jamaica-gleaner.com
The Jamaica-based Gleaner Company Ltd the oldest operating newspaper in the Caribbean, held its Annual General Meeting last week and reported to shareholders and analysts what they called their worst financial results in the company’s 175 year history, posting “a dramatic loss of JMD$444.69mm for 2008, coming from a profit of JMD$98.2mm in 2007.” This information we secured from the Equity Research Company Update a report done by the stock brokerage form Stocks & Securities Ltd dated June 12, 2009 which had as its headline: The Gleaner Company Ltd (GLNR) Looks to Increase Market Share with Online Medium.
The Update which was a comprehensive report on the Gleaner’s AGM said that the meeting chaired by Chairman/Managing Director, Oliver Clarke, heard Rudolph Speid, the company’s Group Financial Controller, share some of the factors that led to a decline in revenues. He revealed that, “advertising which contributes 53% of total revenue, incurred a 7.3% decline due to shrinking advertising budgets.” Additionally, revenues from Books and Stationary fell by 16.9%, as a contract to provide textbooks to the Government Of Jamaica in 2007 was significantly reduced in 2008. However, Circulation, which comprises of about 20% of total Revenues increased by 13.8%. Speid noted that the rise in Circulation revenue was mainly driven by increased prices.” Consequently, the Gleaner, which is a publicly traded company, has vowed to focus its efforts online.
Mirroring the Global Trend
Further in the meeting, according to the Update, the Gleaner executives stated that the way their company’s business was trending, certainly reflects the global trend of dwindling demand for printed newspapers. In fact according to a TechCrunch.com story “Last year was the worst on record for the U.S. newspaper industry. Total advertising revenues (both print and online) declined 16.6 percent to $37.85 billion, according to the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America. That is $7.5 billion less than in 2007. Print advertising alone declined 17.7. Classifieds were down 29.7 percent. And even online advertising was down 1.8 percent to $3.1 billion.”
However, The Gleaner said that it has made significant investments to enhance its online presence in an attempt to supplement.” Christopher Barnes, Deputy Managing Director, then detailed the Gleaner’s online development in the Jamaican market. According to Barnes,1.5mm people or 53% of the country’s population regularly use the Internet, with18% of the population reading The Gleaner online repeatedly. He added that he expects the Gleaner’s online usage rate to double by the end of 2009,as newsreaders are moving away from the paper edition. He said further that the largest consumers of The Gleaner Online are based in the US with 53% of its total readers, ahead of Jamaica with 22%. The Update also reported that the company is now more focused on disseminating the news to its readers as soon as they get it. Such efforts include, creating a website platform specific for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and actively updating social network websites, such as Twitter. Barnes also stated that its Power106 radio online streaming has seen a significant increase in usage.
go-jamaica.com
What has the Gleaner been doing online ?
With this information we went hunting to see just exactly what the Gleaner has been doing online.
We’ve noticed that in addition to their flagships online sites Jamaica-gleaner.com and go-jamaica.com, they have been decentralising and repurposing the newspaper content to build out a network of niche content sites, sitting on their own unique domains.
Currently they have the following online properties in play:
-Jamaica-gleaner.com – the general news portal site
- Go-jamaica.com – serves up Jamaican news, sports, business, events as well as travel information, chat room, dating and personals and scholarships.
- Gleanerblogs.com – a recent addition offers a mixture of magazine type content as well as a fresh cadre of bloggers.
- Sportscaribe.com – a site that was built specifically to cover the Summer Olympics 2009.
- Gleanerclassifieds.com – a site to place and search classified ads.
- youthlinkjamaica.com- their weekly magazine site focused on Gen Y demographic.
- Jamaica-star.com – a site for their printed tabloid focused primarily on entertainment. -Hospitalityjamaica.com –a fortnightly publication focused on the business of Travel and Tourism.
-Go-localjamaica.com – brings parish and community level news online.
-Discoverjamaica.com – a source for Jamaica tourism and travel information.
-Sportsjamaica.com – an aggregation of sports news.
