Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

Shannon: Would you agree that your circulation online may at one point be more than the printed version of your paper?

Chris: That’s already very nearly happened, if you’re counting unique daily Web users and our Monday through Saturday circulation (our Sunday print circulation is still quite a bit higher). I think it’s only a matter of time – but it’s pretty important to note that those same people are not using both products the same way. Readers of the printed Inquirer might pick it up to catch up on national or foreign news, read the comics, look at the Sunday sale circulars, find out what time a movie is playing. Users of philly.com come to read sports news or local breaking news, find out what’s going on this weekend, talk about the Eagles or ask questions of the newspaper’s columnists and reporters.

Shannon: What is your personal opinion about the chatter that print newspapers are dying and will eventually be exclusively online?

Chris: Chatter? What chatter? OK… I have a hard time imagining a world without the kind of news that newspapers provide – in-depth, well-researched stories about the towns, townships and cities in which most people live. And that’s without mentioning institutions like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and, yes, The Inquirer, which still set the news agenda for their cities and (in the case of the first two, regularly, the nation.)

I think as the “paper” part of newspapers starts to recede (and it’s already happened in my lifetime – a broadsheet newspaper has lost 1/3 of its size, gas prices have quadrupled since I started in the business, so it makes some degree of sense that we have fewer people putting it together). I think the real challenge is will our online or digital product be compelling enough to command the kind of advertising rates we need to sustain the newsgathering operations? It’s tough now because we’re serving two equal masters, audience-wise – but not revenue-wise. However, nearly all the growth we’re experiencing is on the digital or nontraditional revenue side. Pretty obviously we’re in the middle of a seismic shift. Some newspapers will survive, some won’t – but ultimately we’re not in the paper business. We’re in the news business. We just need to make it through this tough interim period.

But – and this is important, a biggie – I don’t necessarily think the Internet alone is the savior. I think accessing our content through mobile, or through video on demand services on home entertainment centers that are already more computer than broadcast device, will become key to our survival. And I’m sure there’s stuff I haven’t thought of but that some pair of Stanford programmers is hard at work on, that will come down the pike in my lifetime.

Shannon: What strategies does a top daily like the Philadelphia Inquirer have in place to make sure that their content is leveraged both in print and online?

Chris: Well, that’s an interesting question. Right now it’s pretty rudimentary – we certainly don’t have a futurist on staff, a la the Times. But we’re committed to serving our users and readers compelling news and information about their city and their region, their sports teams and where they eat, drink and play. We’re still taking tentative steps – a Facebook fan page here, a Twitter account there – and looking at how people in the region (and those around the country with Philly roots) want us to fill their needs on the Web. In print, we’re huge proponents of our Web site, telling users how they can access all kinds of things we can’t provide in the printed Inquirer, like blogs and videos and our comprehensive data-driven School Report Card. But the bulk of the desire is to grow audience, and thereby grow revenue – and to uphold the highest standards in the journalism that our readers and users have come to associate with their hometown paper.

Thanks to Chris for the fantastic interview! Have your say in the comments!