A slice of history - newspaper demand in the wake of the election

Tribune and other companies (see this report from the Dallas Morning News for one in the middle of a "red" state) reported a huge swell in demand following yesterdays election. Obama's win is a historic moment when a color barrier was broken for America's highest office. It's clearly a movement that many wanted to commemorate with the newspaper of the day.

There's both good news out of this and bad news. The good news is that newspapers still hold a special place in peoples hearts. Even with Obama's noted bent toward the young and Internet savvy, the newspaper is still the historic record of choice. Demand might be double in places like Chicago.

What's troubling is the arrogance in which they couched this demand. To say that newspapers are being turned to "understand and interpret the news of the day" is quixotic. People already understand that a historic event happened yesterday, they didn't buy the paper to figure that out. The fact they had to reprint tells you many had no idea this was coming.

I'm not sure if this will translate into more than subscription revenue either. It was a chance to have advertisers join a special edition with provisional advertising. (e.g. If Obama wins, run this ad) I didn't see much if any in my local edition. If anything the ad volume seemed down.

It was also a chance to produce a special edition. Sports Illustrated jumps on the airwaves seconds after a Superbowl or other sporting event with a leather bound edition and countless other pieces of schwag. People pay absurd prices to buy a cap. Companies produce two versions and send the one that loses overseas. This is newspapers chance to do the same.

Some jumped on this with framed versions of the front page and I applaud them for that. Fayetville notabaly charged $40 for its version (Fayetville?) I think it could have gone even further. Frankly, either winner was a historic outcome so this was the chance to pre-produce t-shirts and other junk for immediate consumption. The newspaper adds the added relevance of capturing a "where were you moment" If I'm in Nashville, my local paper is important because it captures the national story for its moment of time and place.