'Newspapers must lead change'
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Gilles Demptos
By Joel Lee
Newspaper companies are struggling to keep afloat in the digital era dominated by such behemoth portal sites as Google and Naver.
Gilles Demptos, director of publications and events at the WAN-IFRA World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, says newspaper companies must reinvent themselves on efficient and sustainable business models to survive.
“That includes having a startup mentality with innovation in the heart of their company culture,” Demptos said in a recent interview.
The core of the association’s mission is to support news publishers in their transition into the digital economy, he said. Each year it organizes events where it provides consultation on advertising and content development strategies.
“The advertising world is evolving constantly. In the past, it used to be about reaching the widest possible audience to make an impact. From the publisher’s perspective, now it’s about making the readers not only consume the news but also share it with others along with ads,” he said.
Following the evolution of the advertising industry, the share of newspaper advertising, called the “ad-spent share of newspaper,” has dramatically fallen. Portal sites have progressively taken over the online advertising market, acquiring over an 80-percent share in some developed countries.
According to Demptos, the problem with the newspaper industry is that it is following, rather than leading, the change.
“Newspaper companies have always been very conservative. Particularly those with historic heritage or complex organizational structures have more to lose, and are prone to resist change both technologically and managerially.”
However, with unique content and qualified readers, he noted there are ways for the industry to adapt to the evolving advertising model.
“The fact that the nature of crisis is uniform across the world also means that companies can learn from the successes in different countries and apply the solutions to their local market,” he said.
As a practical measure, Demptos stressed collective action among the news publishers — through advertising networks and legal actions — for fighting against the powerful portals.
WAN-IFRA plans to host two conferences this year — “Publish Asia” April 23-25 in Hong Kong, and “Digital Media Asia” November 18-20 in Singapore. Pioneering news publishers will be invited to share ideas through seminars and workshops.