Internet the new growth engine for newspapers: NYT publisher

The Internet could provide newspapers with a new engine for growth with greater reach and better speed rather than threaten the traditional print industry, says Arthur Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of the New York Times.

"Some mention the crisis of newspapers saying young readers no longer read print newspapers in the Internet era, but it`s not that the Internet is eroding the newspaper market but that newspapers have gained a new medium to deliver information," Sulzberger said yesterday in an interview with Korean journalists on the sidelines of the 58th World Newspaper Congress in Seoul.

To better exploit the opportunities generated by the Internet, Sulzberger said the New York Times is planning to charge for some of its online content beginning September, including its popular business and sports columns.

"We want to make sure that as we make a transition from a print-based to digital-based business, we have to be finally viable so that we can continue to meet our mission of offering high-quality news and entertainment services," said the publisher, who owns a newspaper that has a position of journalistic authority greater than any other news organization in the world.

"But the rest of our articles or about 90 percent of what you currently get free will remain free."

The newspaper`s online business is making serious money. The New York Times Digital, which includes Boston.com as well as NYTimes.com, netted $17.3 million on revenue of $53.1 million during the first half of 2004. The digital unit is growing at 30 to 40 percent a year, making it the newspaper`s fastest-revving growth engine.

NYTimes.com gets more than 500 million page views every month, among which foreign readers account for about 16 percent. "This also helps us enter foreign newspaper markets," said Sulzberger.

Asked about the trend of newspapers going into tabloid format in Europe and elsewhere, Sulzberger said he has no such plans yet. "Circulation of the New York Times continues to grow ... We have recreated the culture page and only weeks ago we launched a new business section. These two sections will make the paper look stronger."

Touching on the controversy sparked by the World Association of Newspapers` criticism of Korea`s laws to restrict the power of newspapers, Sulzberger said, "We take the position that fewer rules governing the press will help democracy, and these are about people`s right to choose what they want to read. Any rule governing the press can be adversary to vibrant democracy not only in a political sense but in a corporate sense as well."

Sulzberger also refuted criticism by some Korean civic groups that WAN is only representing the interests of some conservative newspapers and that it needs more understanding of Korea`s media environment and the context in which the controversial media laws were born.

"All of us have different elements, but I think of some fundamentals - and I think one of those is freedom of the press," said Sulzberger.

On Tuesday, addressing a session at the World Editors Forum under the auspices of the World Newspaper Congress, Sulzberger clashed with some Chinese editors, who claimed that China has different concepts and understanding concerning freedom of the press.

Meanwhile, Sulzberger declined to comment on the North Korean nuclear issue and the Korea-U.S. summit scheduled for June 10 in Washington.

(soyoung@heraldm.com)



By Kim So-young