The Newspaper Industry’s Changing Landscape

The newspaper industry has undergone a transformation over the last 10 to 15 years. With the advancement of the internet, newspapers jumped on board to develop a web presence offering ready access to their customers.

While print customers paid for subscription services, the web version was free to anyone with access to a computer.

Eventually, the industry’s advertising-based business model felt the economic pressure of newspapers giving their product away for free.  The thinking went that if subscribers can access the news free online, any time of day, why would they pay for a newspaper that arrives hours after the news events occur?

Some say that by offering a free product, the industry set itself up for potential failure.

Today, some newspapers around the country, and in the mid-state, have cut staff and production schedules, while others are placing paywalls between their product and customers. 

Joining Smart Talk on Friday to talk about the newspaper industry’s changing landscape are Cate Barron, Vice President of Content with PennLive and the Patriot-News, Ted Sickler, LNP Media Group, Inc.’s Managing Editor of Features and Special Projects, and Alex Hayes, Managing Editor of the Gettysburg Times. Also joining the conversation is Dr. Kyle Heim, Professor of Communication/Journalism, Shippensburg University.