If the Wall Street Journal Can Contemplate It …

July 26, 2006      Admin

Prompted by a report that the Wall Street Journal is reviewing its distribution options, Scott Donaton muses in Ad Age about the prospect of a major newspaper bowing to the inevitable, abandoning print altogether and going 100% online. Think it will happen? We do.

Moreover, it's a potential transition that every non-profit should consider as you evaluate:

  • rising costs of print production & distribution;
  • greater comfort with — even preference for — using online resources on the part of your supporters, particularly as younger segments take interest in your work;
  • greater impact of communications using images, audio and video to reinforce or deliver the written message;
  • rising penetration of broadband, making viewing of media-rich e-newsletters and PDFs faster and more convenient to most supporters;
  • greater potential impact with imbedded interactivity features, like “discuss this,” “forward to a friend,” “get more info here,” “act now” and so forth.

If you hold the “publishing portfolio” at your non-profit, and you're not at least pondering print vs. digital trade-offs, you oughta be fired!