The conundrum of media business in times like these

Globally, the print media industry is under discussion. Conversations and divergent views about the old industry follow the emergence of social media. Since the dot-com concept, the print media needs rebirth as Ad revenue and readership has been affected. Principally, there are three perspectives about the industry.

Some analysts believe the digital media will cause the death of traditional newspaper. Another group says the media will shrink while the third group thinks the print media will remain strong with innovations. However, recent developments in the industry have not proved any of the analysts wrong. Whereas some newspapers are folding up, others are shrinking operations while some new newspapers are opening shops.

In Nigeria and internationally, it is the same narrative. But one fact is that traditional media businesses are struggling still opportunities in the industry exist. Recently, Guardian UK an- nounced plans to cut cost by 20 percent to enable it attain new growth opportunities.

According to media reports, the company said it will target a 20 percent over- all reduction in the newspaper’s current 268 million pounds an- nualized cost base, which equates to about 50 million pounds. While Guardian UK is reducing cost, another newspaper, New Day has been launched by Trinity Mirror Group with a new model. “The launch of our new national newspaper, the New Day, is an exciting and innovative initiative which builds on our confidence in print media,” Trinity Mirror company was reported to have said in its full-year results for 2015.

“If successful, the title is expected to move into profit by the end of the year” Trinity Mirror’s chief executive, Simon Fox, said in a report that the New Day is “an exciting and innovative initiative which we believe fills a gap in the market for a daily newspaper designed to coexist in a digital age”.

In Nigeria, the story is the same. While some are reducing cost, others are owing staff salaries up 10 months. In the same market, as in UK, new newspapers such as Authority Newspapers and others are springing up. The owners of Authority said “We will report the way they see governance. It is not just about the big men and what they do. We will go beyond the big men and report the activities of the men and women who in their daily duties are actually the people who make Nigeria work. And that is what we mean by giving voice to the voiceless”. In expressing optimism on the survival of the newspaper, Madu Onuorah, managing director of the company said “the issue of the survival of a newspaper is dependent on the business model of the newspaper”.

Those who believe that the traditional media will die or significantly shrink predicate their views on the new media that has challenged the traditional media’s distinctive power to inform, educate and influence. It is believed that there is changing media consumption behavior in favour of the new media as technology is used to drive quick information dissemination. Other observers agree that print media will shrink as a result of new media which provides fast information but believe the print media will not die as it remains largely a credible source of information to decision makers and various stakeholders.

Nielsen, a global performance management company that provides understanding of what consumers watch and buy had in a survey recently as published by Bizcommunity amplified the strength of traditional media as it revealed that South Africans still place most of their trust in more traditional forms of communication/advertising. “This is evidenced by the fact that the second highest number of respondents in the survey, said they trust editorial content such as newspaper articles. Brand sponsorship, adverts on TV, newspapers, magazines and radio, each saw 75% of respondents saying they trust these forms of advertising. In terms of the advertising messages that most resonate with them, 64% said humorous ads followed by those depicting real life situations (51%) and family-orientated ads (50%)”.

Like other sectors, media in tough times

As in other sectors, this is not the best of time for the media industry also. While employers of print media journalists are renew- ing their collective resolve to pros- ecute their struggles to succeed in these challenging times, they deserve commendation for keep- ing the industry alive in spite of various factors chocking the sector. The industry is not immune to fluctuating electricity chal- lenge and its effect on industry. It is also not immune to the forex challenges as the managers have to import newsprints, inks and plates for newspaper production. In the face of this, advertisement placement level is getting smaller as companies continually receive the heat of economic pressure.

However, only the innovative ones will keep their heads up. BusinessDay reported recently that investment on Nigeria’s outdoor advertising platform by advertisers has slowed consider- ably, a development which is hit- ting hard on the operators, due to weak Naira and rising cost of doing business. A top operator in the Out of Home industry told BusinessDay that business is down by as much as 60 percent due to the pressure on the economy which is equally affecting advertisers. Presently, he said companies are cutting down costs and downsizing workforce due to the state of the economy and this has affected marketing budgets across media platforms. Presently more advertisers are shifting to online advertising whether correctly or wrongly be- cause they feel more audience are online. However and according to analysts digital reduces the cost of production and distribution of content.

Some surviving pills

At this time, convergence of news with online platform is important for print media. This will create traction for traffic and subsequently lure advertisers to the newspapers online platform. As sourcing of forex and its restrictions take its toll on various sectors, the print media industry could lobby the government to consider the revitalization of paper mills in the country. It is said that newsprint account for 70 percent of newspaper production.

While the newspapers are spending huge amount of money importing newsprints, the nonperformance of the paper mills means loss of jobs and revenue to government. Newspaper organizations have over the time taken the individual challenge of distributing their newspapers round the country. Collaboration on circulation of newspapers could save cost and manpower.

The body could outsource distribution of their newspapers. Furthermore, as business performances are now assessed daily and weekly against the old practice of yearly assessment, the model of newspapers need to change. Fred Omu, much respected professor of media history once said that for Nigerian journalism to succeed, it must work harder and be more “closely associated with the popular struggle against poverty inequality and injustice”.

There is too much romance of the media with powers that be. This could only be a temporary survival strategy. To Omu, showing greater sensitivity to the issues that concern the destiny of the nation” and the people could be enduring. Above all, appropriate content that resonates with the audience will continue to bond the newspa- pers with the public. Today, what readers see in front page headlines are mere announcements and yesterday’s news in the following morning papers. This needs to change for in-depth reporting as BusinessDay does it.