One of the things that surprised me in Vail off site was the desire to talk about print.

I was, and still am, pretty sure we’re managing the off ramp of print as costs go up and demand goes down. But the fact is print is still a profit center for many, probably most, news publishers. 

There are, however, some nuances to print that are important to learn.

One thing I think I’d forgotten is that print sets the agenda in many countries — whether it’s on TV, where you’ll often hear “here’s what is being said in the media,” or specific titles of record being quoted. One participant told us a title in the UK has dropped print but improved profitability — and has now lost that all-important profile.  

One reason print sets the agenda is the people who read it. One CEO in Vail told us his print had decreased from 1.5 million to 60,000 (and yes, we checked these numbers several times) but held 60% of the ad revenue during that drop because it is decision-makers who read the title.

That is incredible. If you can have a small but more valuable audience, the economics change significantly.

A print product says a lot about the person carrying it. When I lived in London and got the Tube to work every morning 20+ years ago, people carried a newspaper and it immediately branded them into certain cohorts. 

This carries through to digital in a slightly different way. People don’t carry a brand, but what they share on social media and the brands they follow say something. This attachment to brand is highly important no matter what the medium, and it’s something we need to continue to work on. 

So the resulting conversation around print came down to two things: 

• In the short-term, making it as efficient as possible using tools such as automatic layout. 
• And in the mid- to long-term, understanding what the off ramp looks like, including using print as a driver for digital while inspiring staff by tracking audience growth across all platforms.

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