saw its digital unique users rise by 7% year-on-year in November 2016, reaching 22.4m
- 30% of Newsquest’s ad revenues now come from digital
This article is particularly interesting in seeing what exactly regional newspapers are going to do ascertain their survival over at least the next decade. Abandoning print seems like the main thing that's going to be done while simultaneously diversifying into other, often unrelated industries. What was particularly noteworthy was the statement by Henry Faure-Walker. In saying establishing that Facebook is a definite competitor to them as a regional news publisher, he also makes it clear that actually working with them, could be what really needs to be done. With the way the general public are taking to social networks like Facebook, this seems like a pretty informed take on things, and maybe doing this is what'll boost the 'community engagement' that regional papers are supposed to achieve.
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