The newspaper market is one that is very puzzling. A few years ago the news from this market in this area was all doom and gloom. The general belief being put forward was that newspapers were dying, and that there was no future for them. The rise of electronic media was generating a new world of publishing, where newspapers appeared to be lost and were having difficulty finding their way. At any publishing conference the “experts” would talk about he forthcoming death of the newspaper. I remember in particular Bill Gates pointing out that newspapers had little future. Not that Mr Gates was in any way biased in his comments in seeing electronic media taking over the role of the newspaper!

At the same time as the “experts” were projecting the demise of the newspaper, we also saw major changes in readership patterns. This showed that few young people regularly, or even irregularly read a newspaper. Instead they found other sources for the news information. The readership of the newspaper all around the world was seen to be both ageing and getting smaller. All this emphasized the messages of doom.

Despite all this most newspapers are still in business, and many of doing very well. Various newspapers have discovered how to operate very successfully utilizing the web and building a strong local presence. In this they have shown that they can become the center of information for their communities and have challenged newer entrants into this web space. There are very many good examples of this where newspapers are reinventing the way they work with their readers and advertisers.