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The internet has revolutionised the way many industries work and the newspaper industry is no exception. Here SPP Media Group’s editorial director David Bourn has a look at the exciting new world of multimedia publishing in the north of Scotland
IN 1989 when Tim Berners-Lee first invented the world wide web nobody, including the scientist himself, could have imagined the dramatic impact it would have on the whole planet.
It was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world.
But it’s safe to say it has done an awful lot more than that!
There can be few industries that haven’t been impacted by the internet since then, but not many have had their very existence challenged as much as newspapers.
Doomsayers the world over predicted their demise and as newspaper hacks we were told we were working in a sunset industry whose days were numbered.
But now, the ultimate paradox is that more people are consuming our journalism and advertising than at any time in history.
Our circulation is no longer dictated by physical copies of the newspaper delivered by armies of schoolchildren through the letterboxes of the communities we serve.
Now our business has been literally transformed to a real multi-media operation delivering news and information in a myriad of ways.
Sure, the printed paper is still hugely important to us, and the favourite way for tens of thousands of our customers to read the news.
But now a lot of the news is available as soon as it breaks, through our newspaper websites and social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And, to make things better, you can get that news wherever you are whether it be at home, on the bus or train or even lying on a foreign beach.
Our journalists aren’t just newspaper reporters, they gather the news and information and then disseminate it through a range of different media, leaving it to the customer to make their mind up which one suits them best.
So, within seconds of an accident happening, a goal being scored or an important council decision being made, we can have it online.
The internet is easily the best way to break news while our newspapers and magazines are perfect for bringing readers analysis and comment on the big stories of the week.
Our new-look websites have been a massive hit and exceeded all of our expectations.
We reached the milestone of a million page views a whole four months earlier than expected.
Now, less than six months since they were launched, we are set to smash through the two million barrier – another significant moment in our digital journey.
The less cluttered, faster-loading, responsive sites are a big hit with readers and advertisers who want to reach as big an audience as possible.
Our news teams have been working hard to bring more content and more regular updates on the sites and it’s paying dividends.
The sites complement our newspapers perfectly, offering easier access to readers on-the-go.
And it’s important to stress that this is news people can really trust.
After all, we have been covering some of these communities for more than two centuries with a team of properly trained journalists.
There is so much news and information out there these days but much of it is fake news that can’t be trusted.
Our brands CAN be trusted, in fact they are a haven of trust and responsibility in a sea of fake news and irresponsibility.
