There is technology that exists today that allows newspapers to produce individualized print editions of their paper to increase relevance, and therefore add value to their print.

"A newspaper industry that can better match its content to each individual [print] reader's unique mix interests will have a more valuable product than today's 'same-to-all' editions”, said Vin Crosbie, founder of Digital Deliverance.

He says that with technology that we already have today it is both possible and economical for many newspapers to pint a unique edition for each reader. The only need is that many papers would have to buy a new press.

Short Run Digital Printing (SRDP) is the press technology that allows papers to print these unique copies for each reader. SRDP are newspaper roll-fed inkjet printers, opposed to press plates, which must print the same edition. SRDP presses cost around a quarter of traditional plate presses and only require a single person to run them.

The SRDP press is computer-controlled by a database that contains templates of newspaper page layouts and a database of each of those reader's preferences for content. The technology can also alter the advertising in each copy based on the reader's gender, age, location, etc.

The only disadvantage right now is that SRDP ink costs more than ink for press plates. Right now SRDP presses are economical for daily papers of less than around 10,000 circulation, which is about 400 of 1,450 US dailies today. That number is expected to double within two years.

 There is already a broadsheet daily paper in London that uses SRDP presses to deliver individual editions to each of their 1,000 readers.

According to Amy Gahran of the Poynter Institute, newspapers could rely “on much smaller, more geographically distributed printing plants closer to the papers' final destinations.” Due to “sharp increases in energy and gasoline prices projected for the foreseeable future, as well as mounting pressure on all industries (including newspapers) to cut carbon emissions, maybe the economics of more widely distributed printing and delivery systems might look even better -- while also offering the revenue opportunities of customized print editions.”

Source: Poynter Institute