The Changing Front Page
April 22, 2009 by Nathan
As a J-school graduate and PR professional, I love newspapers. And by newspapers, I mean the printed kind – not online (I don’t mind the ink). We encourage our team to read through several national newspapers everyday and flag issues and topics that relate to clients – helping them to focus on opportunities and potential placements. Through the years I have come to notice some important changes in what the national newspapers cover.
Up until late last year the “A” sections of the major national newspapers were basically the same with regards to the stories they covered. The front page of the USA Today, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal were quite similar and I found myself reading whichever “A” section I got to first and skimming through the rest. Big news being big news, it made sense, and probably wasn’t something that mattered to anyone who didn’t make a habit out of reading through all of them.
But as the circulation at newspapers all over the world began to drop, I started to notice a shift. The national papers began to lead with more diverse stories, with less and less overlap. Yesterday and today, for example, there was not one shared story on the covers of USA Today, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. And with the exception of the “big stories,” this trend has been consistent for months.
We have debated the reason why with a number of colleagues and believe that the tail may finally be wagging the dog. Because all of their content is online and easily comparable, newspapers have had to become more creative with the stories they choose to run. Consumers want different kinds of content, so the pressure is on to keep it interesting. And perhaps their online presence is now driving what ends up in print.
If this is true, this may be very good news for those in the PR profession who are creative and understand the new demands.
Tags: Journalism, Media Relations, Newspapers, PR