Mickey Alam Khan on Future of Journalism

Following is an interview by OurBlook with Mickey Alam Khan , editor in chief of Mobile Marketer , a trade publication in New York.

You have written that "by decade's end, we'll see maybe five strong national brands," meaning newspapers, that will survive. Which five do you think will survive and why?

MAK: I suspect that national newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and USA Today will survive in one form or the other. They are all national treasures and have strong editorial bones. Other newspapers brands that might make it by the skin of their teeth are the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.

But I expect most of these publications to undergo change of ownership, bankruptcy filings or a switch to web-only editions except Friday, Saturday and Sunday for coupon, lifestyle and weekend inserts.

That said, to lose even one of these brands will diminish the intellectual lead that America has had over the rest of the world. A population that is not well-read will not think critically. Newspapers, be they in print or online or on mobile, offer edited, moderated and unbiased news and balanced opinion so necessary for debating between good choices and bad in personal life and at work.

You also have written that newspapers "signed their own death warrant" by giving news on their web sites away for free. Why do you feel that way, and what should papers do now if they wish to start charging?

MAK: Newspapers should have thought long and hard before giving away their content for free on the Internet. Retailers have bricks-and-mortar stores and catalogs. Do they give their products for free on the Internet via their e-commerce site? Book publishers produce physical books and audio books. Do they give their books for free over the Internet?

It’s no use crying over spilled milk. Newspapers decided that eyeballs would get more advertising, but perhaps they, like so many other content providers, got suckered into the notion that everything on the Internet related to content is not worth paying for. And that has ruined it for all publishers.

Consumers have been conditioned not to pay for news over the Internet or now, sad to say, even on mobile phones. They don’t attach any monetary value to news unless it’s unique.

The Wall Street Journal charges subscribers for complete access to its online edition at WSJ.com. But ever since Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. took over, it has lowered the drawbridge to let more readers access more free content on WSJ.com. It’s not a wise move. Advertising revenues will not make up for an annual subscription commitment from an online reader. The Journal must hold strong. Its financial news is unique, as its rival Financial Times knows only too well.

Mass-market newspapers will not be able to charge consumers for reading the online edition unless they all erect barriers. That, unfortunately, would invite a class-action lawsuit for collusion on pricing. So it might have to take one or two newspapers to become the guinea pigs for the rest to follow. And success is not guaranteed, either. The New York Times had to end its Times Select program because keeping the prized columns behind a firewall was costing it unique visitors. Fewer repeat visitors means looser loyalty and fewer click-throughs on content or ads.

The other, more drastic option is to shut down the Internet site and leave only the print edition. That way readers will have to pay for the physical product to get the latest news ... as they did for centuries. Again, it would be seen as a retrograde step and unless everyone followed suit lemming-like, the first one to shut the web site would pay the ultimate price ... out of business. Plus, the environment is completely unfavorable for print publications ... rising postage costs, fluctuating fuel charges, labor contracts and paper and ink costs.

The irony is, newspapers would have come to the same fork in the road even without the Internet: It has become too expensive to produce a daily newspaper in print.

Of course, you can’t levy all blame on newspapers. Their advertisers are gasping for air. The four categories so crucial for a newspaper’s profitability ... retail, automotive, financial services and home furnishings ... are struggling. Classified revenues are as good as gone to cheaper web sites. Only the telecommunications category is holding its own, simply because wireless is the future of all communications.

Essentially, if the advertisers sneeze, the newspapers catch a cold.

So the options for mass-market newspapers are not good. Charging for online access may not work simply because of consumer conditioning and expectations of free news over the Internet.

It is not that newspapers can’t survive. They can – online. But with a truncated staff, extensive use of wire services, no smart-alecky columnists and low overheads. Articles should be tightly focused, coverage should be local and regional, and wire services should supplement with international coverage. And advertisers should have the ability to serve targeted ads and offers by ZIP code as well as aggregated site browsing behavior.

Tell us about Mobile Marketer, of which you are editor in chief. How and why did you found it and how does it fit into today's media marketplace?

MAK: Mobile Marketer is a trade publication that covers mobile marketing, media and commerce. It is a daily, producing between six and eight articles tightly-written and focused on readers looking to include the mobile channel in branding, customer acquisition or customer retention efforts.

As is expected, the mobile marketing audience is perhaps ahead of most: I suspect that they read as much of their news over the mobile phone as they do on web-enabled desktops or laptops.

So that’s another thing newspapers should keep in mind: eventually, with more sophisticated and user-friendly mobile devices, people will switch to reading their news on handsets. This change in behavior will tremendously affect the wired Internet and traditional web sites.

How will newspapers pay for operations based on ads running on mobile sites? As it is, they’re having trouble making ends meet with ad revenue from wired Internet operations.

With the prospect now that many newspapers across America are on the brink of bankruptcy, what do you think the effect will be on our society if they don't make it?

MAK: It’s for the American people to decide what their priorities are. They think nothing of paying $10 for a movie ticket and yet balk at coughing up the same amount for a well-edited magazine. Sooner or later, someone will have to foot the bill for free.

To lose newspapers such as the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune will stunt the United States intellectually. Blogs and social networks and the resultant chatter will not make up for the loss for curated journalism.

Newspapers can survive if they are completely pared down, lean, focused and offer content desirable both to the reader and the advertiser. And at that point the bold few publications will have to stare down the reader and the advertiser and call it as it is: quality content costs – take it or leave it.

Mr. Alam Khan was editor at DMNews before founding Mobile Marketer last year in response to the changing tide of traditional advertising, and to serve as the voice and bellwether for the growth of new media, specifically, mobile.

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