The Long Tail Theory Of Inspiration And The Use Of Newspaper Management

With the coming of globalization and the digital age, people's means of disseminating information, lifestyle and once-leading economic models have all undergone a sea change. Media, news outlets and audiences have all become more fragmented. Over the past two centuries, large business models focused on the production of mainstream "hit" products that would appeal to a large group of people. Specialized, "boutique" production lines are now challenging this formerly dominant business model. In 2004, Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine wrote a book detailing what he called the "Long Tail" concept. Anderson has pointed out that while most stores focus exclusively on mainstream products, niche products that appeal to the consumers specific, unique interests are beginning to outsell these "hits." Anderson describes his model on a supply and demand graph. There are very few mainstream products that stores sell make up the "head," but a nearly infinite number of niche products make up the "long tail."The Chinese print media industry is currently facing a crisis due to competition with other types of media and a failure to completely exploit their potential markets. This paper shows how adopting a model that focuses on the "Long Tail" could help news organizations overcome this crisis. By looking at economies of scope and the rise of business models employing the long tail theory, the author analyzes the problems facing the industry in detail.The paper concludes that China's print media industry would greatly benefit from specialization and creativity in order to exploit the potential niche markets. Finally, the paper concludes that newspapers should use their websites to provide this type of specialized news, either by having more sections on their homepage or by running other web pages and blogs to address these issues.