I had a chance to catch up with Joe Brenneman over the phone yesterday, after we posted a few articles last week that speculated on the Press-Telegram’s future and the likelihood that readers will soon be charged to view online content. Speaking with Brenneman helped answer a few questions, while also presenting new ones along the way.
If there’s one thing that the General Manager of the Long Beach Press-Telegram is sure of, it’s that nothing is certain in the future of the newspaper industry. The P-T has joined the nationwide ranks of local papers that are searching for ways to profitably integrate web content with their printed editions, and Brenneman described a future of evolving technology that will enable readers to connect more efficiently through the website without taking away from content in the printed edition. That is, turning the website into more of a “social networking community” than a news website, while printing local news in the paper edition.
But one thing is clear: the days of absorbing all of the day’s news online without paying a fee are nearly over.
In fact, the Press-Telegram has already taken its first steps in that direction. It’s online E-Edition offers readers the ability to view the printed issue online. For seven-day print subscribers, the service is free. But, of course, if you are already getting the print edition, why use E-Edition? There’s a fee for three- or four-day subscribers, and a steeper fee for readers who don’t subscribe. Brenneman says that response has been positive to the new system, which has been around for more than a month.
“We already have users signing up, on its own or in combo with the print edition,” said Brenneman. “It’s going to evolve through testing and through feedback from our readers.”
It’s one way to mold the print and online editions of the Press-Telegram enterprise, but certainly not the last. The newspaper industry has been slow to change with a changing readership. For the Press-Telegram, it will be a slow change, but one that needs to be made.
“The print edition is no longer for everyone,” Brenneman says. “Neither is the online edition, or the E-Edition. It’s about using those three products in tandem.”