Chicago Tribune Files for Bankruptcy - Why Are Newspapers in Trouble?

I may be "old school" but I have to have my morning newspaper.  Wherever I've lived, I've subscribed to the local paper, The New York Times and The Wall St. Journal.  When I travel, I love to pick up USA Today.  But I'm apparently unusual.  Newspapers are quickly losing readers and advertisers.  The current recession is making matters worse as most advertisers are cutting back.  Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune made news by filing for bankruptcy.  

There are many younger Americans who now find newspapers irrelevant and hopelessly old fashioned.  They consume their news digitally.  They can get the news they want (and only what they want) on their PDAs immediately when the news is happening.   Why should they buy a printed newspaper that is out of the date and behind on breaking news events the minute it's printed?  Besides, that old printed thing has all sorts of stuff in it that they're not interested in reading, including most of the ads.  And, on top of everything else, newspapers create waste and they aren't as environmentally friendly as other ways to get the news.

With both technological and environmental trends solidly against them, are newspapers doomed?  Maybe.  What should marketing sanity look like to today's struggling newspapers?  What should they be doing?  If you were in charge of one, what would you be doing?

Job 1:  Hold on to your current subscribers.  Are newspapers reaching out to their readers with special offers, services and new product features that will preserve their loyalty?  Or are they milking their customer base?  Is sending that monthly or quarterly bill the only time they communicate?

Job 2:  Product development.  What can newspapers do to become relevant to the digital generation?  Are they developing and testing new ideas with a sense of urgency?  Are they trying to find ways to become Purple Cows (see my earlier blog on this topic).  Or are they resigned to having lost this audience forever?

Job 3:  Diversification and alliances.  The engine of every newspaper is news gathering and reporting.  These are assets that are valuable and unique.  How can these assets be fully leveraged with other businesses that need and value the content and information that is being created?  Similarly, how can newspapers do a better job of bundling the advertising impressions they deliver by partnering with other media?  What unique advertiser synergies can be created?

I think that the newspaper business has been too insular for too long.  Insular industries only hire from within.  The old ways are accepted as gospel.  "Experience" is more valuable than innovation.  New people with fresh ideas aren't recruited.  New ideas aren't developed and those that are have difficulty taking root and gaining advocacy.  These industries become inbred which is one short step away from becoming extinct.  The auto industry has certainly been guilty of this and I suspect the newspaper business is similarly guilty. 

Learn a lesson from these industries that are now struggling so mightily to survive.  Routinely recruit new people from outside the company and outside your industry.  They will come with fresh new ideas that are needed in every company.  Listen.  Test.  Implement.  Change.  Don't ever become satisfied with the status quo.