Newspapers Opinion South Africa

Naspers newspaper titles moving into 24.com makes sense

There has not been much media coverage outside of Naspers with regard to the decision to move all their newspaper titles onto the News24 and Netwerk24 platforms.

Which doesn't mean that this has no significance, but rather that opposition media are very churlish about giving competitors any sort of publicity in spite of the fact that the news might be important, if not ground-breaking.

Effectively, this simple rearrangement of the media-type pecking order within Naspers has massive significance because it is sending out very clear and powerful messages.

Newspapers are no longer the dominant media over online. Even more importantly, putting newspapers onto online platforms means that news editors, journalists and content providers can far more easily determine what belongs in a newspaper and what belongs online.

Naspers newspaper titles moving into 24.com makes sense
©scanrail via 123RF

It will also get rid of that insane situation that persists in newspapers today, where editors are producing daily and weekly papers the old-fashioned way and being completely oblivious of the fact that "news" in newspapers is almost always "old news" by the time consumers get it.

For a long time now, I have argued that the word "newspaper" is a misnomer.

While Business Day was, in fact, the first newspaper to declare itself "digital first" a few years ago, the Naspers move goes a lot further. And it is not surprising, because Naspers is undoubtedly one of the most successful media companies in the world today, not only because of its multimedia mix but also because of its success in monetising online assets.

I recall a few years ago that the newspaper performance at Naspers didn't get more than a one-line mention in the annual report and even that one-liner spoke volumes about the lack of potential for newspapers to turn profits in isolation, let alone survive.

The only surprising thing about all this is that it took so long to do the obvious.

In this day and age, no medium is an island. It is a multi-platform continent of content created and targeted at precisely where consumers require it.

So, newspapers are not dead, they have simply undergone a massive change in relevance.

About Chris Moerdyk

Apart from being a corporate marketing analyst, advisor and media commentator, Chris Moerdyk is a former chairman of Bizcommunity. He was head of strategic planning and public affairs for BMW South Africa and spent 16 years in the creative and client service departments of ad agencies, ending up as resident director of Lindsay Smithers-FCB in KwaZulu-Natal. Email Chris on moc.liamg@ckydreom and follow him on Twitter at @chrismoerdyk.
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