The Newspaper Of The Future

Mr. Simons, the editor and publisher of The Journal-World and the chairman of the World Company, thinks of himself as not being in the newspaper business,- but in the Information business trying to provide information, in one form or another, however the consumer wants it and wherever the consumer wants it, in the most complete and useful way possible. He views, technology as our servant; it's our valet; it gets our stuff out there - but it's still about the content," adding that his company's online and cable properties have helped to forge a closer relationship with readers.A recent survey by Nielsen/NetRatings, newspaper Web sites nationwide had a 12 percent increase in unique visitors from May 2004 to May 2005, with a significant portion of readers aged 35 to 44 switching from a newspaper to the same paper's Web edition for their daily read.The World Company's advertising staff said that its sales force had embraced convergence enthusiastically and that offering customers multiple advertising platforms - on TV, on the Internet and in print - has become a strong pitch. But the company is still finding it difficult to persuade readers to interact with online display ads. And, while willing to adapt to news advertising demands, the company refuses to turn its Web site into an advertising billboard, believing that the clutter would undermine the quality and integrity of its journalism. The worldcompany evolution and perpsective of convergence technologies quite early is clearly an interesting story to read and a phenomenon to watch.