How publishers can get more digital value from existing print content

Key Takeaways:

• Simply migrating a print story or TV script to the web isn’t enough. Use tools like custom GPTs to repackage existing content into web-friendly formats—such as Q&As or bulleted lists—without altering the facts or the original tone.
• Large print features often contain multiple smaller digital stories. By breaking a single comprehensive piece into focused, shorter updates, you create more entry points for readers and a higher volume of searchable content.
• Standard print sections like real estate transactions, public records, and business lists are goldmines for digital growth. Filter this data by price point, geography, or industry to create targeted posts that appeal to specific audience segments
• Transform static print columns into high-frequency digital assets. For example, turn a weekly “history” column into a “History Photo of the Day” or individual letters to the editor into standalone “Letter of the Day” features to build daily habit-forming engagement.

How much print content gets to the web?

When we start working with a client on audience growth or integrating digital more into the newsroom, we always start by evaluating how much of the current content they are creating is moving from print or TV to the web.

And what we find almost every single time is that there is opportunity left on the table.

I would think about this in two ways: 

(1) Is the content that was written for print or the TV script just being copied over to the web? If that’s the case, one way to get the most out of it is by using a custom GPT to repackage that information in a more web-friendly way. You would write instructions that would require it to not change facts, quotes and tone but have the article layered in a more digital way (think lists, Q&A).

(2) Can any of the content be broken up in logical ways that still offers a fulfilling experience for the reader on the web? One thing we see often is that a single print story or TV segment may actually contain multiple digital stories in it. Instead of publishing everything as one large piece, there can be value in separating content into more focused stories that are easier to consume online.

So what kind of stories could be broken out?

The opportunities are really endless and the process is as simple as going through a few editions and marking up the stories that could stand on their own with a little additional framing or information.

Here’s a good punchlist to work from:

• Calendar: Take topics from your calendar and break them out (Top art events, family, free) and make individual stories out of each of those. Do that weekly/monthly and make the URLs something you could update each time you publish.

• Public records: Repackage public records into individual posts by breaking out each record type like business licenses and registrations, bankruptcies and court filings, tax liens and judgments, corporate filings and liquor license applications.

• Real estate: If you run a real estate transactions list, filter it by price point, home size or location to create individual posts.

Blotter: Breaking these out by type (arrests, traffic incidents) or geography (neighborhoods) is a great way to make your blotter more relevant and targeted. And this creates more volume.

• Book of lists: If you’re a publication that creates these (top doctors or business data as examples) repackage these based on the filters available. For example, if you do a data list on new construction, break out stories based on that data by type of construction, size and more.

• History: If you run a weekly “this week in history,” take each item and establish a history of the day look back feature using that content.

Letters to the editor: Don’t bury letters to the editor in one big post, break them out as well, in a letter of the day feature.

These are just some ideas to get you going but I guarantee you there is content that you can tap into to get even more mileage out of print.

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