The Future of Newspapers

A good friend of mine Colin Gilchrist wrote an interesting article on the future of newspapers. Now some of you might know that I spent a number of years in the newspaper industry so here are my thoughts on Colin's comments and some of my own.
I agree that the BBC does seem to have the monopoly on international news and how we read and digest it but I also think that most of the newspapers have had it good for so long and their reaction to change so slow that they are genuinely not sure on the course of action to take to combat this. The newspaper industry is centuries old where the Internet, in comparison, is a mere baby so getting to grips with this is a little daunting for them.
Take into consideration the current 'file sharing' issue and the fact that over 60% of the younger audience think they shouldn't have to pay for anything online, other than through Amazon and eBay etc. File sharing is becoming the norm and free information is also the norm so getting people to pay for it other than buying the printed edition is going to be difficult. Mr Murdoch can squeal all he likes but I doubt it will change in the near future.

Lets face it the array of sites that give away free information is growing by the day.

So what do the newspapers do? Well two routes they can take immediately are, hyper local just concentrating on their local area and become all things local or they can reverse publish, which means only publish the newspaper when its subscribed to, making the print runs shorter and cheaper.

Advertisers are also becoming more Internet savvy when it comes to their advertising and with the advent of social marketing again the routes to market are growing. I don't think it helps when newspaper companies, and they are all the same just follow the link from Colin's blog to the new Glasgow Herald website and notice the crappy blurry newspapers in the ad column in comparison to the national ads and you will see what they are up against. If the newspapers and advertising agencies do not realise that sub standard doesn't work the more chance they have of attracting advertisers.
The website that gets it right every time is The Guardian.

It's a good point that Colin makes in that the BBC have advertising throughout their sites other than in the UK and we do fund it through our licence fee so is it time to change for the BBC, should it be more like a news or newspaper site and have to fund it through advertising like they do? I for one think it should and the sooner the better but I am not sure if it will ever happen and in there lies the imbalance and injustice.

For what its worth I am of the old school and I like to read my local paper to find out whats going in my area on but for the national stuff its the BBC or The Guardian and I can't see that changing if I am honest.

So what do you do when the block comes?

Creative block and what does it mean?
I think for most creative’s this can be a serious condition, especially if your livelihood depends on it, so what can you do?

Well I once read a book by Hillman Curtis and in there was a quote which said something along the lines of “rediscover a master” and in that they meant go back to a master painter, writer, sculptor, in fact anyone who first inspired you to do what you do.

When I was painting in watercolour two artists really did it for me, Turner and Rowland Hilder and I think even though I didn’t know it at the time going back and reading their books and looking at their work did inspire me to try new and different things, so when I started KMiDigital I always held that thought that when the ‘block’ came I had a look at some of the designers who inspire me and see what they were doing.

So then comes the question are you stealing or copying their work, not at all as everything comes in cycles and to ‘borrow something then put it back’ is fine all the greats have done it.



How do you deal with creative block, we would really like to know?

Why wouldn't you...?

Why wouldn't you blog, well first of all it’s free and it’s one of the quickest ways to promote you and your business.
What should I say? Well it’s a great way to let visitors know what you are doing and thinking, you need to think of it as is a diary that you keep online, its just everyone can see it so be careful what you say and who you say it about.

As a creative company I find it a great way to keep clients and potential clients up to speed on what’s happening, not only in the studio, but in the creative world in general.

So what you waiting for?

Do you find Twitter useful?

We all know that Twitter and other social networking platforms are changing our lives and the way we do business but how do you feel its changed over the past couple of years?
Let me know and maybe we can start a revolution?

Here is some more 'meat on the bones'

This is for all those businesses out there who find the current crop of business social networking sites, such as, LinkedIn, ecademy and a host of others just too damn difficult to use

At KMiDigital we like to make life simple, in fact so simple you don’t really have to think about what you are doing and when you are doing it. It becomes so routine it becomes part of your daily routine. It might be me but some of these social networking sites drive me up the wall, they are either to complicated to use and something that should be as simple as finding the business or area you want is either very difficult or not there, ring any bells?

So why is it we all love FaceBook and use it regularly, could it be that it is so simple to use and administer that you don’t need the attention span of a nuclear scientist to use it, it might well be.

Twitter is relatively new but has taken hold like a house on fire and everyone seems to be using it, are you, and if so why.

The purpose of this exercise is to find out what you think, as a business, about the social networking sites you use and which are you’re favourites and which are you’re least favourites and don’t forget to tell us why.

It could be that we are well on our way to helping you achieve if not all, then some of your business goals and ambitions.

Please add your comments below…and thank you for your time.