Does the Newspaper Industry Need a Strategy?
That’s the key question Poynter news analyst Rick Edmonds asks in his Thursday column, “Are Newspapers Sticking to a Premium Strategy Amid Digital Disruption?”
Citing a McKinsey study on how industries deal with the advent of “low-cost rivals,” Rick lays out good arguments for how the industry approaches are too little, too late, too limited. He’s right. In mid-2010, there isn’t a cohesive industry strategy. In fact, lower-cost entrants — AOL, Yahoo/Associated Content, Demand +++ — aren’t just pests; they’re changing the economics of producing content. That’s not a small issue. It may well lead the next wave of disruption.