British papers better placed to survive?

There is an interesting take on the crisis in newspapers from Peter Kirwan in the Uk's Wired magazine (ht-Martin Stabe)who had gathered at the now not so wake for Press Gazette.

He writes that

many of our wilder ideas about what’s happening to British journalism have emerged, by osmosis, from the US.

but the market there is so much different

Following the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 which effectively allowed a near monopoly for papers in the cities

“no paper in a one-paper city, however bad the product or however inept the management, could avoid gushing profits.”

Thus when the web came along these organisations were always going to be harder hit as their monopoly position was challenged by the new technologies.

In contrast Britain's

regional chains have spent the last six months watching their print-based ad revenues melting into thin air. Their business models remain highly dependent on print-based classified advertising, but the recession will teach butchers, hairdressers and candlestick-makers to exploit the web.

but papers have embraced the web a lot quicker than their American counterparts.

But,warns Peter there are two reasons to be less than optimistic

1.The collapse in print ad revenues has been worryingly swift and deep. Most of the industry is budgeting for a recovery in late 2009, or early 2010. If that recovery doesn’t materialise, US-style corporate collapses will become a possibility within the regional press.

2.The next stage of digital evolution is going to be costly for newspapers. If online display is to return to its old growth path, the benefits of running campaigns need to be demonstrated convincingly to advertisers.