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March 28, 2007
E-R's David Little Speaks at Durham Rotary
by Jack Lee
EXCLUSIVE Mar 28 Enterprise-Record editor David Little was the guest speaker at last night's Rotary meeting held at the Butte Creek Country Club on Estates Drive. He enlightened the audience with a look at the direction of the printed media. Mr. Little explained that all newspapers are coming under increasing pressure from alternative advertising sources, not the least of which is internet.
Of particular concern was the subscription rate for the last ten years that has remained about 33,000 in the Chico area. As the newspapers redefine themselves to meet this new financial challenge they are struggling with how to make the internet version (ER-Online) an economically viable endeavor. Revenues for advertising on-line are substantially lower than in the printed version, he noted. On the plus side, some of the attraction for more internet participation has been video and interactive media,such this blog site. He noted that the ER has recetnly presented exclusive video on regional candidate forums and he can invision a day when it may also include local sports events, the possibilities of what might be broadcast are virtually limitless.
The readership for the free on-line version is growing quickly and there may soon come a time when the number of readers for the on-line version esclipses the printed version. Mr. Little noted the on-line edition can be as close to real time reporting as any other media source such a radio or TV, thus making newspaper reporters more appealing to people who want their news as it happens. HOWEVER, one of the problems with on-line stories is "the copyright protection just isn't there yet." A lot of piracy occurs from blogs sites and even among competing media, Mr. Little then noted that some of the ER's stories have appeared verbatim as news copy for TV and radio news locally.
So, there is a lot to be ironed out as ER evolves and reinvents itself to stay competitive with other media, however Mr. Little was confident that newspapers, our traditional source of news and information, are here to stay.
Posted by Post Scripts at March 28, 2007 09:11 AM