"The medium is not the message; the message is the message."

Wall Street Journal, a Dow Jones publication, has 788,000 paid subscribers to their web site as of September 30, 2006, up 3.1% over the prior year period. This online subscriber base is larger than all but four U.S. print newspapers. Ad revenue at the site was up 12.4%.

The recent financial results of Dow Jones illustrate a specific trend among senior business executives: More are getting their news and business information on the internet. Companies like Dow Jones continue to build their online presence and expand in other areas to reduce their reliance on print advertising. (Dow Jones recently announced plans to divest 6 newspapers.)

It is well known that newspaper readership is suffering. This sector of "print" has been hit hardest as other media is more timely for news and analysis of news. Clearly the opportunity for "print" is outside the newspaper industry - mostly marketing and communications collateral, custom and technical publications etc.

Which newspapers will prosper? Those that shift to being a "lighthouse" for their audience. These comments were made in a speech entitled "Monetizing Publishing Brands, Now that Consumers Are King" by Gordon Crovitz. Crovitz is Senior VP, Electronic Publishing, Dow Jones.

My print and online colleagues are focused on the enormous potential opportunities created by this new situation. Karen House, publisher of the Journal, uses a wonderful metaphor: A daily print newspaper, she said, can serve as a "lighthouse," shedding light on trends and analysis and on what the news of the previous day really means looking forward. In contrast, a web site such as the online Journal can play the role of "streetlight." It's constantly updated and can provide great breadth and depth of coverage so that consumers know if there's a business topic of interest to them in the news, they'll find details online. In an age of information overload, a print newspaper can be a once-a-day oasis of reflection and perspective-helping all of us put the rush of news into some meaningful context.