The New York Post reported last week that the Wall Street Journal’s online offering had actually outperformed the print publication’s earnings.
According to the article:
The Wall Street Journal Online is signing up
thousands of new subscribers, up 5.2 percent for the quarter, to a
total of 731,000.
But some readers say they’re just switching from buying the
more expensive print editions of the Journal and Barron’s to the
lower-priced online versions.
One market watcher said, "Instead of paying about $356 a year
for the print version of the Journal and Barron’s, I’m getting it online
for $84 a year."
Although certainly bad news for the Journal, I do have to give them props for at least profiting from their own online offering. Most newspapers around the country keep their heads in the sand, hoping the Internet and plummeting readership and profits are just a bad dream.
Instead of being replaced by someone else’s product, the Journal finds itself replacing itself. A much better situation. The income may be less, but at least it’s not going into someone else’s pocket.
I’m willing to bet most papers around the country won’t be so "fortunate."
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