It was announced today that the new daily Joburg newspaper, Nova, is no more. After just four and a half months, it is closing up shop. (Read more here).
The paper was aimed at “upwardly mobile young professionals”. Who are they? That is an outdated demographic (a Boomer phraseology). They were attempting to convert their “target market” (who uses words like that to describe their clients?) from non-newspaper readers, and sell them a daily paper-based information source. They didn’t even manage to get their website domain (nova.co.za is an electrical lighting company).
Besides the usual start up hassles, and what appears to have been a weak marketing team, this looks like a really silly adventure by a deluded industry. One media representative even said today, “this does not spell the end of newspapers”. Sure, not today, anyway…. but, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!
Today’s young people have access to the Internet on their cellphones. They can check out Google news, and even set Google alerts to have it sent to them. They get info from blogs, and subscribe to RSS feeds that push the news to them.
Ok, I am being simplistic to make a point, but I’d humbly suggest that any idiot could have told you that Nova wouldn’t work. Not in the form it took, nor in the market it targeted.
From the “Any Idiot Could Have Told You That” Department
Its the day after Budget Day in South Africa. This is when the Minister of Finance announces the Government’s finance plans for the country and the populace. In other words, he makes adjustments to taxation for individuals and companies, changes laws and announces incentives. Trevor Manuel, one of the most respected Finance Ministers in the world, always does a great job with both content and style of his speech.
The point of this post is that today, the day after Budget is the ONE DAY a year I go out and buy a newspaper. The editor’s work tirelessly to get analysis and detail and summary of the Budget. It usually takes me a few days to work through that news.
Today, at 8am, on my home from the school run, I stopped at three shops. All of them had the same story: the papers have not yet been delivered. You know what – that means this year I am going to go online and find a few websites with Budget analysis. I will boomark these pages, and as of today I won’t need to buy a newspaper even ONE DAY a year anymore. From next year, I’ll have bookmarked webpages to go to.
Well done newspapers!!! (Note the irony)