IN 1980, THE MEDIA BARON Rupert Murdoch made the bold prediction that all news-and advertising-would someday be delivered digitally and that there would really be no need for paper or ink. Almost 30 years later, newspapers and magazines are indeed facing profound challenges with the explosion (or even the overload) of news and rich content available on the web.
While paper and ink are still used profusely, the entire industry has realized its future will be digital-and maybe even paperless. A PR Week/PR Newswire survey of 1,152 newspaper and magazine journalists conducted in January 2008 found that more than half anticipate a decline in print circulation and an increased focus on the website of their publication.
At the other end of the news food chain, another survey confirms the shift from print to online among younger adults: 55 percent of those age 18 to 29 say they get most of their news and information online, compared to 35 percent of those age 65 and older. In this last case, 1,979 adults were surveyed nationwide in February 2008 by Zogby Interactive for the fourth-annual We Media Forum and Festival, hosted by the University of Miami School of Communication.
'One thing we realized early on is that our core function remained the same: We were telling stories.' -John Lofy, Michigan Today
Obviously, this change in the way news and information are consumed doesn't stop at the campus gates and will have a huge impact on the news-oriented print publications produced by universities and colleges. In fact, it already has, as demonstrated last summer in my survey about the state of print and electronic publications (see my October 2007 University Business column, "Demand Print or Print on Demand?" for detailed results). In the majority of cases, higher education communication professionals reported that their magazines (57 percent) and newsletters (79 percent) had gone digital in some capacity. While 67 percent thought that magazines could not be offered only in an electronic format, 77 percent indicated that newsletters could go the paperless way.
If you are a publication officer in higher education, the digital question is not an elective anymore.
THE PATH TO PAPERLESS
At the University of Michigan, the 40-year-old magazine for alumni, Michigan Today, started as a print quarterly. The electronic version, featuring the same content as the print publication, was launched in 1993. A decade after, in 2004, a monthly e-newsletter including articles produced by the UM News Service and columns by faculty was added to the mix.
Last fall, the final leap to a paperless magazine was made.
"We had been mailing the print version to more than 400,000 alums, and the costs were just killing us, even after we cut out one issue a year. So we moved the entire venture online," says John Lofy, editor of Michigan Today. The shorter newsletter version is e-mailed monthly to a readership of about 230,000. "I personally was sad to lose the print version, but one thing we realized early on is that our core function remained the same: We were telling stories. And the web, of course, offers all kinds of new opportunities for storytelling," explains Lofy.
FOUR TIPS FOR GOING DIGITAL/PAPERLESS 1. Compete with other web publishers, not just other schools. "If you're on the web, you're in a competitive arena with more than just your fellow schools. A web user has just looked at CNN.com, YouTube, and her favorite blog before coming to you," says Karl Leif Bates, manager of research communications for Duke University. Make sure you have compelling content to keep your readers' attention in this noisy environment. Try to find and publish the stories that will blow people's minds away. 2. Make the most of the medium-don't just recycle your print stories. Go beyond text and keep it short, scannable, and interactive. Go for a multimedia magazine, literally. "Create a rich story package that includes links, videos, blogs, photo galleries, and other 'clickables' that add value beyond print," says Bonny Georgia Griffith, associate director of recruitment marketing at Ithaca College (N.Y.). 3. Find an online publishing platform that works for your team and your readers. Whether you use a blogging application, your website content management system, or something else, pick a platform that won't get in the way of your publishing schedule. "Our selection of Movable Type for a content management system works well because of staff familiarity and initial organization," says Mindy Limback, communications specialist at Missouri University of Science and Technology. 4. If you toss your printer deadline, keep faithful to your publishing schedule. Make sure you have the staff resources to be able to produce a quality publication in a timely fashion. "Be prepared to do whatever it takes to publish your magazine or newsletter-whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly-when you tell your readers you will publish," advises Pam Besel, director of internal communication and editor of Connect2OWU, the e-mail newsletter of Ohio Wesleyan University.
Duke University followed a similar route with its research publication Duke Research. What used to be a 64-page all-gray (with the exception of the cover) annual publication has recently morphed into an online magazine full of colors, photos, videos, and more. "We're having a lot of fun telling stories in multiple ways that get beyond text and still photos, and we've got excellent buzz from the people who have seen it," says Karl Leif Bates, manager of research communications for Duke's Office of News & Communications. For Bates, web video surpasses what the best copy will ever deliver: "a you-are-there encounter with a working scientist."
At the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla), the alumni magazine is still printed and mailed, but it has been consistently made available online with the help of a blogging platform since last summer. "As more people began to rely on the internet for information, we believed it was critical for the magazine to have a stable online presence," says Mindy Limback, communications specialist at the Missouri S&T Office of Public Relations. That's the reason why both new issues as well as archives dating back as far as 2005 are now available online.
