A hybrid future for news
Friday I attended a local chamber of commerce event, and listened to an esteemed newspaper chief editor speak about the future of print newspapers. He admitted they certainly have their challenges, and that they have not been quick enough to adapt to changes in the marketplace, but he also pointed out that a large portion of the original news we consume is generated by newspaper sources. TV, web, and radio often aggregate and edit the content that is created by newspaper journalists. He was emphatic in his opinion that newspapers are not doomed, despite recent struggles and despite advancements in handheld digital technologies. He opined that the future will be a hybrid of print and digital, and suggested that even the technorati like to be “unplugged” from time to time, and can consume and browse information in printed form much quicker and easier than the same content in digital form. I have to admit I agree with this opinion… I am as geeky and gadget-hungry as they come, yet I still enjoy (and often prefer) to read interesting (especially if they are lengthy) stories, and view beautiful photos, in large print format.
There is something unique about the physical nature of paper that a digital format will never replace (even with flexible plastic paper-thin ePaper). I do prefer the smaller tabloid format to the traditional large newspaper broadsheet, and I prefer a semi-gloss non-smearing paper to the cheap newsprint that leaves your fingers ink-stained, and I think newspapers will all trend towards this format.
Breaking news will undoubtedly be digital, at least the headline and the 160 character synopsis Twitter is training us towards. But, you can’t really uncover the story behind the headline in that short format, and Twitter does not lend itself to investigative reporting – only quick bits of instant information. So there will always be a need for the in-depth info with the details and drama that depict the real story. This is the realm where print can reign.
The problem with print is that it is passive. You can’t easily save the great content you encounter there (clutter, even if it is “organized”), and sharing it with multiple friends instantly is very difficult (scan and email?). Try finding a story you read in print 6 months ago in the moment you need to refer to it… almost impossible.
O-CODES was created to solve these problems and to combine the best attributes of the print and digital worlds. Consumers can enjoy the reading experience related to print, yet engage with that content as if it were digital (easily saving the stories and ads they find compelling, sharing them instantly with friends via their social networks, and being able to quickly find what they’ve saved later).
In addition, O-CODES aims to address the challenge of measuring engagement and influence for publishers and advertisers creating this content. With offline forms, this has been very difficult (if not technically, then certainly financially). Without revealing personal consumer information, O-CODES can track and measure the interaction readers have with all forms of offline content, and link that to their online behavior as well. This lends credibility to, and confidence in a hybrid model of publishing and advertising for those content providers who are feeling the pressure related to the “measure everything” mantra.
I agree with the editor that the future of news is a hybrid model where the headlines and instant information will be digital and the follow-up details and powerful photos, especially for local stories, will be available in both print and digital forms. And it will be the goal of O-CODES to bridge the gap between offline and online information in a way that benefits both the consumers of that content, as well as the creators and curators.
