Worth noting and quoting

Amidst the thicket of question marks surrounding last week's Bell Globemedia (BGM) deal, not least of which is what exactly the Toronto Star hopes to get out of its 20% share, comes this curious comment. Geoff Beattie, president of the Thomson family holding company, Woodbridge, which now dominates with 40% of the company was reacting to suggestions that newspapers are being eclipsed by the internet, particularly in critical areas such as job and car advertising:

"You have to redefine the space. The newspaper industry as you know it today is going to be different in five to 10 years. I'm a big believer that people don't buy newspapers, they read newspapers. They're making a reading decision and we need to make sure we are creating a product that is people's first choice as a reading decision." Globe, Saturday Dec. 3, p B5

For those of us who wonder how large, traditional newspapers can remain paid when so many of their competitors are unpaid (Metro, 24 hours, Dose, NOW, eye etc. in Toronto and elsewhere), this statement causes a prolonged 'hmmmmmm'.

[UPDATE] Editor and Publisher has published an article that says newspaper decline may be a myth, that people are just tired of getting their hands dirty and are a large audience share is accessing newspaper content using alternative platforms. Whether this "total audience" approach cuts any ice with advertisers, we shall see. Read it here.