Heseltine: Digital will not make all print media extinct
Doom-mongers continue to forecast traditional media's demise but the digital revolution will not kill off all print titles according to Lord Heseltine, the founder of publishing company Haymarket Media Group.
The former deputy prime minister, speaking at yesterday's Brand or Demand event in Manchester, said he expects specialist magazines in particular to recover from the advertising downturn.
But Heseltine, 76, made it clear he is no Luddite, marveling at the web's potential for media brands and admitting newspapers may struggle to make up ground lost to online rivals.
“The web is a fantastic communications tool, and we're only just beginning to see the scale of the opportunities it presents,” Heseltine said.
“But the printed word didn't stop people speaking to each other. Radio was going to kill off print, cinema was going to kill off radio, television was going to destroy everything... it didn't happen.”
Heseltine said the number of unique users visiting successful websites far outstrips the readership of traditional newspapers and magazines, but warned: "It's often only three or four clicks before those visitors leave [the site], whereas a magazine can hold your attention for 96 pages.”
He said specialist magazines are for people who “don't know what they want” but are prepared to invest leisure time reading from cover to cover because the content so interests them.
“I'm interested in horticulture and if I buy a horticulture magazine I read all of it, every single page, and I look at all the ads, because I don't know what exactly it is I'm looking for, but I want to make sure I find out what's new.
“For that reason I think there's a sporting chance the advertisers will come back to specialist magazines. Whether they will return to newspapers is a different matter because you can get the same news and information from so many competing sources – television, websites...”
Heseltine founded Haymarket in 1957 but stepped down as executive chairman in January and handed over the reigns to his son Rupert.