Can Amazon's Kindle Save Newspapers?

Opinions Split on Whether Ailing Dailies Will Benefit From E-reader

May 29, 2009

Newspaper publishers had little to give them hope of late as circulation and advertising sales plummeted - until Amazon.com recently rolled out its big-screen E-reader.

Newspaper advertising losses, in particular, have been precipitous over the past two years. The Newspaper Association of America says newspaper advertising dropped 17.3 percent in 2008 and will fall another 17 percent in 2009. As a result, newspapers have:

A number of large daily newspapers - in Denver, Seattle, Tucson and Detroit - have either closed, altered days of print delivery or moved to an online-only edition. Newspapers in Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Chicago are in bankruptcy court.

Kindle to the Rescue?

Enter Amazon and its recently unveiled Kindle large-screen DX reader. In early May, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was joined at a press conference by New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and author Stephen King (brandishing a bright pink Kindle).

The press conference's theme, reported Time's Josh Quittner: "Kindles 1 and 2 helped give trade books a lifeline ... and Kindle 3 will apparently do the same thing for textbooks and newspapers."

"We at the New York Times company are delighted to make use of the Kindle DX," Sulzberger said at the press conference. "We know that the e-reader can offer the same satisfying experience [as the print edition]."

Depends on Who You Ask

Some say Kindle is, indeed, the white horse newspapers have been awaiting. Others say it's too little too late.

One voice on the not-so-fast side is that of Alan Mutter, who is a former journalist, now investment consultant and college instructor, who writes a well-regarded blog on the newspaper industry, "Reflections of a Newsosaur."

"Instead of trying to persuade consumers to adapt to an expensive, awkward and idiosyncratic gizmo like the wide-body Kindle," Mutter wrote, "newspapers would be wiser to spend their time and resources optimizing their existing offerings for the interactive formats already in popular use."

On the optimistic side is John Ridding, CEO of Britain's beige-newsprint Financial Times. He told the New York Times recently, "We are looking at this with a great deal of interest," Ridding said, "The severe double whammy of the recession and the structural shift to the Internet has created an urgency that has rightly focused attention on these devices."

Critical Mass is Missing

All things considered, newspapers and Amazon have a ways to go before claiming victory. Only 27 U.S. newspapers (out of more than 1,600 dailies) currently offer Kindle subscriptions. Monthly e-subscriptions range from $5.99 for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others, to $14.99 for The Wall Street Journal. If readers can square with paying for something that they get for free off of the newspapers' websites or through Google - plus the $489 price tag for a Kindle DX – then momentum might build.

Developing Other Information Delivery Streams

As the newspaper industry looks at the Kindle as one means to right itself, it is feverishly developing other means beyond its tried-and-now-not-so-true ink-on-paper.

Mobile technology is quickly taking hold for newspapers. The "aGeekSpot" blog recently reported that USA Today ranks 26th among all free downloads offered on Apple's iPhone, demonstrating an interest in news offered by traditional print media.

Many newspapers have launched Twitter and Facebook applications, as well. The New York Times recently appointed a "social media networks editor".

Whether the Kindle catches fire with readers, along with the other ways newspapers are trying to save themselves, is the subject of ongoing debate.

Eric Sass writing for Mediapost.com recently took a pessimistic view: "Unfortunately, a quick look at potential business reveals that ... Kindle and other mobile devices will do little more than partially offset the continuing overall loss."

Newspaper publishers no doubt hope Sass is wrong and that Kindle technology provides another road back to readers.

The copyright of the article Can Amazon's Kindle Save Newspapers? in Newspaper Publishing is owned by Keith Moyer. Permission to republish Can Amazon's Kindle Save Newspapers? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.