High Tech Journalism

So you've reframed the journalism business not only in terms of reporting, but also the news as a business. And so for you, how important is it for the Post to demonstrate to other news organizations that you can succeed in the digital world, that you don't have to die if you're in the newspaper industry, for example?

Well, I would divide the newspaper industry into two categories. One are the national and potentially global players. And that's a small number. The Washington Post, thankfully, is if we keep it up, we'll continue to be in that space. And then the local publications. The business model for local publications is stressed because in the digital world, digital implies global. And if you if you want global readers, you have to have global content. And if you want advertisers, you have to show that you can reach global readers. So covering something very hyper local, under the current model, it is very difficult. For national and global publications like The Washington Post, yes, our work's cut out for us, too, but we are focused on constantly giving new reasons for people to read, offering new products, going in depth and new subject areas. And as a result, we're seeing more readers across the United States and outside of the United States as well.

So is there any chance of even a similar type of digital growth then for local and regional newspapers, given the landscape that you just painted?

I think there is, but it's going to probably be a little bit different model. One thing we're doing, by the way, is we have at The Washington Post, we've placed a lot of our strategy on technology. In 2011, there were four engineers in The Washington Post newsroom. Today, there are 400. And we are at this intersection of technology and journalists. And you have to have great journalists. Doesn't matter how good the technology is. But we're focused on great journalism and world-class technology. So we've built for our newsroom the latest and very, very effective software tools for producing stories, for measuring engagement with the readers, for producing ads, producing video, all these new tools for data analytics. And the headline testing tools. And we are now, to respond to your question about local, we're now licensing those to local publications across the country because they need a technology lift and they don't in many cases have the resources to do it. So that I think that's one thing to help. But I think the model for local news is the most important news. I would much rather know what happens on my block than what happens on the other end of the state.

You know that old saying, "All news is local."

Yes. And local political news and also oversight of local officials. All that is very important. So I think the need is there and that the model will emerge. But I suspect it's going to be different than the traditional newspaper or maybe something that is a combined television station, radio station, local listserv and web site together. But local is essential for us.