08 June 2006

Telegraph Stupidity

I read this on the Guardian site today:

The Daily Telegraph is to delay the publication of print articles on its website until later in the day in a bid to encourage more internet users to buy the newspaper.


Admittedly, the Guardian might just be taking a potshot at its rival, but given the article quotes Telegraph sources, my suspicion is that the article is indeed valid.

In which case, it has to be one of the most brain-dead decisions taken by this newspaper and indeed any media organisation. The printed version is not really competing with its online version for readership. It (and the online version) is however competing against other sources of news from Guardian/Times/Independent through to BBC and other international news sources. This message basically tells your online readership (average age 38 compared with print version 56) to go and get their news elsewhere!

I know I may be unusual in that I've not bought a printed newspaper for perhaps approaching 2 years (and enjoy never having to recycle mountains of printed material), but I'm not unusual in that I expect the most up-to-date news to come from the internet. To subvert a key advantage of the internet to maintain your old model is just foolish.

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