NEWSPAPERS LOOK TO THE DIGITAL EDITION IN BATTLE AGAINST DECLINE

Most newspapers now recognise the only way to fight decline is to invest in the internet. But while newspaper websites are constantly improving, some customers dislike viewing content online and miss the feel and design of the printed product.

One compromise is to offer a digital edition of the publication. Unlike website content, digital editions provide an online newspaper with exactly the same layout, design and pagination as the printed product.

Newspaper Direct, a Canadian firm, is the main provider of digital newspaper editions. Its Press Display software is used by 400 global titles to distribute lifelike copies of their publication on the internet.

Newspaper Direct provides the software and space to host digital editions, so they can distribute the publication without the need for newspaper owners to invest in their own technology.

When a newspaper is finished, its production team sends a copy to Newspaper Direct as a portable document file (PDF), the same format that is sent to the printer. Newspaper Direct then converts this into a digital edition.

Nearly all British newspapers publish digitally in this way. The most notable exception is The Independent, which continues to underestimate how damaging its decision to ignore the internet will prove.

Customers can access most UK titles by subscribing to the Press Display website (pressdisplay.com) which has over 1m unique users every month. Subscription costs vary from a free option allowing users to read two articles a day to a “professional unlimited” version, which costs $199 a month and offers unlimited access to content from every title.

Most popular is the economy option, which provides access to 31 different issues for $9 a month. Customers can opt to access 31 issues of the same newspaper, choose a different title each day or mix and match. Every time an issue is accessed Newspaper Direct pay the authoring company a royalty, worked out on an individual basis.

Press Display works in a similar way to an Adobe Acrobat reader, but is tactile and easier to use. Pages are turned by clicking on the corners and users can zoom in on articles and pictures. Clicking on the headline of a story converts it to a website-style format with plain text.

It also works as a news aggregator, allowing users to pick content from a range of titles. For example, they could get football news from The Sun, features from The Guardian and city news from The Evening Standard.

The Daily Telegraph (owned by the same parent company as The Business), The Daily Mail and The Times have incorporated an unbranded copy of the software into their own websites along with more individual pricing options. This method ensures the increase in web traffic will benefit their own websites, as well as pressdisplay.com.

While The Guardian distributes a digital edition through Newspaper Direct, it too has its own bespoke software which can be accessed through its website. But it is unlikely it will keep on offering both options, especially if Press Display continues to develop at its current speed.

Version 4 of Press Display, just released, provides a better reading experience. The most notable addition is smart navigation software that learns the style of each individual newspaper and adapts accordingly. Older versions did not redirect users who were reading front page puffs to the corresponding article.

Smart navigation also learns readers’ viewing habits. If a user reads the front news pages and politics but skips international news before turning to business, Press Display will learn to read the paper in that order.

Other new features include an instant electronic translator into seven languages and an audio option that reads out stories. Consumers who are flying or unable to reach an internet connection can download digital editions beforehand to their hard drive and read them using a standalone version of Press Display.

Digital editions are not without problems, however. To encourage bloggers to subscribe to the service, News Direct has offered them sharing credits, allowing them to post individual articles from digital editions on their blogs which can be viewed by any internet user, even those without Press Display membership.

In this instance authoring companies do not receive royalties for their content. In theory, newspapers are paying for content while bloggers and third party sites are benefiting from more hits and bigger advertising revenues. The Daily Mail, The Times and The Daily Telegraph have solved this problem by incorporating their digital editions into their own websites.

Another blow is Britain’s Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) has decided that gaining an extra reader for a digital edition doesn’t equal an extra print sale. Unlike their US counterparts (who do include digital editions) they argue that consumers get less exposure to adverts when reading a paper online, even in its original format.

One future solution is to sell advertising separately for digital editions. Press Display’s audience is very international; someone reading The Guardian in Paris could be targeted with promotions for local products instead of British ones.

Press Display is also experimenting with adverts in digital editions that use audio and high quality video. Some online publications already use these kinds of promotions, but if Newspaper Direct can bring rich adverts to all 400 of its publications it could open a new, lucrative and much-needed stream of revenue.

