break a story online? or hold for print?

Many articles I've read lately ask whether or not it is best to break a hot story online right away, or hold it for the print edition. In this new era of information distribution newspapers are looking to draw reader attention and boost circulation. Below is a story that addresses this issue. When you have a hot story, what do you do?

Poynteronline
E-Media Tidbits

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Posted by Amy Gahran 1:53:24 PM
Got a Scoop? Think Again
It's a perennial newsroom quandary: When a reporter has a hot story, should you break it online immediately or hold it for the press or airtime deadline? This was the theme of a great discussion recently in one of the many media-related forums in which I participate.

Plenty of opinions were voiced. However, I was most struck by an anecdote related by Damon Kiesow, Online Managing Editor for the Nashua (NH) Telegraph. Here it is, with his permission (emphasis added):

Kiesow wrote, "The last time we had this debate in the newsroom was about six months ago. As we readied the story for the Web we had the perfunctory discussion -- break it online or not?

"After we posted it around 5:00 pm I happened to surf over to a local online discussion forum. People there had been discussing our 'exclusive' for the better part of two hours.

"It is not TV or radio or other papers that are going to beat you -- it is your readers. There are more of them, they know more than you, and they don't have deadlines."

Taking the immediate news and posting it online is a service to the readers and shows the newspaper is active in today's media world.
Our most recent example is the fact we took the verdict in a double murder trial and immediately posted a short online story. That was the 7th most read online story of the month. The print story that ran the next day, a more comprehensive piece, was the 10th most read obline story of the month. We did not lose readers or lose anything from our print product by going online right away with the 'breaking news.'

--Dan Ross
Napa Valley Register

Dan's right. Building online readership is the most important job of any newspaper right now. The costs of online publishing are going down; online readership is going up; the wolf is at the door. Publishers who think they can create a market presence after print advertising starts plummeting may sound conservative, but they are taking a huge chance with the future.

Breaking news will build readership; readership will build advertiser credibility. You might want to debate about how extensive a story you put up -- particularly if you're seeing good growth in online readership.

But don't lose sleep over the way it was. Your strongest competitor in the future may not have a legacy business to protect.