Changing Media Trends
and what they mean to you:
One editor’s view
Jane Wooldridge
The Miami Herald
October 2009
The tipping point?
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Some magazines are shrinking or closing; even
upscale publications have been affected
Newspapers, too, are having a tough time; travel
sections – and/or dedicated editors – have
diminished
Websites abound
Social-networking sites continue to gain
Regional emphasis is becoming stronger
Mobile devices have become more important
Why now?
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Advances in technology
Growing influence of a younger
generation
Economic downturn
Result: Market fragmentation.
In other words, people have more places to find
information, so established sources lose audience
and advertising dollars.
So, what are key trends?
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Print is down but not out
 Social media are here to stay
 Video and audio are increasingly important
 Not all “new media’’ are created equal
 Mobile devices will become even more
important
 Decision-makers (including travelers) still
care about trusted voices
TMI: Too Much Information!
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So many (websites, magazines, TV
channels), so little time
 Even the multi-tasking generation is subject
to overload
 Result: There is still a place for trusted
voices, such as authoritative editorial
publications and travel agents
TMI, but little that matters
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While there are many more information sources that
before, there are fewer offering unique content that is
reliable and authoritative
 Example: The Today show, which once used primary
sources, now cross-promotes with “personalities’’
from their partners/ other properties
 Congressional hearings last spring underscored the
importance of newspapers to a healthy democracy.
Digital is the future
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251.7 million North Americans (about 73
percent of the population) use the Internet
today; 105 in the U.S. alone are counted as
active surfers
 The global total is almost 1.7 billion
 The global total will increase by 44 percent
between 2007-2012
It’s a mobile universe
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256 million in the U.S. subscribe to wireless
phone service; more than 40 million surf the web
via a mobile phone each month
China has 540 million users; India has slight more
than the U.S.
Already, 10.1 million in the U.S. tune into mobile
video – but that’s only 5 percent of the population
Comedy is the most popular video content,
followed by music, cinema movies,
action/adventure and news
A new (nonKindle) digital reader for newspapers
and magazines should be available by late ‘09
BUT…digital media are only
part of the answer
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105 million Americans read a Sunday
newspaper in print
 187 million Americans read magazines in
print
 Consumers use online and print media
differently; one tickles the imagination, the
other facilitates action
Despite recent high-profile closings,
magazines are likely here to stay
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Magazine subscriptions are up for the first six
months of 2009 over the same period last year
 Historically speaking, magazine closings are
related to economic downturns and advertiser
spending
 Over the past 5 years, the number of magazines
grew to 6,800 titles annually
 The median age of magazine readers (43.1) has
been consistently younger than the median age of
total U.S. adults (43.9) over the past five years.
Despite the obituaries,
newspapers are not dead
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Most markets where newspapers have closed had two
dailies. The papers that shut typically were union papers.
More people read the Sunday Miami Herald in print each
week than watch American Idol each week
On any given Sunday, more than 105 million adults read a
newspaper, larger than the Super Bowl audience
Recent declines in circulation were, in same cases,
intentional drops to focus on core readership
Newspapers remain A or THE dominant media company in
most markets.
More than 79 percent of American adults read a newspaper
in print or online
Newspapers aren’t just
“paper’’ anymore
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In 2009, more than 70 million unique viewers
visited newspaper websites in a typical month – an
increase of 12 percent over the year before
 In McClatchy markets, newspaper print circulation
and websites together offer more than 50 percent
penetration
 More than 6 million unique visitors come to
Miami Herald websites each month
 More than 10,000 people have downloaded The
Miami Herald’s mobile sports ap since it was
launched six weeks ago
Newspapers are multimedia
24/7 operations
The Miami Herald Media Company produces
content on these platforms:
 Daily print newspaper
 24/7 updated website
 Videocasts delivered via the World Wide
Web, cable outlets and public TV
 Radio broadcasts delivered via the Web and
public radio
Today, newspapers focus on
their core journalistic mission:
serving local communities as
watchdogs
Other subjects, including Travel, must pass
this test:
 Is it an economic driver in our community?
 Does coverage drive audience?
 Does coverage drive revenues?
Newspapers no longer create
all of their content
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In features and many other areas, newspaper
companies are moving toward a “magazine’’
model. That means more freelance content – but it
must be specific to the audience.
 Newspaper companies are becoming aggregators,
acting as portals for authoritative content from
many sources
 They are sharing content with former competitors
Will newspapers charge for
online content? Eventually, yes
Some – including the Wall Street Journal
and the Financial Times – already charge
for access to their websites
 Others – including Murdock’s News Corp.
papers – have announced plans to do so
 Newspapers that deliver information via
mobile devices including Kindle and
specialized mobile aps also charge a fee
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Print and electronic news
sources are more trusted than
broadcast and social media
In a recent national survey, 56.1% of respondents
said they trust the electronic and print news
media for accurate news and information over
blogs (7.8%), the social media such as Facebook
(3.4%)
 Overall, trust in the media is low: 24.3% indicated
they believe all or most news media reporting;
54.0% said they believe “some” news media
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Not all “new media’’ are
created equal
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226-million-plus sites on the Web
107 million blogs, 70,000 added in a recent 24hour period
News and the offbeat often dominate traffic
Among travelers, the importance of blogs has
dropped in the past year (Yankelovich)
Popular online doesn’t always equal widespread
acceptance; remember Snakes on a Plane?
