Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

The Newspaper Association of America recently unveiled a $75 million dollar ad campaign for 2007 which is “designed to ’surprise advertisers with the truth’ about consumer engagement with newspaper advertising as well as the strength and vitality of the audience delivered by newspaper media.” The way they’re going to do this is with ads. The print ads have a list of the variety of ways that newspapers are slicing and dicing their content for electronic consumption, never really mentioning that lots of consumers are bypassing traditional news outlets in general (not to mention newspapers themselves) and are getting their news from blogs and/or other online sources. In fact, the NAA seems to think that news was created so that newspapers would have something to fill its pages, when it’s actually the other way around. To make matters worse, the graphic that they’ve come up with to represent how news can be mashed into all kinds of electronic formats (pictured above) shows a person completely wired with all sorts of gadgets to his head and back. The subtext of a person carrying so much digital baggage (and junk) seems to subtly be — or really, not so subtly — “Hey, buddy, forget all those wires and cords, and just pick up a good ol’ fashioned newspaper from the newsstand.” I mean, in terms of that illustration, I almost expect to see steam coming off of the guy’s coal-powered jetpack. This to me seems to be the worst way, not the best way, for them to make their point.

From the NAA: “The creative focus of the 2007 industry campaign reflects the growing impact and importance of newspaper media in all its forms: From print and online to niche publications and wireless, newspapers are a vital and vibrant media choice for advertisers. The primary message in the 2007 campaign is the value of the engaged audience delivered by a medium with the brand power, content and credibility to effectively serve print and online advertisers better than any other medium.”

NAA Introduces 2007 Newspaper Value Campaign