- Discovercaribe.com – a hotel-booking site.
twitter.com/youthlinkjam
The Gleaner’s Social Media Profile so far
Since the report that the company would be actively updating on social networking sites, we wanted to see what their current social media profile looks like. Here’s what we found.
On Twitter @JamaicaGleaner has 54 followers, @GleanerOnline has 80 followers. GoJamaica.com has a Facebook group with 583 people and a Twitter following of 383 people. The Jamaica Star is on Twitter and has a follower base of 385 people.The company’s Youth Link Magazine brand has a Facebook profile with 4672 friends and a @youthlinkjam twitter following of 269 people and additional profiles on myspace and youtube. The Gleaner Company itself has a Facebook profile with 1,052 friends.
Business model online
So since print advertising has slowed, are they hoping to make more money online? I’m sure like most newspapers that are still alive and operating, The Gleaner is looking to see how they can expand their revenue generating options online and online advertising is still the chief income generator, with some experimenting with subscriptions for premium content.
Currently thought, The Gleaner earns money by selling spots on their site to local businesses (they recently launched a heavily discounted ad package which offered up to 40% discounts for ads across their online,print and radio media properties) in addition to running ads from networks such as Google and CaribClix on selected online properties.
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[...] than in 2007. Print advertising alone declined 17.7. Classifieds were down 29.7 percent. And even online advertising was down 1.8 percent to $3.1 [...]
I like that they are actually moving to capitalize on and improve their online presence.
Looking forward to how this pans out.
Great article!!
Great post Ingrid!
Interesting times…we’ll see how fast it takes the local business community to catch on to the online ad opps. What’s your take on this?
if they raise the price 1 more time I’m going to stop buying it.
@Karin. Gleaner is a big and visible brand and them taking this stance is excellent and will cause most companies to wake up and have a look at what is happening online with Jamaican/Caribbean people and Jamaican/Caribbean companies. They have already begun to further sensitive companies by having internet advertising seminars, so they are doing their thing.
So now entrepreneurs who have web properties can continue to make their sites look great and attract quality traffic because they stand to benefit from the corporate eyeballs that will be now looking to do more online.
not surprising that they have stopped making money. What is surprising is that they didn’t see this trend a long time ago and is just now rushing to have a presence.
Good article, Ingrid
About time now…..it is definitely a powerful statement from a company like the Gleaner
None of their websites are up to scratch. If the new-look star site is anything to go by, the refreshed gleaner site gonna be a flop. So far they’ve added a little dis n dat to the site, such as a blog and comment form under each article. Gleaner is a big joke. I checked the Internet Archive and that current Gleaner site layout goes back to as far a 2001. Hardly anything changed on the site in 8 years. Only the main menu bar and header graphic changed, plus a few minor tweaks. Same ol nonsense.
http://web.archive.org/web/20011127003910/www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20011126/index.html
If they dont make a radical change and become a multimedia news outlet, they’re gonna crash and burn. 444 million in losses is the writing on the wall. This newspaper is headed for extinction just like the dinosaurs running it for decades. What a shame.
Regular consumption in print is declining. Why?
http://www.afaqs.com/perl/media/story.html?sid=24222
Interesting observation Read this.
Check out CNN 9 years earlier
http://web.archive.org/web/20000815052826/www.cnn.com/
A few things here and there… you notice the little changes here and there.
There are questions whether or not advertising and sponsorship alone can support a multimedia news outlet online and therefore subscription will have to be an option.
Are you prepared to pay a subscription fee for quality content? I think that is the challenge facing news outlets.
Despite the obvious flaws with the Gleaner web properties, of all the media houses in Jamaica they have probably been able to generate more advertising revenues than any other.
You see the amount of ads?
OH and BTW… How do you know the Star has been a flop or is it a perception?
Flop qualitatively or quantitatively…. too many sites pass qualitatively and flop quantitatively… The aim pass qualitatively and quantitatively
You know I think the intolerance and impatience by some of Gleaner’s most fervent detractors can also be read as passion. They WANT to see the Gleaner move forward…but faster…because yeah while I get that CNN looked like shit 9 years ago and that everything is a process. Some Jamaican companies are notoriiously indecisive and slow to move. They are primarily reactive vs proactive.