Most popular U.S. sites (Alexa.com)
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Google
 Yahoo
 Facebook
 YouTube
 MySpace
 Wikipedia
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Windows Live
(live.com)
 Craigslist
 Blogger
 Ebay
 Microsoft Network
(msn.com)
 Twitter
Most popular blogs by authority
(Technorati)
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The Huffington Post
TechCrunch
Mashable!
Gizmodo
Engadget
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The Official Google
Blog
Boing Boing
Lifehacker
Ars Technica
TMZ.com (celebrity
gossip)
Top 5 Digg Stories / past year
2009
 Digg this if you voted for
Obama, 39,721 diggs
 Barak Obama wins election,
36,535 diggs
 Barak Obama becomes 44th
president, 25,184
 Michael Jackson dies,
24,686
 Digg this if your [sic] sick of
power users stealing stories,
22,714
2008
 Digg’s April Fool’s Day
Joke; 31,803 diggs
 Digg this if you are sick of
Scientologists burying
articles; 25,698 diggs
 Heath Ledger dies; 22,472
 George Carlin has died;
19,793 diggs
 Ninja cat comes closer
while not moving; 18,308
Top Travel websites by traffic
(Hitwise, October 09)
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Google maps
MapQuest
Expedia
Yahoo! Maps
Southwest Airlines
Priceline
Travelocity
TripAdvisor
Orbitz
Bing maps
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Yahoo! Travel
American Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Hotwire
CheapoAir.com
Hotels.com
Cheap Tickets
Lowfares.com
JetBlue
Google Earth
Social Networking
is here to stay
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Facebook ranks No. 3 among all U.S. websites by traffic
YouTube ranks No. 4 among all U.S. websites by traffic
TripAdvisor ranks No. 8 among top travel websites
According to the Yankelovich Travel Monitor, friends and
neighbors are the most trusted source for travel
recommendations (8 in 10 surveyed.) 25 percent are
confident of what they read on TripAdvisor)
Blogging is now a $1 billion industry when measured by
advertising revenue
Multi media is increasingly important
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Magazines and newspapers are adding
video stories daily (but no, they aren’t really
paying for it.)
Doug Lansky’s souvenir slideshow
Survive a bear attack
For now, it’s all about the economy
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Advertising spending nationwide dropped
15.4 percent in the first half of 2009; national TV,
magazines and newspapers took the biggest hits
 Checked your 401K lately? The Dow is down
more than 30 percent since Oct. 8, 2007.
 The Consumer Confidence Index dipped in
September to 53.1, down from 54.5 in August.
 Luxury travel has been hit hard because of
oversupply; middle-income “splurgers’’ are saving
their shekels.
 As the economy (and the stock markets) improve,
travel will pick up. But this may be a slow ride.
So what does this mean to me?
1. Value is key
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Luxury or budget, value is the key.
Deals, packages and cost-wise strategies get editors’
attention…but be ready to explain the value.
Fixed-cost vacations – cruises, all-inclusive experiences
and packages – find favor with consumers and editors.
Travelers still will be making plans last minute; look for
ways to promote last-minute deals in stories and on
websites.
2. Think regional
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Travelers likely will stay closer to home.
Whether you’re a writer or a PR
professional, your best hits are going to
come from regional media.
3. Think short
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The trend toward short vacations will grow
even stronger
4. Focus on other “best bets”
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Niche travelers are driven by passion – and
passion often outweighs economic
sensibility
Know that editors are more shorthanded than ever before
Only a handful of papers have full-time travel editors
 PR pros: Give them story ideas that are fully developed
and involve sources beyond your own.
 Writers: Be sure you’re targeting the publication’s
niche
 Writers and PR pros: Aim for the unexpected but
accessible
 All: Be sure information about packages and deals is
complete and includes pricing.
 All: Be accurate. Fact-check everything…twice.
Do I need a website?
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Yes. Yes. And yes. (And that includes journalists.)
http://www.douglansky.com/
www.timshisler.com
www.elliott.org
www.janewooldridge.com
Do I need a blog?
If you’re looking to make money, maybe
not.
 If you want to brand yourself and/or serve a
niche market, maybe yes.
 BUT…if you start a blog, you must feed,
bathe and clean it.
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Must I Tweet?
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It can’t hurt. But there may be more
effective ways to use your time.
Do I need to be multi-media?
If you’re a travel supplier (or represent one),
you can get additional exposure if you have
high quality B-roll, web-ready clips and
audio clips.
 If you’re a journalist, it’s not essential…yet.
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Where can I find out more?
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Forrester Research: www.forrester.com
Jupiter Research: www.jupiterresearch.com
PhocusWright: www.phocuswright.com
Hitwise: www.hitwise.com
Yankelovich Travel Monitor:
www.ypartnership.com, www.yankelovich.com
TIA: www.tia.org
Multimedia: www.timshisler.com
This presentation: www.janewooldridge.com