The Dirty Little Secret About RSS News

There's a dirty little secret in the newspaper industry. In fact, it's a secret that might one day cause serious damage to newspaper brands and give further rise to blogs, unless there's action.

The secret (which really isn't so hidden) is that a scant few of the top 100 daily newspapers in the United States have RSS feeds that stream the full contents of the print edition. The notable exceptions here are the LA Times and The Boston Globe. Others, like the Philadelphia Inquirer, go part way by offering a front page feed. None, naturally, offer full-text feeds - even to their print subscribers.

This is a lost opportunity in the making; one of historic proportions. RSS is the future of news delivery. When I go to meetings and mention RSS, I don't get the stares that I did a year ago. The revolution is reaching the masses.

Flash forward 10 years from today. We will look back and laugh how quaint it was that we received our news on dead trees. Yes, I am saying the word “newspaper” will be a misnomer. News will be delivered automatically each day, not by the paper boy, but via wirelessly enabled e-paper devices that are easy to read. All of it will be powered by RSS.

So when are the newspapers going to step up to the plate and experiment with their golden geese? When will we see more ad-subsidized print edition summary feeds or, dare I say, full-text feeds for paid subscribers? I sure hope it's in my lifetime because if the newspapers don't give the masses what they want soon, an army of bloggers and citizen journalism networks will surround them to happily fill the gaps.

Technorati Tags: media, newspapers

Comments

[Graham Holliday]

Already happening in Europe Steve:

http://www.al4ie.com/?p=581

[martin]

"The secret (which really isn't so hidden) is that a scant few of the top 100 daily newspapers in the United States have RSS feeds that stream the full contents of the print edition. "

wow ! thats weird. If I didn't have my BBC News and Guardian feeds here in the UK I'd be lost. I really thought now that all major newspapers would have feeds. Nice one Steve . At 2am on a Weds morning its obviously true that you do actually learn something new every day.

[Jen]

I'm with you on hoping to see more feeds from news organizations (including television news).

However, I think you're a little too optimistic that news print will be dead in 10 years. Maybe 50. Or perhaps some version of print will live on forever.

What I do know is that good, solid headline writing for RSS feeds, tagging, etc. will become increasingly invaluable tools for journalists, editors (and bloggers).

[paperclip marketing]

Want to save the trees? Make a portable digital device that makes reading "the paper" enjoyable. Why isn't it surprising that we can make affordable 3" screens for portable videos, but have yet to devise a device suitable for actual reading of lengthy content. Make the technology and the readers will follow.

[Robert Scobl]

http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/02/22/blog-herald-doesnt-understand-why-full-text-feeds-work/ is my comment on this topic.

[Otis Gospodnetic]

That's an easy question. When they figure out how to make money out of it.

[Mike Ianiro]

Steve, I agree with you, but we should not assume that newspapers can't co-exist with RSS. What the newspapers need to do is explore new electronic content delivery forms for the future. It doesn't necessarily need to be RSS! But let's face it; paper just isn't efficient for some of us anymore. We want the most current information as it happens. I sometimes get the feeling that newspapers are providing partial RSS feeds simply out of fear of getting left behind.
As for the army of bloggers and citizen journalism networks happily waiting to fill the gaps, aren't most average people just looking for some to pick and choose the best news for them and provide it in an organized manner for reading? Considering that in what direction should newspapers really be moving towards? Providing complete RSS feeds would be a move in the right direction, but not necessarily the answer to their current headaches. More of a step forward in search for the best content delivery method.

[Lee]

Full feeds are the way to go! Check out http://www.fullfeeds.com/ !

[Tecnometro]

I think that the RSS is the future for the information delivery and that the newspapers that you mention would have to look for another way to use the RSS and not copying and sticking their printed covers single to facilitate the life.