Add Sideways To Newspapers Ups and Downs

Related to yesterday’s post on the newspaper business, there were a couple of interesting follow-up stories today. According to a New York Times article, the tide is shifting strongly toward more online newspaper growth at the expense of traditional newspaper distribution and advertising revenues. In the story, Colby Atwood, a newspaper analyst with Borrell Associates, said: “The tail is beginning to wag the dog. I think the handwriting is kind of on the wall that there is a large migration to the Web. Increasing amounts of revenue and focus should be on the online properties. This is a transition that’s taking place over several years here. It’s not happening overnight, but it’s definitely happening.”

Online might well be the future for newspapers, but it also appears to be the future for advertisers. A Financial Times story reports that this year Internet advertising will surpass national newspapers to become the third biggest advertising medium. The article also predicts Internet spending will surpass local newspapers in 2007. Currently, local newspapers are the number two medium after television.