The changing face of publishing

Helen Jones

E-paper, instant magazine downloads, social publishing, web 2.0 and the end of the newspaper as we know it — a brave new world, or is this all just pie in the sky?

IT WON'T be long before buying a copy of Heat or The Economist at your local newsagent could become as niche an activity as buying a vinyl LP. Instead of leisurely flicking through a magazine on the sofa with a cup of tea, you will read it on the web, download it on to a piece of e-paper or simply publish it yourself.

According to David Renard, author of The Last Magazine, in the next 25 years, only 10 per cent of the European and American paper-based magazine industry will remain, kept alive by "connoisseurs, aficionados and ageing Luddites." The rest of us will embrace the publishing revolution. Instead of nipping to the newsagent, you will download the day's news, sport or City pages from a vending machine and read it on a piece of e-paper. And when you finish, you'll put the e-paper in your briefcase and update the content the next day.

E-paper is already available: Sony introduced its e-book device last year, but Japanese company Fujitsu will launch what it claims is the first colour e-paper in 2008. According to Mike Nelson, Fujitsu's European general manager, e-paper is "exceptionally useful." "It looks like colour newsprint, it is tough, flexible, very thin and you could change the image on it every two seconds for a year using a triple-A battery," he says.

But will it replace traditional printed products? "Well you can't fold it," Mr. Nelson admits. "But we're not looking at tabloid or broadsheet size we're looking at something smaller. I think it will offer an alternative to newspapers. People already read newspapers and magazines online but it's not very convenient when you're on the move, so you can download what you want on to e-paper, take it with you and update it when you want."

Fujitsu also believes that e-paper offers advertisers greater flexibility. "Instead of sending a man up a ladder with a bucket of paste to stick up a poster, you can change an advertising message electronically." The company, like other electronics firms, is also investing heavily in steganography. This involves embedding data in a photograph which can then be decoded using a camera phone.

The technology is already being used in Japan where members of a music club get flyers containing reviews, he adds: "If you're interested in the review then you use your phone to click on the embedded data and a music clip is then played on your mobile." Mr. Nelson claims it will also help advertisers identify if a campaign is working. If people aren't clicking on your ad with their mobiles then you can simply change the campaign.

Impact on content

New technology will not only have an impact on distribution, but also on content, according to Ian Eckert, director of digital development at CMPi, part of United Business Media. "Publishers have to accept that the world has changed," he says. "Web 2.0 isn't about pushing out information to your audience — it's participatory and inclusive like MySpace or YouTube. The audience and the content is blurred and that's a real challenge. In the past, participation meant a letters page or a feedback slot, but that's essentially one-way traffic. Now, it's two-way traffic where people can gather around a brand 365 days a year."

VNU is another publisher attempting to get closer to its audience. It now runs live online, interactive video seminars so that audiences can take part in industry events without leaving their desks.

But for some audiences, it's not just about taking part, it's about taking over. "Traditional publishing is already co-existing with the revolutionary phenomenon of social publishing, where people cluster together to create their own content," says Tamar Kasriel, head of knowledge venturing at forecasting company the Henley Centre.

The role of publishers will change, Mr. Eckert adds. "I don't think we will get rid of journalists, but there will be less pontification from on high and more conversation," he says.

Dominic Williams, managing director of digital publishing technology company, System 7, goes further: social publishing, he says, will be huge. "It addresses all niches out there: professional, hobby, social and political," he says. "I think it's very likely that social publishing will replace trade publishing altogether. For example, if you are a tax consultant, you can create content and a guide to tax. If people like it they can vote for it and it will get noticed out there."

Mr. Williams agrees social publishing will pose threats but believes it is also an opportunity for traditional publishers. "It allows audience and content publishers to meet each other to share and talk. It's a big opportunity if you're building a brand and can get an audience to seed that publication." He cites Imagine FX, an online fantasy art magazine that System 7 helped to develop. By opening an online gallery and inviting people to post their own work, the site and the magazine gained three million page impressions in three weeks.

"If publishers have a deeper relationship with the community they are serving, they will get more traffic and more advertising revenue," says Mr. Williams. Publishers engaging with social publishing can also look forward to a different model when it comes to remunerating the creators of their content.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007