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Pulse of Publishing: New Modes of News Consumption

This week’s Pulse of Publishing is less about theoretical developments in the future of journalism than about measurable events and fundamental changes in the way people are consuming news.

It should come as little surprise that one of these changes happened in Great Britain, a test lab for journalistic enterprise.

The Huffington Post weighed in on the role of social media in Britain’s recent election in Amanda Julius’ “U.K.’s Electoral Abeyance Spurs Social Media Storm.”

In contrast to the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, where social media was an important tool for the candidates, Twitter and Facebook did not come to the fore in Britain’s parliamentary race until after the election, when confusion and speculation about the outcome sent people searching for news online.

“Social media failed to set the nation alight during the campaigns as it has done in the U.S., but it has come into its own since the results were announced: With the realization that there was no outright winner, people began to discuss every detail and development, and then as David Cameron and Nick Clegg formed a coalition government, Twitter was where this information was shared instantly and cumulatively.”

The pace of political events made following the news easier online than off. Traditional media failed to keep pace:

“In the wake of the election results, the Internet has suddenly outshone print, which can’t keep up with the continuous developments and changes taking place literally by the hour.”

Journalists, too, turned to Twitter to share news and offer their analysis.

“In terms of straight news, the shouting front pages of British newspapers have been outdone by the live blogging and tweeting that have commandeered post-election news reporting. Live online updates from the BBC and the Guardian feature the Twitter feeds of politicians and commentators, as well as the news as it unfolds, while high-profile media figures exchange opinions publicly and are retweeted by their thousands of followers.

On May 13, “the Guardian’s director of digital content, Emily Bell, tweeted that Murdoch’s Sky News had now begun ‘following Twitter rumors,’ mixing online public comment in with television news reporting. Elsewhere a photograph of Clegg’s negotiation demands surfaced on Twitter and spread rapidly. It seemed people have been listening to one other as much as to the more traditional heavyweight voices of the media.”

This dynamic is unsurprising, especially in light of recent reports that “British web surfers … now trust online news sources more than television bulletins and newspapers.” Tim Bradshaw of the Financial Times reported these findings from media regulator Ofcom’s survey of media literacy (“User’s trust of online news rises”).

Ofcom’s survey found: “For the first time the web overtook television as the more trusted source of news.”

Even more surprisingly, “The press was deemed the least trustworthy medium, with more adults saying they thought newspapers were unreliable than said they believed in them.”

The United States is seeing similar shifts in news consumption. A prime example of this trend, the Huffington Post celebrated its fifth birthday this week, leading many to speculate about the news aggregator-blog’s future. A popular prediction is that the Huffington Post is poised to overtake the New York Times as the preeminent news source.

The Business Insider says, “By the end of this year, Huffington Post should be bigger than the New York Times in terms of online traffic. By 2012, Huffington Post should have vastly more traffic than the New York Times. And by 2012 Huffington Post could also be within spitting distance of the NYT in terms of online revenue.”

This supposition is especially interesting in light of the New York Times‘ announcement this week that it will “spend the summer ‘programming and developing’ the technology that will require non-print-subscribers to pay for content on NYTimes.com once they hit a certain amount of page views starting in January 2011.”

In contrast to the struggles of the New York Times and other mainstream media, the Huffington Post’s revenue, driven by traffic and advertising, is only improving. As Business Insider reports, “The Huffington Post booked about $15 million of revenue last year. Sales boss Greg Coleman thinks the company can double revenue this year to $30 million and double it again next year, to $60 million. And from there, as long as the site’s traffic keeps growing, it’s just a hop, skip and jump to $100+ million.”)

The Huffington Post’s ascendancy online can only be expected to increase, should the New York Times‘ pay-wall drive readers away and into the welcoming (free) arms of blogs and news aggregators.

Another milestone this week that’s worth reflecting on is GQ’s launch of its iPad app. GQ was an early adopter of iPad fever and released its December 2009 Men of the Year Issue on the platform for $2.99.

Mashable reported on the issue’s less than earth-shattering sales: 365 copies were downloaded, “for a grand total of $1,091.35 in sales.”

Rather than being alarmed by the lack of sales or revenue, GQ remains optimistic about the iPad.

“This costs us nothing extra: no printing or postage,” publisher Pete Hunsinger told Mashable. “Everything is profit, and I look forward to the time when iPad issue sales become a major component to our circulation.”

Unfortunately for GQ, as Mashable notes, they seem to have forgotten to include iPad app development costs into their calculations.

While it’s heartening to see publishers embracing new revenue models, it’s clear that, for now at least, the iPad will not be transforming every brand in publishing.

— Lee Glandorf

Twitter: @leeglandorf

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