The New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan wrote recently that although the future of news is digital, print remains a major revenue driver, at least from her paper’s perspective.
“Who buys the print edition of the newspaper? Just a few Luddites who wouldn’t know a smartphone if their horse-drawn buggy crushed it on the cobblestones?” Sullivan asked facetiously. The results might some surprise some media experts.
Sullivan reported that print generated more than 70 percent of The Times’ revenue last year, and consumers accounted for the largest share. More than a million readers still buy the Sunday edition and about 645,000 pay for the daily version. What’s more, younger people read the paper in print. Of all subscribers, she said, 23 percent are in the 20s to 40s age range. Concluded Sullivan: “As The Times crosses the bridge to a fully digital future, it’s important to remember that today’s passionate print readers are more varied, more numerous and more valuable than conventional wisdom might suggest.” You can read the full article here.