Writing in the Times, NewWest.net founder Jonathan Weber predicts a ‘comeback of sorts’ for US print media in 2008.
“I think a big part of the gap between perception and reality when it comes to print media has to do with a set of expectations that have developed from what were, in retrospect, very specific and unusual circumstances,” writes Weber, founder and editor of the regional news service in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.
The company will be launching a print magazine in a few weeks.
“Even though, as a company, we are ‘online first’ in almost every respect, we still expect the print magazine to generate substantially more ad revenues in its first year than our three-year-old online publication,” writes Weber.
For US newspapers, Weber argues, the real issue is “expectations that have developed from what were, in retrospect, very specific and unusual circumstances.”
“The issue for most newspapers today is not that they are not profitable, but that they are much less profitable than they were before.”
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