Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

The BBC reports on the world’s biggest print media gathering at the 12h World Editors Forum. The main message to come out of the event so far is ‘Don’t believe the hype! Newspapers are far from dead.”

The World Association of Newspapers gave some facts to back this up.

• Newspaper circulation rose slightly in 2004
• Newspaper advertising revenues also made big gains
• Importantly, increased sales were seen in established markets, rather than just developing ones

They don’t have their heads buried in the sands though and it was pointed out that newspapers will have to adapt to new media in order to stay profitable.

Media Culpa follows up and adds some more highlights from editorsweblog.com, including:

• Newspapers will need to create interactive mobile editions
• RSS is a great way to attract permanent subscribers

Personally I don’t see mobile editions of newspapers take off until 3G becomes widespread, but RSS is a fantastic tool that newspapers should be making part of their online arsenal.

In terms of my online reading habits, the Irish Times are a great example of why newspapers should employ RSS on their website. I’m a regular online reader, which stands in contrast to the Times’ main competitor’s (Irish Independent) website, Unison.ie.

I’m getting a bit ignorant these days due to my RSS addiction. Simply put, if your site doesn’t have RSS then I won’t be a frequent visitor. I read news on IndyMedia more often than on Unison.ie. As one media mongul said to another “I believe too many of us editors and reporters are out of touch with our readers” - so get your act together Tony and put an RSS feed up on Unison.ie!