Observer,
CNN.com is now a much more refined site than 9 years ago. The first thing you’ll notice is the interface design, which looks more professional, and is more appealing. Presenting a clean, neat, professional image of themselves, says a lot about the quality of the service offered. The new colour scheme reinforces the CNN brand as well. And the images and video content throughout the site are now larger and of a higher quality, since the site visitors are now mostly accessing the site via high speed Internet. I can’t say the same for the Gleaner sites, regarding these things. They are pretty much way behind, and are just talking about plans for a major upgrade. Well, the Observer newspaper didn’t talk about it, they did the right thing and sprang a surprise on the competition and caught them with their pants down. That’s the way how business is done in the 21st century. You don’t telegraph your plans to your competitors. Dinosaurs just can’t evolve with time. lol.
Would I pay a subscription fee for quality content? Depends on the content, the means of delivery and the quality service. For news, weather and sports on the net? No. Gleaner TV and radio? As part of a packaged cable offering, yes. For access to stock photography from the Gleaner archive? Definitely. Mobile content? If it’s an online music and video store, offering the best in Jamaican music and film, you bet.
Do I see the amount of ads on the Gleaner site? lol. You mean all those ugly ad banners along the right column of the site? There’s a more intuitive way to integrate ads now, that can generate even more revenue for them. Think text-based.
Yes, the Star is a flop qualitatively. All that real estate going to waste. Poor quality itsy bitsy thumbnail sized images, fat oversized buttons and sparse textual content. Of course the Star site should not give away everything, but should present enough content in a way to create a buzz for the newspaper and encourage online subscription to the printed or digital versions. Does the Star provides online subscription? I don’t see it.
Interesting comments. Points taken.. CNN has refined its site but the structure and Gleaner has not over time.
Some other notes and questions
1. Telegraph plans… not a good move… On that point I totally agree with you… You just do what you have to do…
2. Why Star Subscription and not Gleaner Subscription? Do you currently subscribe to any digital/printed versions?
3. Gleaner TV and radio… now that sounds interesting… Is there room another news channel or should the Gleaner aim for say takeover or
4. On the Jamaica Observer though
, what would you advise them to do in order to start making some serious money or have they gotten the mix right?
Isn’t it Ironic how “Observer” is so fiercely defending the Gleaner? I however agree with “Read This”, The Gleaner’s website has not changed in years, whenever i visit it still feels like 1999. This is totally unacceptable for one of the country’s premier media houses. If the Gleaner has any intentions of making money online, first they need to start spending money re-doing their online properties. CNN.com was a great example, and we can even check many more smaller websites who have placed a lot more effort into the layout and look of their website.
The Gleaner brand has a lot of potential to make lots of money online, but until something is done about their online properties I cannot take them seriously, and if the new Star is anything to go by I wont hold my breath. On a lighter note, i must give the thumbs up to the Observer, still not where they should be, but we see the genuine effort! and oh, Great Post Ingrid
Ohh and Ingrid, We see your changes!! Good Job, Navigation bar was definitely needed, remember your post critiquing the Observer’s website and a comment was made about it by a user and you promised would! Well done
Observer,
Both the Star and Gleaner should offer digital versions and online subscription.. Jamaica Observer should also go multimedia.
When a newspaper dispenses with all it’s top columnists…
(save money?) has ‘reporters’ who don’t leave their desks..
(someone has to answer the phone?) concentrates on wrapping ‘Dear Pastor’ in a puke of meaningless and sensationalist articles about nothing…(The Star) how can they possibly expect to do well?
The Gleaner has been losing readership for the past nine years and even it’s online service is used more as a ‘stumble’ than anything else.
Many people who owned stock in the Gleaner dumped it when the current ‘editor’ (term used loosely) took over.
whooo Suzann…I hear that. SO are you saying that Gleaner cannot be a successful turnaround story? So if they are so bad, why do so many Jamaican Diaspora people read it daily? Are you saying that quality journalism is not what Gleaner is about and can not be about.
[...] wrote a post on the Jamaica Gleaner last week with the headline- “ Jamaica Gleaner,Caribbean’s oldest [...]