Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the Media and Content Industries: The Newspaper Publishing Industry

2.3.6 
Differences between EU countries 
The crisis in news publishing is felt harder in some countries than in others. For instance the 
French press is hit harder and is less able to respond to the challenges of new technologies an 
increased competition. This is said to be due to its outdated production and distribution 
models, based on a monopolistic cooperative which owns the printing presses and a 
distribution cooperative which runs the only newspaper distribution company (Antheaume, 
2010). In contrast the German press is doing comparatively well. Germany is home to a 
number of well established global players (Bertelsmann, Springer, Holtzbrinck), which are 
still (partly) privately owned or family businesses and not traded on the stock markets. 
German newspapers are much less reliant on advertising revenues (with over 50% revenues 
from subscriptions) and consequently less vulnerable to economic conjuncture and pressures 
from private stockholders (Esser & Brüggemann, 2010). 
In some eastern European countries the relative importance of the newspaper publishing 
industry to the economy as a whole (expressed in % of value added) is still increasing, but 
even in those countries the circulation figures are dropping. 
 

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Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the Media and Content Industries 
44
 
2.4 Technological 
innovations and new print products 
The newspaper publishing sector has always been affected by technological developments. 
Developments in printing processes, photography, communication technologies, text 
processing and desktop publishing software have all affected news production, delivery and 
consumption. Technological advancements improved and accelerated production processes 
and created faster access to audiences. The introduction of the printing press around 1440 
enabled the wide-spread dissemination of pamphlets and played an important role in 
economic, political and religious developments (Hirst & Harrison, 2007). The printing press 
can be seen as an important enabler of the modern newspaper era.
16
Soon after the invention 
of the printing press, the first printed materials carrying news or information on major events 
were disseminated (Gorman & McLean, 2003). News sheets ("corantoes"), gazettes and 
almanacs were printed and read by the public. The first modern newspapers that appeared on 
a regular and frequent basis were published at the beginning of the 17th century, although it 
must be underlined that newspapers in the 17th and 18th century did not have a wide 
circulation yet (Gorman & McLean, 2003). Around 1900, newspaper publishers achieved 
economies of scale and became increasingly reliant on advertising - which lowered the cost of 
daily newspapers for the public. Newspapers became large and commercial businesses with 
mass audiences, large staffs and significant capital investments (Gorman & McLean, 2003). 
Advances in papermaking processes and in printing made the creation of newspapers easier. 
Printing plants developed into highly modernised newspaper production units, with improved 
quality and speed of printing text and images. Communication technologies supported the 
news gathering and dissemination process. The invention of the telegraph in the nineteenth 
century, which functioned as a means to quickly transmit messages, speeded up the 
production process, later telephone, satellite connections and the internet caused similar 
accelerations in the communication between news reporters and editorial desks and in the 
gathering of information from remote sources, resulting in a currently almost 24/7 news 
production process, at least for those publishers with online editions.
17
In the 1980s, newspapers started experimenting with technological possibilities like videotext, 
which enabled a physical separation of the editorial and printing process (Castells, 2000). 
Reporters took advantage of technological developments like portable computers and mobile 
phones in recording news and in sending their stories to the editorial desks. 
For a long time, printed newspapers and (later) printed magazines were the only media 
available mass audiences. Between the two World Wars, radio became one of the most 
accepted domestic appliances and an important source for news broadcasts (Hirst & Harrison, 
2007). Public service broadcasters and later on commercial radio stations started transmitting 
news programmes. After World War II, television developed into a mass medium and became 
another competitor for print publishers on the news market. Gradually television replaced 
newspapers as the most used source for daily news.
In the early 2000 a number of publishers started to circulate free newspapers, in an attempt to 
win back some of the readers (and advertisers), especially young people, which they had lost 
in recent years. In response to increasing competition newspaper publishers also introduced 
other innovations in their print product in order to make it more attractive for readers and 
advertisers. An example is the introduction of separate sections or magazines. For advertisers 
these offer extra advertising space, in a relevant context – for instance advertisements for 
travel agencies in the travel magazine or fashion advertisements in the lifestyle section. Some 
16
http://www.wan-press.org/print.php3?id_article=2821
(March 2011). 
17
Already then, the death of newspapers was forecast (ENPA, 2010/2011). 

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