*The Integrated Newsroom - Literature Review*

2.8 PUBLISHER: Management & Economic Considerations

The development and changing face of the WWW is exciting and developing at warp speed, but basic economics and management considerations are important factors to consider for online publishers. Michael Longinow of Ashbury College in Wilmore, said sites such as USA Today's were on the cutting edge of Web site organization and audio/visual techniques. But most online newspaper sites aren't cutting-edge, he said, because "they are not sure it's worth the time or the money and they are especially worried about attracting enough advertising to support these bells and whistles" (Jerding 1995, p.28).

Instead of focusing on attracting advertising specifically, Adam Clayton Powell III of The Freedom Forum said, newspapers' real challenge is how to make Web sites useful, interesting and manageable under the onslaught of the information glut. Once they have such a product, he said, advertisers will recognize the value of using the medium (ibid).

Currently the cost of WWW publishing is high and advertising revenue seldom results in profits. In 1997, the New York Times lost nearly $15 million on its Web projects, even though online advertising grew by 66 percent (ibid). In Australia, John Fairfax, publishers of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Financial Review earned $13 million in advertising revenue, but spent the same amount on overheads (Callaghan 1999, p.6). Advertisers are still sceptical and although the target audience has become global, it has also created niche advertising. Web banner advertisements are the norm these days, but they do not generate enough revenue to cover the cost of maintaining a website. Newspaper organisations are reluctant to charge for information services for fear their loyal reader numbers may diminish at the thought of pay-per-click. For content creators the challenge is to make sure that people who visit their site are satisfied to return again and again (Schwartz 1997, p.36).

Commercial information providers tend to be wary of providing too many links beyond their own pages. The general thinking is that they are sending their readers away, however a far-sighted vision would be to realise that with variety, a wider net is cast resulting in a regular and growing audience that could ultimately pull in the advertising dollars (Rosenberg 1999).

At the 1999 World Electronic Publishing Conference in France, Lorenz Lorenz. Meyer said it is important papers maintain their integrity, in the concise, direct and opinionated fashion that has been print's lingua franca since the medium's beginning. Louis Rougier of Mediangles cited a 1998 survey of 5000 French websites, stating "traditional" media sites are in a tough battle against web-only publications, especially those based on search engines. Although newspapers' fears that their web sites would cannibalise their print publications were justified, half the respondents felt their online visits could spur them to purchase newspapers. Rougier suggested newspapers cooperate to offer their content together in online kiosks and that companies are willing to pay for news content within their Intranet (PANPA Bulletin 1999b, p.59).

US media consultants suggest cross-marketing on radio and television spots to newspapers who want successful websites instead of being limited to print product advertising. They advise newspapers to become local portals used by the local community, and predict in two years time half of all the WWW advertising revenue will be spent in local markets (PANPA Bulletin 1999c, p.54). Packet Publications' Michael O'Hara, said that while new media executives try to convince their newspapers to promote their online counterparts, it should be the other way around. He adds that a strong brand equity enhances the print publication and that newspapers are picking up new advertisers who would never have bought print ads along but who will buy discounted WWW-print packages (ibid).

WWW-based publications pose a threat to traditional classified advertising which currently provides 40 percent of the ad revenue for a typical newspapers. Currently, there are more than 100 help wanted, 900 real estate and 500 new and used vehicles WWW sites, and if this trend continues newspapers could lose up to a third of their classified revenue according to James Conaghan, Newspaper Association America director (PANPA Bulletin 1999a, p.53). The nature of the WWW, allows users to search classifieds efficiently and quickly through key words and sites such as Citysearch.com.au, seek.com.au, newsclassifieds.com.au and buzzcity.com allow users to customise and be informed via e-mail of relevant advertisements without the need to visit the website. E.W Scripps Co add that the key to creating compelling webpages to attract eyeballs is content. This includes quality news, entertainment content and well designed user-friendly classified sites (PANPA Bulletin 1998, p.55)

Mings and White (1997 p.9 - 30) have researched economic options for maintaining WWW-based publications and suggest four economic models:

The Subscription Model - Based on the traditional revenue model for print newspapers which provides for a 20 percent subscription revenue versus 80 percent advertising income. It considers a flat-rate subscription for its WWW users.

The Advertising Model - Various advertising options are considered to raise revenue: banner advertising, sponsorship, advertising site design and production, targeted marketing and classified advertising including employment, real estate, and personal ads. The Transactional Model - Electronic storefronts, and pay-per-view or per-service websites.

The Bundled Model - Suggests partnerships with Internet Service Providers, Web Browser Vendors or proprietary online services; bundling newspaper access and other online services and partnerships with other newspapers, news media or content providers.

Information Architecture/Design

An emerging field of interest related to online publishing is information architecture or design. It is a new area of research which has yet to be developed. Most WWW information designers have developed checklists focussing on technical considerations such as downloading time, graphic quality, and simple site navigation pointers. There are few established concepts equivalent to Edmund Arnold's classic Gutenberg diagram in the WWW area (Wheildon 1988).

Mario Garcia, president of Garcia Media Group with 27 years newspaper designing experience, says that the WWW is developing at breakneck speed. In contrast with newspapers, which generally change on a seven-year cycle, "four years is basically the equivalent of a year in Web sites." He highlights that it important for a newspaper editor to work closely with the web editor who is often very much younger with "more years of experience with video games than with newsroom management." (World Association of Newspapers, 1999 p.137 - 142). He provided insights into the four main tools of information design and their application on the WWW:

Story structure - Readers do not mind jumping from one page to the next to read a story. From focus group research, readers tend to stick to a story over multiple screens for two reasons. They were obsessed with the topic and willing to absorb more detail from the article they've selected. Another technical reason was they aren't necessarily daunted by a scrolling screen as they have no idea how long the story is.

Typography - A newspaper's website should be branded differently from the newspaper itself and should be treated as a Sunday supplement or an affiliated radio station or TV channel.

Color palette - Garcia uses The Financial Times as an illustration. The FT uses a peach shade for both its newsprint and web site.

Architecture - Web sites tend to be read in a series of horizontal movements, and the key to building web pages has to do with navigation. Online advertising should be experimental, with much more interactivity and modelled after television advertisements. "Finger-reading" such as film guides, listings and searchable classifieds combined the best form of advertising on the WWW.