A dream for the future of newspapers

This is one of those dreams that I didn't have when I was sleeping.  My dream for the future of newspapers is that they never go away. 

In recent years, I've seen a few troubling developments of their demise.  The Rocky Mountain News ceased publication in 2010.  It was sad for me because it was the only paper I bought in Denver when I was in my layover at Denver International Airport eight years ago.  The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased print publication that same year and exists now only as a website.  The Tucson Citizen also saw its demise that year in print and now lives on only as a website.

Luckily, those three cities were two newspaper towns and can still have one daily newspaper serve those communities and metro areas.  What about other cities that are one-paper towns?  What do they do if their cities' newspapers are in trouble in their print operations?  Cities like New Orleans, Birmingham, and Portland, Oregon are facing such questions that I never imagined just a decade ago.

 The New Orleans Times-Picayune is going to a 3-day a week publishing schedule this fall.  The paper is also going to publish a special Monday edition for New Orleans Saints coverage this season.  The Birmingham News is also moving to a 3-day a week publishing time frame.   In Portland, Oregon, The Oregonian is facing a future of not publishing a paper every single day. 

These three newspapers are all owned by Advance Publications, and they are the most notable papers that are moving towards a more web-based, digital content model.  The company owns many other newspapers including The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Newark Star-Ledger. 

I admit I am part of the problem.  As of this writing, I do not have a print subscription to any newspaper.  I buy my newspapers only on Sundays for the coupons (and the news content), at the airport for having something to read, and at a city that I am visiting on vacation or business.

I too have embraced digital delivery of my news content on many levels.  I slowly adapted from just being a print reader to being able to get the news more electronically.  Here's my digital diet and it varies day by day.  I go online to some of my favorite news websites, turn on my smartphone and go to some of my favorite apps, or just simply watch TV or listen to the radio for my news and information.

Print publications have to take their products to the streets and market them to young people.  They are the future and they have gotten more tech-savvy in recent years.  Newspaper companies need to sell young people on the value of being able to hold a piece of paper in their hand and not worry about damaging the product if something gets spilled on it.  Newspapers need to add value inside their products by having a reader special for some discounts on restaurants or tickets to sporting events.

Print companies have to work with other electronic media and new media companies to partner on content and costs of production.

The latest example I have found of new partnerships is between my hometown paper, a TV station, and a sports Network.  The East Valley Tribune has entered into a partnership with KNXV-TV for news coverage and is already partnered with Fox Sports Arizona for additional sports coverage.  Partnerships like these will help preserve the newspapers in all of the major cities across the United States and keep people employed in their respective fields.

On a personal note, I grew up with the East Valley Tribune.  It morphed from the Mesa Tribune (along with the Tempe Daily News and Chandler Arizonan) to become the East Valley Tribune in 1999.  In 2009, the newspaper stopped being a paid daily publication and became a free three-day a week newspaper in Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, Arizona.

I hope I'm wrong on this prediction:  The increasing costs of print publication and the irreversable downward revenues will eventually leave many cities without their daily print edition of the newspaper.

Here's my solution:  Newspapers need to partner up with one major television station, one major radio station, a regional cable channel, and a new start-up internet website/news outlet to keep their papers relevant in their cities.  Costs will go down, subscriptions and day of newspaper sales will stabilize, and newspapers will continue to exist in the form that we know them in.

My dream for the newspapers:  They stay around forever.