Torstar Chair John Honderich says serious journalism is at risk. Photo by Josh Brown.

Time to pay up, news leaders say

By Joshua Brown and Scott Lilwall

With more and more people reading news for free online the journalism industry is looking for ways to make news worth paying for.

That is the message media experts delivered at the seventh annual Joseph Howe Symposium in Halifax.

“More and more people are switching to the web, where websites and blogs flood the space with up-to-date news and commentary. And they do it for free,” said John Honderich, Chair of Torstar Corp.

The event, hosted by the University of King’s College, explored how professional journalism could survive in the digital age.

Honderich told the audience of 300 students, journalists and members of the public that the future of serious journalism is at risk. He says this carries serious consequences for the rest of society.

“The debate and discussion as to what is to be done in Canada must flourish now. For if it doesn’t, I think the very quality of our democracy could be in play.”

Donna Logan

Donna Logan, president of the Canadian Media Research Consortium agreed.

She presented the findings of the group’s sweeping examination of the state of the Canadian media industry. The news wasn’t good.

“Advertising in traditional media is trending downward at an alarming rate,” says Logan.

“The business models are clearly breaking down.”

Logan said that it isn’t that people are no longer interested in what news companies have to offer, it’s that new technologies mean advertisers no longer see the media as the best way to promote their products.

“Traditional media has essentially lost its role as the connector between advertisers and consumers,” she said.

Instead, companies are using their online presence to speak directly to their customers.

This means even news companies that move their business online have to fight for business development dollars from companies spending more on their websites, search engine optimization and applications for mobile phones.

Newspapers have always had to contend with other of advertising mediums but it is harder to make money in the online arena.

Michael Rogers, former futurist-in-residence for the New York Times, said even as media move their work online, the money doesn’t necessarily follow.

“When you take your old business and move it on to the Internet you make one-tenth as much as you did in the physical world,” says Rogers.

Rogers said that new technology is making it easier for advertisers to target consumers.

Instead of relying on the scattershot method of advertising in a newspaper and hoping the right people see it, companies are tracking online customers and taking the message right to them.

While most of the speakers at the symposium were sure of the problems facing the news industry, the solutions were not quite as clear.

Honderich and Logan pointed to different funding options, such as investigative news organizations that are paid for by grants and public donations.

One of the most popular ideas was a return to an old way of doing business, charging people to view news online.

At a later panel, the managing editor of the subscription-based allNovaScotia.com said the idea failed in the past because news organizations were trying to sell content others had for free. Instead, they need to produce unique work before asking to be paid for it online, Kevin Cox said.

“Content is king … It doesn’t matter what medium you’re in. Content needs to be engaging, informative and unique,” he said.

“We’re in the midst of a media revolution and its not going to happen in Toronto or New York unfortunately. It’s going to happen all over the place and it’s going to be messy.”

Tim Currie, King’s online instructor, has posted his  “10 Ideas for Change,” drawn from the all-day discussion. You’ll also find coverage on j-source.ca

Please click on the live-blog link to the right to see the archived live blog of the event. Twitter members following the “jsource” feed can review tweets from throughout the day.