The sun shone into the study through the arched window, making the books displayed on the bookshelf shine brightly. Arthur leaned against the sofa, was frowning and listening to the reports of the two persons in charge of Bolin Publishing House and the Southern Daily Echo.

The overall situation of the two companies is not much different from what Arthur has learned. However, the current situation of Bolin Publishing House is not as optimistic as imagined. Although it is in a profitable state, with the impact of the economic crisis, profits have also declined.

The impact of new media, traditional newspapers are generally facing challenges such as readers loss, advertising decline, profit reduction, channel decline, etc. Cases of the demise of print media are being staged across the UK and even around the world, not to mention a Hampshire regional xing news tabloid like the Southern Daily Echo.

The Southern Daily Echo was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Southampton. Its stance is neutral and its circulation has just fallen below 90,000 copies. This is definitely an important regional newspaper in Hampshire, which has a population of more than 900,000. And an additional copy of "Pink Sports" will be issued every Saturday, mainly telling the story of local football sports. This "Pink Sports" is also one of the only two remaining local football newspapers in Britain.

"Lord, readers' dependence on local newspapers is weakening, and the local newspaper market is declining at a faster pace. Especially in big cities with free newspapers and many other categories of newspapers, readers' demand for community news is even lower..."

Listening to the dilemma faced by Jerry Fuller, the head of the newspaper, with a helpless expression, Arthur could understand the current situation of the print media. Not to mention others, before traveling through time, he himself had not read a paper newspaper for many years. The newspaper had long disappeared from his life. This is the general trend. With a mobile phone, who would read that newspaper?

"Oh..." Arthur couldn't help but sigh. 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, but there was really no other way to go besides the Internet.

"After just over a decade before the Internet became popular, we had heard this "prophecy": people will no longer read newspapers and buy magazines, publishers will face bankruptcy, and bookstores will be left unattended... Paper media will gradually become the epitaph of the long-standing culture."

Tom White, the head of the publisher, said with a serious expression, "This is indeed what is happening now. Newspapers and magazines have gradually become small grocery stores selling water and miscellaneous goods, bookstores have been transformed into cafes, and some old-fashioned paper media have been unable to defend their century-old signs and are on the verge of bankruptcy..."

"Have the newspaper thought about any measures to change the situation and continue to deteriorate?" Arthur was very unfamiliar with the affairs of the news media industry after all. He knew his own affairs. Since he didn't understand, don't direct the matters. He should listen to the opinions of professionals and make judgments and decisions by himself. However, he has already decided on the idea of ​​transformation of the newspaper. If he doesn't build a website, he will definitely die!

"Yes, we did think of some solutions." Jerry Fuller looked at Arthur with a serious expression and said, "According to the survey, readers have a lower demand for community news in big cities with free newspapers and many other categories of newspapers. Taking London, which has the largest circulation of free Metro, as an example, the reader market here is no longer able to support another paid daily newspaper.

However, as far as small and medium-sized cities are concerned, local newspapers may still have a glimmer of hope. First of all, we can change the time of publication from evening to morning, so that the circulation may rise against the trend, and changing the time of publication will also become one of the transformation trends of local newspapers in the future.

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

In addition, in order to make up for the losses in printing plates, turning to the network 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 newspaper. As the daily newspaper with the most influence in Hampshire, he could not give up this influence. As a soul of the Celestial Empire, he was not clear about anything else, but he valued the most.

"It's a good idea to change the time of the newspaper to morning. As for changing the weekly newspaper, I won't consider it for the time being. Regarding the newspaper website... Jerry, how is the current operation of the newspaper website?"

Jerry smiled bitterly 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 previous electronic versions with poor timeliness."

As soon as he heard this, Arthur knew that he could not have any hope for the newspaper's website. He frowned slightly and said, "Setting up an Internet department to run the newspaper's website. In fact, the transformation of paper media into an online Internet media has its natural advantages: a huge and stable loyal readership group, and a professional author and editorial team that provides high-quality content. We are not just a media, but a brand!"

"But, this requires a lot of manpower and financial resources..."

Speaking of money, Arthur was speechless and helpless. However, he did not tell the two subordinates in front of him that there was only 50,000 pounds in his account. Instead, he waved his hand and said: "First change the time for the newspaper. Also, Jerry, in the face of the global economic crisis, in order to get rid of difficulties and losses as soon as possible, the newspaper also needs to make some internal reforms to save expenses!"

As Arthur said this, both Jerry Fuller and Tom White's faces changed slightly. When they looked at each other, they all saw helplessness and sighs in each other's eyes, and finally they still had to raise the "sharp axe" for layoffs.

As for "saving money", layoffs are undoubtedly one of the most direct, easiest and most commonly used methods. Of course, the methods of saving expenses are also about wages, such as salary cuts, suspensions, unpaid leave, etc.

"I know, this decision will make you feel sad. It is too cruel to some people, but there is no way. The newspaper has been making losses for two consecutive years. If we don't want to see it go bankrupt, we can only bear the pain and save ourselves.

In addition to editors and front-line reporters, one quarter of them were removed!”

After Arthur finished speaking, he felt a sense of emotion and thrilling. Unexpectedly, one day, he could also decide the career destiny of many people easily, and in one sentence, dozens of people were unemployed.

Although the financial crisis will eventually pass, media changes are inevitable. With the rapid development of new technologies, the real impact of the financial crisis is actually accelerating and shortening the process of media changes.
Chapter completed!