By the way the online newspaper industry is working now, it seems that FT has its work cut out for it. Already a paid for site (£200 per year), FT.com claims only 84,000 worldwide subscribers, a number that grew by a modest 8% last year.

FollowtheMedia.com notes that the paper's readership is mostly business oriented and that many readers find FT content, as well as most of their business news, through corporate paid-for aggregators such as Factiva. The aggregator's former European Director, Nick Antonov, scoffed at FT's decision explaining that aggregators are more desirable for "knowledge workers" who only have to visit one site.

Even these types of aggregators are somewhat old fashioned in that they were launched before the conception of search engines which now are increasingly dominating the news market through their own free aggregators. Furthermore, other publications have been improving their business coverage enough that if FT were to disappear from aggregators, it may not even be missed. Although its news will eventually still be posted on these aggregators, who wants to read 24-hour old stories in today's fast-paced media environment?

That being said, FT, and other newspapers struggling with their online strategies, could learn from some quotes from last week's EPpy awards (Editor & Publisher):

Although he admits that previous efforts have failed, Tom Mohr of Knight Ridder Digital called for partnerships between papers:

"Network economics: "As membership in the network grows, value grows for each member... We must create product solutions through partnerships, if not ownerships, and deliver top-tier product...We must come together into top-tier platform networks."

Jim Kennedy, head of strategic planning at the Associated Press, viewed partnerships from a different angle. Instead of forming them between papers, why not form them across industries?

"Search has become the entry point for all kinds of content...Young people have not learned the same old habits... That old thing that once they get a mortgage and a family they'll come back to newspapers is a fantasy."

"We need to think about partnerships. You can't fight that system of distribution. It's not about creating a Google deal; it's about optimizing the power that is out there; that's the grid that people are going to be plugged into."   

Going it alone online like the FT is doing is not going to work. There are too many publications that give people the information they seek without having to pay for it. But partnering up looks promising. From the two speeches above, it seems that which organization newspaper companies hook up with will determine the future of their industry.

Source: Follow the Media, Editor & Publisher