“We
are a news engine that produces a newspaper—and a website, a Facebook page,
video, livestreaming, and a salon at the News Café,” said editor Paul Samyn.
“We
are not a newspaper, but we publish one,” he stated, adding that the Free
Press is “trying to shake off the print legacy.”
Well,
add the the
Newspaper
Association of America—er, the former Newspaper Association of
America—to the list of those who are shaking off the legacy of print.
On September 7 the Association, founded in
1887, announced a name change: Now it will be known as the News Media Alliance.
Why the change? Simple. The number of
newspapers in the U.S. continues to decline, down to 2,000 from 2,700 in 2008.
But that’s not the only issue. According to
David Chavern, the Association’s chief executive, the word “newspaper” has
become meaningless in reference to many of its members which today reach many
of its readers via the Web.
“Newspaper’ is not a big enough word to
describe the industry anymore,” Mr. Chavern said. “The future of this industry
is much broader.”
(The move will also allow non-print news
organizations, like Buzzfeed, to join the Association—a good move in light of
falling membership.)
In an article about the name change in
the New York Times, author Jim
Rutenberg pointed out that although news on print is disappearing, it’s not as
if people don’t want news anymore.
“Through online exposure, newspapers are
reaching more people than ever,” he wrote. “The problem is how they make money.
Circulation for physical newspapers is declining, and so is print advertising;
digital ads remain far less profitable.
“The trick is finding a way to make up the
lost revenue.”
Yes, that is the trick—and a big one, at that.
Maybe changing the way we look at how we get news, and what we call it, is a
start.
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