Read Betweeen The Lines

As a former journalist, the recent flurry around declining newspaper revenues and the potential shut down of major news institutions like the Boston Globe (NY Times Threatens to Close Boston Globe) doesn't surprise me. The news, however, has reinvigorated the discussion around the business model of print media. The disruption has been fueled by many changes, but primarily by the advent of the web as a free content resource: craigslist.org, for instance, that ripped big chucks of revenue from local newspapers that fed off classified and print display ads to underwrite their production and circulation as well as the proliferation of citizen journalism and blogging.

Local TV News now finds itself searching for answers on attracting and monetizing local coverage in light of declining television viewership and a rise in mobile. It faces an equally challenging landscape as studios and networks are bypassing affiliate stations to take content direct.

We have needed changes to journalistic practices and business models for years -- far longer than the slow erosion we're seeing now. Granted, the NY Times, NPR and the handful of credible news outlets have kept the journalistic bar high, but the reason most media companies have failed to navigate is that they -- like many other companies -- are more inwardly focused on operations and margins than on satisfying the appetite of their consumers. Hence, we see the death march for media companies continue.

As a marketing consultant to high-tech as well as media companies -- I have been pressing on just this point. In fact, late last week I was talking to a prospective client, this one a new media company. I asked the President early in the call, "Who is your primary customer?" The answer that came back was alarming -- he couldn't tell me who his prime customer was and what they wanted. When I pressed him to spend some focus and time on figuring that out, he told me that wasn't as important as trying to figure out how to grow that ad network. I knew in that second that we couldn't work together if the consumer isn't even a priority, let alone the driver for innovation and monetization.

Read between the lines: A lot of new online media as well as the dinosaur local TV or regional newspapers have done what many in the high-tech field have done -- they forgot at the end of the day who it is all about. Read between the lines: Connecting your content to customers will unveil monetization and business models that may not only help these companies to survive, but to thrive as well.

Later...Lisa