Newspapers are dying, and now their websites are sick too

We are used to hearing that newspapers are about to go the way of the dodo, but now it appears the one thing it was hoped would save them – their websites – could also be struggling.

We are used to hearing that newspapers are about to go the way of the dodo, but now it appears the one thing it was hoped would save them – their websites – could also be struggling.

The AdvertisingAge reports that the web advertising revenues reported by US newspaper publishers Tribune, EW Scripps and Lee Enterprises fell over the June 2008 quarter by 4%, 8% and 9% respectively.

Because now is the time when many newspapers are hoping to transition their business models from print to online advertising, the idea that those hoped-for rivers of internet gold may not eventuate will strike fear into the heart of many a newspaper mogul.

The decline in online revenues hasn’t been universal – one big newspaper group, McClatchy, lifted its online revenue by 12% over the quarter.

But these early signs of bad news are substantial enough that some people believe they could reflect a broader trend in the sector.

“The decline in print has been so pervasive that it’s taking the online stuff with it,” Benchmark Co media analyst Ed Atorino told AdvertisingAge. “This is the worst market we’ve seen.”

One reason given for the problem may well be that newspaper publishers whose web fortunes depend on up-selling from print have fared worse, while newspapers that have found ways to wall off their websites from the print product have tended to do better.

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