{"id":3578,"date":"2017-02-02T17:59:50","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T22:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/new-york-times-a-casualty-of-the-digital-revolution\/"},"modified":"2017-02-02T18:01:56","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T23:01:56","slug":"the-new-york-times-a-casualty-of-the-digital-revolution","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-new-york-times-a-casualty-of-the-digital-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Times \u2013 A Casualty of the Digital Revolution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Times \u2013 A Casualty of the Digital Revolution? <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Introduction<\/u><\/p>\n

The New York Times (NYT) is arguably the best known daily newspaper in the United States. The organization has been operating since 1851 and has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news source.[1]<\/a> However, with the rise of the digital age, some say the sun has set on the NYT. Their readership, like many newspapers, has steadily and alarmingly declined since the early 2000\u2019s, with the drop accelerating in 2007 and beyond.[2]<\/a> Readers gained greater access to the internet, started to rethink the \u201cnewspaper form factor\u201d<\/strong> (e.g. the desire for a tactile, hard print experience waned), and a variety of online options (blogs, e-zines, podcasts, etc.) proliferated. The New York times has had to weather a tough transition from print to digital, and I\u2019d label them a \u201closer en route to victory\u201d<\/strong> as they strive to find their footing in a rapidly changing environment.<\/p>\n

I will explain NYT 1.0\u2019s business model (value creation and capture) and operating model and will do the same for NYT 2.0 explaining the key challenges NYT faced \/ continues to face during the transition.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

NYT 1.0 \u2013 Old School Journalism <\/u><\/p>\n

Value Creation<\/em><\/p>\n

NYT created value for readers and for the world by producing and curating high-quality, relevant, and trust-worthy news<\/strong>. The NYT, along with the press more broadly, acted as a critical enabler of U.S. democracy by holding politicians and business leaders accountable and ensuring an educated populace.<\/p>\n

Value Capture<\/em><\/p>\n

NYT traditionally made money via a two-fold revenue model: 1) Print sales and subscriptions; and 2) Print advertisement revenue.<\/strong> In its \u201cheyday\u201d traditional print advertising was quite lucrative. In 2006 total print advertising revenue industry-wide was just over $49B. But by 2012, it was just 45% of that.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Operating Model<\/em><\/p>\n