Disruptive Media: Newspaper Redesign

Many major newspapers across the U.S. and Canada have redesigned in the past year to freshen up their look. It's part of the ongoing battle to win back readers or at least to offset declines vs. the Internet and other news sources.

But can an underdog newspaper redesign itself to be more disruptive?

The National Post, out of Toronto, is aiming to do something different with its new design launched this week:

• Narrower page
• larger typeface, larger line spaces
• Shorter stories, more pull-out sidebars
• More specific investment angles on business stories
• Unusual vertical masthead

Some early reaction has been favorable, but to many readers, the new design seems like pretty mild stuff and not nearly as radical as the way insiders see it.

Seismic changes may indeed be what an underdog newspaper needs. But this goes beyond mere design and goes to the function of the newspaper as well.

A few months ago, I did an informal survey of Canadian investment professionals and it was clear that the National Post and its business section, the Financial Post, was less relevant to this group than it had once been. Also there was an increased perception that the newspaper was a pale imitation of its larger competitor,  the Globe and Mail.

Clearly, a more disruptive approach is necessary, but has the Post been focussed enough in its new undertaking?

Experience in disruption show that the newspaper can achieve great growth and deliver high value to customers if it focuses on any these attributes:

• solve important new problems for customers that they can't solve today
• increased accessibility
• increased customization

To the extent that the National Post helps readers solve problems, and is more accessible, it will succeed.  Even a relatively small change, such as if the business section were to focus entirely on buy/sell ideas for stocks, would clearly differentiate the newspaper and help solve important, frequent problems for readers interested in investing.

What problems do readers need to solve that they can't solve today?  Newspaper publishers (and most managers in any industry) don't normally think this way.

How far can a newspaper go with this? Here are four somewhat crazy ideas for new businesses, some of which lend themselves more towards new web services than printed pages:

1. Community-focused Medical Information: Help families find reliable, competent family doctors, specialists and physiotherapists. A Canadian version of www.RevolutionHealth.com
2. Family-focused Local Entertainment Services: Help busy mothers plan their days with activities suitable for toddlers through to tweens. An extension to informal “mommy blogs,” but created to be more consistent so that the service can be relied upon daily.
3. Rate my Broker: Help baby-boomer investors find reliable, trustworthy local stock brokers and financial planners. An investment version of www.RateMyProfessors.com
4. Desi Family Network: Help Asian families continue to hold multi-generational ties by sharing entertainment, social and family information.

**Other sources**

Newspaper Next is a joint undertaking of the American Press Institute and Innosight, Clayton Christensen's management consulting firm, to help revitalize the newspaper industry.  Their industry report is available for download.

Some thoughts on newspaper redesign from BrassTacks Design. Highlights: Focus; Admit shorter is better; Innovate like you mean it.

Like all potentially disruptive innovations, redesigns are risky because they can alienate current customers. Here are some scary charts on newspapers which have seen circulation declines accelerate after redesign from newsdesigner.com, a blog that tracks major newspaper redesigns.

FYI: On Disruption, a newspaper column on disruptive innovation, appears in the Financial Post. Archive of articles.  

Comments

[barbiepurl]

This is what more people would have expected.Updation is necessary in all fields that too in newspaper they should attract more people in order to compete with all other media sources.
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Barbie Purl
MLS