I Am a Nobleman in England

Sunlight shines into the study through the arched windows, making the books displayed on the bookshelves shine brightly. Arthur, who was leaning on the sofa, was frowning slightly, listening to the reports from the two directors of Boleyn Publishing House and Southern Daily Echo.

The current overall situation of the two companies is not very different from what Arthur knows. However, the current situation of Boleyn Publishing House is not as optimistic as imagined. Although it is in a profitable state, with the impact of the economic crisis , there has also been a decline in profits.

Under the impact of new media, traditional newspapers generally face challenges such as loss of readers, declining advertising, declining profits, and attenuation of channels. Cases of the demise of print media are being staged across the UK and even the world, not to mention the Southern Daily Echo, a tabloid newspaper in the Hampshire area.

The "Southern Daily Echo" was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Southampton. Its position is neutral, and its circulation has just fallen below 90,000 copies. This is definitely a copy for Hampshire, which has a population of just over 900,000. It is an important regional newspaper, and an additional "Pink Sports" will be issued every Saturday, which mainly tells local football sports stories. This "Pink Sports" is also one of the only two local football newspapers left in England.

"Lord, readers' dependence on local newspapers is decreasing, and the decline of the local newspaper market is accelerating. Especially in large cities with free newspapers and many other types of newspapers, readers' demand for community news is even lower..."

Listening to the helpless expression of Jerry Fuller, the person in charge of the newspaper, about the difficulties he was facing, Arthur could also understand the current situation of the paper media, not to mention other people. The quality of the newspaper has long since disappeared from his life. This is the general trend. With a mobile phone, who will read that newspaper?

"Hey..." Arthur couldn't help sighing. To be honest, after knowing that he had inherited a newspaper and a publishing house, he began to rack his brains to find a way out. It has a way to go.

"More than ten years before the Internet was just popularized, we have heard this kind of "prophecy": people will no longer read newspapers and buy magazines, publishing houses will face bankruptcy, and bookstores will be left alone...print media will gradually It has become the epitaph of Chinese culture in the long history."

The person in charge of the publishing house, Tom White, looked solemn, and said with emotion: "And this is indeed happening now. Newsstands have gradually become small grocery stores selling water and sundries, bookstores have transformed into coffee shops, and some old-fashioned Paper media are also struggling to keep their century-old brand on the verge of bankruptcy..."

"Has the newspaper office thought about any measures to change the situation and continue to deteriorate?" After all, Arthur is very unfamiliar with the affairs of the news media industry. He knows his own affairs. , Make judgments and decisions by yourself, but he has already decided on the idea of ​​transforming the newspaper. If you don’t build a website, you will definitely die!

"Yes, we have indeed thought of some plans." Jerry Fuller looked at Arthur with a serious expression and said, "According to the survey, in big cities with free newspapers and many other types of newspapers, readers' demand for community news is higher. Low. Take London, where the free Metro has the largest circulation, as an example, the readership market here is no longer able to support another paid daily.

But for small and medium-sized cities, there may be a glimmer of hope for local newspapers. First of all, we can change the publication time from evening to morning. In this way, the circulation may increase against the trend. Moreover, changing the publication time will also become one of the transformation trends of local newspapers in the future.

Furthermore, transforming into a weekly newspaper is also an option. To be honest, in the Internet age, people no longer need to read local news through newspapers every day, and the in-depth interpretation of weekly newspapers is more suitable for local newspapers and more attractive to advertisers.

Furthermore, in order to compensate for the loss of the print edition,

Moving to the web is the only way to survive in the future. "

Hearing these suggestions, Arthur nodded, then frowned slightly and began to think. He first ruled out the choice of Transformation Weekly. As the most influential daily in Hampshire, he could not give up this influence. As A celestial soul, I don't know anything else, but he values ​​the right to speak the most.

"It's a good idea to change the newspaper's publication time to the morning. As for changing the weekly newspaper, I don't think about it for the time being. Regarding the newspaper's website...Jerry, how is the newspaper's website currently operating?"

Jerry smiled wryly and shook his head: "Sorry, Lord, our newspaper website is just an electronic version of a newspaper, and this electronic version is just a "more convenient scan", and they are all old electronic versions with poor timeliness."

Upon hearing this, Arthur knew that he couldn't report any hope to the newspaper's website. Frowning slightly, he looked at Jerry and said, "Set up an Internet department to run the newspaper's website. In fact, the paper media has transformed into an online Internet media. , has its natural advantages: a large and stable loyal readership, as well as a team of professional writers and editors who provide high-quality content. We are not just a medium, but a brand!"

"However, this requires a lot of human and financial resources..."

When it comes to money, Arthur is quite speechless and helpless in his heart. However, he will not tell the two subordinates in front of him that there is only 50,000 pounds in his account. Instead, he waved his hand and said: "First Changed the publication time, and, Jerry, in the face of the global economic crisis, in order to get rid of the predicament and losses as soon as possible, the newspaper also needs to make some internal reforms to save money!"

As soon as Arthur said this, both Jerry Fuller and Tom White's expressions changed slightly. They glanced at each other and saw helplessness and sighs in each other's eyes. "Axe".

As far as "saving money" is concerned, layoffs are undoubtedly one of the most direct, most effective, and most commonly used methods. Of course, the way to save money is to make a fuss about salary, such as salary reduction, suspension of salary, unpaid leave, etc.

"I know that this decision will make you feel sad, and it is too cruel to some people, but there is no way, the newspaper has been losing money for two consecutive years, if we don't want to see it go bankrupt, we can only help ourselves.

Except for editors and first-line reporters, a quarter will be abolished! "

After Arthur finished speaking, his heart throbbed with emotion. He didn't expect that one day, he would also be able to lightly decide the career fate of many people, and make dozens of people unemployed with a single sentence.

While the financial crisis will eventually pass, media change is inevitable. With the rapid development of new technologies, the real impact of the financial crisis is actually to accelerate and shorten the process of media transformation.

Streamlining the structure, increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, this is the only way Arthur can think of in the face of the newspaper's plight these days, and it is also the way that is being implemented all over the world.