Fairfax Digital Media is in the business news a lot at the moment, but it’s mostly about their merging with Rural Press and the creation of an ‘uber’ publishing house with the potential to muscle it out with the Murdoch and Packer empires.
As a longtime avid reader of the SMH (Saturday edition) I only recently discovered a so-called ‘Smart’ edition of the Sydney Morning Herald which to my mind is a development which may prove just as important, if not more important, to their future fortunes as welcoming the ‘relos’ back into the fold.
My first impression of the SMH’s new online version is that it entirely meets the expectations of what most traditional newspaper publishers seek. By that I mean it actually looks and feels like the real thing and certainly is streets ahead of other recently launched online newspapers in this country, particularly regarding the ease of moving around and zooming in on articles of interest.
Leaving aside the fact that readers will apparently have to pay for this new service, as opposed to getting a shortened online version free, it does unfortunately highlight starkly the need for fast broadband in this country.
I felt like I was back on dial-up. Admittedly it all looked great but I quickly became impatient navigating around in slow time.
I have often described the difference between dial-up and broadband as similar to the difference between riding a bicycle and traveling on a motorcycle.
Yes they do both have two wheels with a rider in the middle steering with handlebars, but that’s it … it is not comparable in any other way.
Certainly if you have always pedalled and never tried the easy rider experience you may be forgiven but no one, I repeat no one, I know would willingly trade in their motorcycle for the pedal pushing option, no matter how green their credentials might be.
And using Australia’s really slow broadband rather than the speeds achievable with fibre optics is, to stretch the analogy, like using a moped instead of a 1,000cc racing machine.
Given these reservations will this online newspaper ever entirely supersede the ‘tree based’ publication we all love so much?
In a word, no. I believe that a newsprint version will be around for decades if not always, but with major changes.
Firstly, in future they will all become a lot cheaper and probably free. Only about 15 per cent of Fairfax’s revenue actually comes from paper sales, the other 85 per cent is from advertising.
Secondly, instead of everyone having to cart around an encyclopedic sized issue full of sections of no interest you will be able to select only the hard copy sections you really want (incidentally this has already started with The Form racing section in the SMH).
Thirdly, they will become less time sensitive which means breaking stories, i.e. news, will appear online first. More comprehensive coverage and analysis will become the emphasis.
Fourthly, consumer generated content and opinion based material will increase and not be limited to the Letters to the Editor page.
Fifthly, you might see Saturdays only being in hard copy and every other day online. For me this would be the best option – and imagine how many trees it would save!
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Andrew Connery is the publisher of SutherlandOnline and (anyone will tell you) loves to share his views on the world in general and The Sutherland Shire in particular. Email Andrew on andrewc@youronlinecommunity.com.au - he'd love to hear your views on anything raised in this column. | 
