Digital Magazine and Newspaper Editions: Conclusions


Publishers’ Decisions
The range of media choices and new content sources available to readers is almost
dizzying. Successful publishers continually reassess their product offerings to seek ways
to offer their subscribers greater value. While there are costs and risks associated with
digital publishing strategies, we believe that it is far riskier for publishers to be behind
the curve in digital product innovation.
Cross-media publishing strategies — The lesson learned from the Harlequin case is
that it is important to plan how content can be developed for multiple media platforms
and to map their anticipated interaction. The content management experts at Nstein
demonstrate that it is easier to create once and publish many editions if you plan
correctly and use the right tools.
Several of the publishers interviewed in the best-practice cases employ a “digital first”
strategy in which new content is either published first on their Web site or integrated
into a perpetual digital edition that is continually revised. Their newspaper and
magazine articles often offer more comprehensive descriptions and more analysis than
the initial “Web stories.” By analyzing Web traffic, they are guided to giving more
coverage to stories that are attracting the eyeballs of Web site readers. They use each
version of their content products to cross-promote their other versions.
Embracing readers’ information needs — For many years, the published article has
been the final destination of a reader’s quest for information. If a reader wanted to
explore a topic further, a trip to the library was required, or, more recently, search
engines were deployed to gather more information. We believe that publishers should
strive to be involved with readers throughout their entire information quest:
� Origins — Successful publishers want to be the first source that readers consult
for their information needs within defined topics. Whether it’s general news,
sports, politics, business, entertainment, or advanced nuclear physics, most
readers now have their favorite print and digital resources. Mike Edelhart
suggests that future points of origin will be decided by how accurately the
content provider chooses and presents content that meets a reader’s interests.
He feels that by mining past reading behaviors and using factors such as
demographics and geography as predictors, publishers will be able to provide
custom editions of their content that readers will find quite satisfying.
� Authority — publishers play the important role of lending authority to their
content that differentiates it from the vast amount of information available. As
the number of information sources and voices continues to increase, readers will
have an even greater need to find sources that they can trust.
� Connections — It is important that publishers embrace the new role of
connector/referrer and enable their readers to easily find other credible
information sources for expanding readers' knowledge on specific topics. We
suggest that it is far better for a publisher to refer a reader to another
information resource than for the reader to have to launch a Google search. It is
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