Promote Your Website as a Source for Breaking Stories
Breaking news belongs in the place where it can be published the fastest, your website. Here, your newspaper will compete head-to-head with broadcasters and any online-only news providers in your community.But you can win this battle because your paper probably has more resources, more staff and more contacts than any other news source. People may not think of the newspaper first when it comes to breaking stories, but if you provide breaking news consistently and update it as new information comes in, they will start relying on you over other media.
Do some checking and you'll see that many other news outlets may compete to be first to post breaking news, but then they forget to update that first story. That's a huge opportunity for you to sell your coverage as the most thorough in town -- which is the traditional strength of newspapers over radio and TV.
Decide Where to Post Exclusive Content
You have a blockbuster investigative report that will have the whole town talking. Now you must decide where to break the story that no one else has. Putting it on the front page of your print edition seems to be the obvious choice, but that may not be the best way to reach potential new subscribers.Many newspapers will break up their story so that some of it appears first on the website. That way, you can tease your site users into buying tomorrow's paper to get the full story.
Do that enough times and you've earned new subscribers. Do it too much and you drive off your regular website visitors. The critical decision to make is how much content to give away on the website -- not enough and your readers will be dissatisfied, but too much and they may not be compelled to pick up your print edition.
The Washington Post went the opposite route when deciding to put an in-depth article on an unsolved killing only on its website. That method would reach the most people, but it would likely have subscribers wondering why they're paying for the paper if some content is purposely being left out.
Use Online Content to Help Your Bottom Line
Except in a few headline-grabbing cases, most newspapers' print editions are not being eliminated for web-only journalism. For now at least, new media is a companion service to the traditional newsprint. But newspapers around the world are experimenting with ways to generate revenue through new media streams.In Great Britain, some newspapers plan to charge for content on mobile devices. In the U.S., it's more common to debate whether to offer paid, free or freemium content on your website.
So far, there have been no clear solutions on how newspapers can generate new income without scaring off their regular users. But by showcasing they're credible, experienced at newsgathering and offering exclusive in-depth content, newspapers can set themselves apart from other forms of media to guarantee they will survive through this technological transition.
