{newspaper graphic} A couple of months ago the Rocky Mountain News, a journalism institution, published its last print newspaper. At the end of the day, its presses, working tirelessly since April 23, 1859, went silent.
It was a telling moment for the newspaper industry, which continues to try and save its print publications while making up lost ground in the online publishing arena. Readers, it seems, have sent the message that they are increasingly turning to online sources. A Pew Research Center study found online readership spiked close to 10 percent in just two yeas from 2006-08 - to satisfy readers' information needs.
Web 2.0 readers value the immediacy, convenience and variety of content on the Web and they appreciate tha tmuch of what they choose to read is free.
What can school districts learn from this?
Districts that are creative in their use of new media and print will likely find they are able to disseminate information, drive home their overriding messages and themes and draw attention to their best programs, teachers and students.
If you're writing a story or the equivalent of a press release to publish on the Web or send out via e-mail, you should think of ways to make the experience interactive. Are there links that can help illustrate your main points? Are there articles, charts or audio/video files that could make your piece stronger? Is there a way to allow feedback and encourage discussion? (This could be tricky since the comments will likely have to be monitored.)
What may ultimately sway schools to lean toward electronic publishing could end up being something very simple: It can be done cheaply. A communication professional with a decentunderstanding of Web publishing programs can essentially eliminate a huge portion of a district's printing costs.
The print vs Web answer may lie somewhere in-between. Some districts will likely turn to the Web for their day-to-day communications (or minute-to-minute in the cases of the many schools already Twittering*) and use their print publications to delve deeper into school issues than they ever could before.
From an article by Greg Dimeris and Michael Piper, NSPRA.org
