From the pages of California Publisher
Digital. Here it comes, ready or not. As a guy who came up in this business, let's just say several years ago, I am sometimes dazed and confused about the future direction of this industry I love.
I haven't been directly in the newspaper business for over 10 years now. But as an executive recruiter with a focus on newspapers, I remain tethered to it and have never regretted that I am.
I am doing all I can to keep up with the evolution of newspaper companies to "news companies" and the shift of emphasis from print to digital. In fact, we're doing more and more searches for online/interactive people. I could spend eight hours a day reading about all the new technology, but my clients actually expect me to find people to fill key jobs in their company.
In truth, it's all very exciting. In fact, as someone who has been around the business for a few decades, I think it's the most exciting time in all of its history -- particularly when you consider the relatively compacted time in which this change has taken place.
And, if you think things have been moving too fast to keep up with, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Regardless of how much I read, how many conferences I attend and how many people I talk to, I can still feel very overwhelmed. I've thought about the solution to this quandary and have come up with two pretty ground-breaking ideas.
First, somehow go back to the good old days before Al Gore invented the Internet. That's not easily done, but recently I heard about a film called "Hot Tub Time Machine." I think it's a documentary. I'm going to check that out.
The idea of being able to go back to simpler times, say the early 1970s, when newspapers -- bereft of any serious competition -- ruled the media landscape. In fact, major chain stores were spending upwards of 80 percent of their advertising budgets in newspapers.
Food sections were packed with something called ROP advertising. No one would think about looking for a house or a car without checking the classifieds. Everyone turned to newspapers for just about everything you could buy.
As an advertising guy in those days, it was pretty easy to be a hero. Actually, it might be a good idea to go back to 1440, when a guy named Gutenberg invented the first printing press using movable type. That would put me in on the ground floor of a business that had no place to go but up.
But, what if there really isn't a time machine, and the only alternative for me is to actually learn about all that is digital … and then keep up with it?
Here's an idea. I was thinking about when Superman was just a boy and Krypton, the planet where he lived, was about to disintegrate. His father, Jor-El, put him in a space capsule and sent him to Earth. Along the way, in that capsule, he was subliminally bombarded with all the wisdom of the ages. In other words, he knew everything there was to know. It worked for him. He became a newspaperman.
If I could find a machine like that, my troubles would be over. I'm not above taking the easy way out.
But, assuming there are no short cuts, I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing, reading what I can and getting to media industry conferences. The recent CNPA conference was pretty focused on new technology as was the NAA mediaXchange. That's generally true of just about all industry association get-togethers.
If there was ever a time to take part in these conventions and tune in to the cost-effective, nearly daily webinars -- this is it. In June, Editor & Publisher is hosting a conference and trade show in Las Vegas dedicated to interactive media. Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) is piggybacking with a power-packed program for salespeople and managers focused on selling a mix of print, online, mobile and more.
The program for the E&P part of the conference will offer a very strong lineup of speakers who will help walk people like me through the digital landscape that lies before us.
I know something about the digital world. I live and die by the Internet. My business wouldn't exist without high-speed, 24/7 communication via email. I rarely let my iPhone and all its apps out of my sight. Our business has a Facebook page.
I'm not Twittering yet. I think I'll draw the line at that.
Scott Little is president of Media Recruiters, an Allied member of CNPA. Contact him at (530) 342-6036.
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