Only digital can save journalism in Canada
Jim Sheppard is a former executive editor of globeandmail.com. He also held senior newsroom management positions at washingtonpost.com and ABCNEWS.com
In case anyone missed this important story earlier this week, The New York Times made more money in the latest quarter – in the middle of a pandemic – from digital rather than print.
If it’s behind the paywall for any of you, here are the relevant paragraphs:
As much of its staff worked remotely, The Times brought in $185.5 million (U.S.) in revenue for digital subscriptions and ads during the second quarter of 2020, the company announced on Wednesday. The number for print revenue was $175.4 million (U.S.).
The company added 669,000 net new digital subscribers, making the second quarter its biggest ever for subscription growth. The Times has 6.5 million total subscriptions, a figure that includes 5.7 million digital-only subscriptions, putting it on a course to achieve its stated goal of 10 million subscriptions by 2025.
In a statement, Mark Thompson, the chief executive, called the company’s shift from print revenue to digital “a key milestone in the transformation of The New York Times.”
Similarly, several years ago, The Washington Post made a heavy investment in terms of money and of expanding its journalism into the digital sphere – a move which has been followed by years of profitability.
But in Canada?
Blinkered vision among media owners and company executives is the norm, not the exception.
Major media owners continue to slash and burn their digital sides while pouring money into legacy platforms that are bleeding money with no hope of recovery or future growth.
In earlier installments of this series, I have:
Criticized Canadian media owners for the devastating stupidity of their approach, particularly layoffs of digital journalists and cutbacks in their digital products.
Lamented how COVID-19 could be the final nail in the coffin of Canadian newspapers in particular because of their owners’ willful blindness to digital.
Despaired that Canadian newspaper owners continue to go cap-in-hand to Ottawa to beg for handouts to save their legacy products while ignoring the kind of growth that The Times and The Post have shown can come from a focus on digital.
I spent more than 40 years in both traditional journalism and in the “new” digital journalism sphere exclusively since 1995.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Canadian media owners — particularly in print but also in broadcast (i.e., recent digital layoffs at Global TV) — are standing in the proverbial railway tunnel under a mountain, hearing an ear-splitting noise, sensing the walls shaking, finding a blinding light in their eyes, and are still unable to realize they are about to be crushed by a speeding train.
I understand the reluctance of boards, CEOs and other executives to spend money. But they need to look only to The Times and The Post for the proof that investing in digital is the only life-saver for their dying companies.
Jim Sheppard is the owner of Conquest Communications Canada. He is former senior digital manager at The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post and ABCNEWS.
Further Reading
Part 1: The future of journalism
Part 2: The future of journalism
Part 3: The future of journalism
The Toronto Star understands the need to move to digital
