The war with the online newspaper: Which way for the paper?

From 60 countries, the editor-in-chief and leaders of major print newspapers met in emergency meetings in Athens. The goal is to find ways to exploit Internet resources and strategies to " draw " readers back.

Printed newspapers are facing a global crisis due to extreme competition from television and electronic newspapers. " This is a very difficult time, " Mike Smith, executive director of Northwestern University's Media Management Center, told the World Press Association (WAN) conference.

" We always value Google as a giant king-kong, weighing hundreds of pounds and ready to crush anyone, " Smith said - referring to the great success of Internet search engines in providing links to current news. " But it is also a great opportunity for print to change and succeed ."

To demonstrate his assertion, Smith stressed that many newspapers in North and South America have embraced the Internet wisely and turned it into a way to attract more readers. Las Ultimas Noticias, a newspaper in Santiago, Chile, has chosen to post one newspaper page online and readers can click on it. Meanwhile, San Jose Mercury News recruited young journalists to write very teen-like articles like hip-hop in a blog style.

Weblogs have led to the birth of a generation of " citizen journalists " around the world

Jim Chisholm, a strategic advisor to the WAN, appreciates the exploitation of human resources. Last time, along with the emergence of a blog as a new media category, millions of " citizen journalists " - the term for bloggers - also appeared. This team is ready to contribute to the newspaper, as well as publish their stories on the blog. " Instead of the BTV-PV board of 50 people, you will have about . 50,000 collaborators. Why not use it? "

The growing attractiveness of online news sites also means that it is getting more messy in attracting ads. That is not to mention a new competitor is emerging: it is cable television. The advantage of cable television is that they can immediately notify the advertiser after just one night how many people have watched the show, but the advertiser always likes " fresh money, real grain ".

In some parts of the world, such as Africa and most of Europe, printed newspapers have not fallen so hard. But a lot of the papers have changed due to the pressure from television. " Young people today have a desire to read their parents ' newspapers," said Eric Le Boucher, editor-in-chief of the daily Le Monde (France). This month, Le Monde has launched a new set with more colors and larger text. " We have to attract readers as young as possible. If a person does not read the newspaper at the age of 20, his whole life will never touch that newspaper again ."

Other speakers proposed a more friendly page format change for bus and subway passengers, as well as reducing size for teenagers to fit in their backpacks. Going in this direction, the Guardian newspaper of England recently changed the size of the newspaper, with the slogan " Let you welcome without . tired hands ".

However, many opinions remain: Print newspapers are still hopeful in the future, because no modern technology can replace its convenience and ease of use. " Easy to see, easy to transport, cheap, recyclable - that's the undeniable advantage of paper ".

Therefore, the WAN's conclusion is still " Be boldly using the Internet, don't be afraid of being swallowed ".

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