UK Newspaper Deluding Itself About Online Impact On Paper Sales

from the let's-try-this-again dept

It really is looking like the newspaper industry is deluding itself about the impact of the web on their business. Fitting well with the story earlier today about why newspapers require online registration, comes the news that the Sun in the UK has decided to pull some of its content off the web, after doing a study suggesting that readers who came to the site then chose not to buy the paper. Of course, all this really does, rather than drive more people to buy the paper, is drive more people to other websites. Basically, they're making the classic disruptive technology mistake: rather than embracing the new technology that's eating away their business, they're trying to deny it exists.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Nitpick, 20 Sep 2004 @ 1:10pm

    No Subject Given

    eating away THEIR business...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Mike (profile), 20 Sep 2004 @ 1:16pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    Whoops. I hate when I do that. Fixed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Mark Hodgkins, 21 Sep 2004 @ 2:44am

    The future of newspapers

    One thing that newspapers are exploring is online "electronic editions" - the NY Times, Wash Post, etc. all have them and are a very interesting way of getting your news. There is even a site where college students can get access to all these full newspapers - News For Students.com

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    auMoose CowHerda, 21 Sep 2004 @ 4:45am

    sun uk

    i thought the sun uk was best known for its page3 pics & the rest was ads or crap-torials... ?

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.