Newspapers are not dead; they are transforming said Paul Steinle and Sara Brown, co-founders of the “Who Needs Newspapers” project on Monday.
“Newspapers may shrink,” Steinle said at the RTDNA/SPJ Conference in New Orleans, La. “But there are still people who are going to care about newspapers.”
Paul Steinle is the president of Valid Sources, a non-profit organization designed to provide ethically based journalism. Steinle worked as a reporter and news manager for nearly 30 years. Sara Brown is the secretary of Valid Sources. She worked in the newspaper industry for over 30 years. Steinle and Brown have been traveling around the U.S. talking to newspapers about where the print industry is going. They have compiled their findings into a project called, “Who Needs Newspapers."
Steinle and Brown were at the RTDNA/SPJ Conference as part of the 2011 Excellence in Journalism Conference. About 70 people participated in their session.
In their session, Steinle and Brown talked about newspapers utilizing the web, restructuring operating methods and using social media.
On using the web, Steinle said it is important for print journalists to take advantage of the benefits of producing content for the web. “With websites, we are able to do a better job of promoting stories,” Steinle said. “We are reaching far more people than we ever have in the past.”
On restructuring operating methods, Steinle said many newspapers have begun rationalizing costs by streamlining or outsourcing their printing needs. Steinle also found that some newspapers have begun focusing on more local issues. “They knew they had to cover fewer stories, instead what they did cover were things important to their communities.”
On using social media, Steinle said journalists should be “Swiss army knife reporters,” by being prepared to write for print, the web and Twitter. “Journalists should be using Twitter to promote readership and promote their news,” Steinle said.
Steinle and Brown said the newspaper industry is not going anywhere. “It’s the newspaper that congregates the people,” Steinle said. “Not the web.”