Most newspapers now recognise the only way to fight decline is to invest in the internet. But while newspaper websites are constantly improving, some customers dislike viewing content online and miss the feel and design of the printed product.

One compromise is to offer a digital edition of the publication. Unlike website content, digital editions provide an online newspaper with exactly the same layout, design and pagination as the printed product.

Newspaper Direct, a Canadian firm, is the main provider of digital newspaper editions. Its Press Display software is used by 400 global titles to distribute lifelike copies of their publication on the internet.

Newspaper Direct provides the software and space to host digital editions, so they can distribute the publication without the need for newspaper owners to invest in their own technology.

When a newspaper is finished, its production team sends a copy to Newspaper Direct as a portable document file (PDF), the same format that is sent to the printer. Newspaper Direct then converts this into a digital edition.

Nearly all British newspapers publish digitally in this way. The most notable exception is The Independent, which continues to underestimate how damaging its decision to ignore the internet will prove.

Customers can access most UK titles by subscribing to the Press Display website (pressdisplay.com) which has over 1m unique users every month. Subscription costs vary from a free option allowing users to read two articles a day to a “professional unlimited” version, which costs $199 a month and offers unlimited access to content from every title.

Most popular is the economy option, which provides access to 31 different issues for $9 a month. Customers can opt to access 31 issues of the same newspaper, choose a different title each day or mix and match. Every time an issue is accessed Newspaper Direct pay the authoring company a royalty, worked out on an individual basis.

Press Display works in a similar way to an Adobe Acrobat reader, but is tactile and easier to use. Pages are turned by clicking on the corners and users can zoom in on articles and pictures. Clicking on the headline of a story converts it to a website-style format with plain text.

It also works as a news aggregator, allowing users to pick content from a range of titles. For example, they could get football news from The Sun, features from The Guardian and city news from The Evening Standard.

The Daily Telegraph (owned by the same parent company as The Business), The Daily Mail and The Times have incorporated an unbranded copy of the software into their own websites along with more individual pricing options. This method ensures the increase in web traffic will benefit their own websites, as well as pressdisplay.com.

While The Guardian distributes a digital edition through Newspaper Direct, it too has its own bespoke software which can be accessed through its website. But it is unlikely it will keep on offering both options, especially if Press Display continues to develop at its current speed.

Version 4 of Press Display, just released, provides a better reading experience. The most notable addition is smart navigation software that learns the style of each individual newspaper and adapts accordingly. Older versions did not redirect users who were reading front page puffs to the corresponding article.

Smart navigation also learns readers’ viewing habits. If a user reads the front news pages and politics but skips international news before turning to business, Press Display will learn to read the paper in that order.

Other new features include an instant electronic translator into seven languages and an audio option that reads out stories. Consumers who are flying or unable to reach an internet connection can download digital editions beforehand to their hard drive and read them using a standalone version of Press Display.

Digital editions are not without problems, however. To encourage bloggers to subscribe to the service, News Direct has offered them sharing credits, allowing them to post individual articles from digital editions on their blogs which can be viewed by any internet user, even those without Press Display membership.

In this instance authoring companies do not receive royalties for their content. In theory, newspapers are paying for content while bloggers and third party sites are benefiting from more hits and bigger advertising revenues. The Daily Mail, The Times and The Daily Telegraph have solved this problem by incorporating their digital editions into their own websites.

Another blow is Britain’s Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) has decided that gaining an extra reader for a digital edition doesn’t equal an extra print sale. Unlike their US counterparts (who do include digital editions) they argue that consumers get less exposure to adverts when reading a paper online, even in its original format.

One future solution is to sell advertising separately for digital editions. Press Display’s audience is very international; someone reading The Guardian in Paris could be targeted with promotions for local products instead of British ones.

Press Display is also experimenting with adverts in digital editions that use audio and high quality video. Some online publications already use these kinds of promotions, but if Newspaper Direct can bring rich adverts to all 400 of its publications it could open a new, lucrative and much-needed stream of revenue.