For the second time in four years, Reader’s Digest is staring down bankruptcy. This is just the latest media company to suffer the effects of a plugged-in society that is overflowing with information everywhere we turn. From television to electronic readers, iPads and a steady flow of News and opinions “on line” has displaced many prominent pillars of learning that have been part of North American homes for decades.
Few homes a generation ago did not have at least one Reader’s Digest, Farmer’s Almanac or National Geographic magazine on-hand. There are many magazines and reading materials that have fallen by the wayside, in favour of digital versions. Depending on the medium it was printed on, on-line colours are more vibrant, video is more compelling and everything is available on demand. Similar subjects are a click away.
Even encyclopedias, the gift at one time a family could only ever hope to afford, are now a print product of the past, replaced by searchable digital databases. A low monthly fee makes it possible to subscribe without the tremendous cash outlay of the past for a full set. There are sources of free information, but their material is not always accredited and the price of free comes with the labourious task of sifting through advertising to find the desired answer.
There are sure to be more drop-offs as attitudes change in what we read and how we read it.
In recent weeks, numerous Newspapers were closed by Sun Media. Former shoppers like the Guelph Pennysaver had been reincarnated as community Newspapers – in that specific case reintroduced as the Guelph Review. It was really too little, too late. Free word ads on-line, the absence of compelling stories and unsustainable ad prices helped finish off this publication.
Elsewhere in Ontario, long standing papers have folded as result of shrinking circulation counts and dwindling advertising. In many cases, the diversion of traditional ad revenue from all levels of government to on-line, radio or television had a great impact on the ability of the local papers to survive, let alone continue to thrive.
The implementation of pay-walls for News sites is not a new phenomenon, but it is gaining traction as News organizations recognize someone has to pay the bills for its services. The schemes for this type of subscription include metered schedules, where a few articles are viewable for free after which a charge exists. Pioneers of a pay-wall format however, always charged a fee and continue being successful by attracting and keeping readers that actually want the information the site provides.
Historically, advertising provided a great offset for News operations, but even that revenue is elusive as conglomerates latch onto online ad space and re-sell it for a fraction of what a local site may need to charge in order to stay in business.
The fallout will continue. The success of local community Newspapers is owed to the community it serves.
