Nursing Times embraces digital world

by Bobby Anderson – staff writer/photographer

Driven by more than 100 years of journalistic experience, Oklahoma’s Nursing Times has proudly served Oklahoma’s nursing community weekly in print and online for nearly two decades.
With increasing advertiser requests for digital packaging and social media readership eclipsing 20,000 readers, Metro Publishing has announced the paper will move exclusively to an all-digital delivery with the exception of special editions like National Nursing Week and Oklahoma’s College Guide to Nursing.
Publisher Steve Eldridge said the move allows more resources to be allocated to a format the majority of readers already prefer. In addition, the all digital format will allow for more timely news with immediate E-publications, Job Alerts and Digital Packages that include Facebook postings and Job board placement along with the continued pdf print edition that will continue to be published each week as it has for nearly 20 years. Though print pdf rates will continue to be offered, all new digital packages are added to allow recruiters access to the best opportunities to find that special nurse and fill difficult positions.
Oklahoma’s Nursing Times is the only local publication that offers features and news content specifically intended to support hospitals, clinics, hospices, nursing and assisted living homes, universities and other nursing facilities and the nurses that work for them. Recruiters learn the value in the passive reader that applies after reading a story about their organization in addition to the direct applications from advertising positions with OKNT.
“The move to an all-digital format just makes sense on multiple fronts,” Eldridge explained. “No. 1, this format allows nurses to access content on their devices, on their own time schedule. It also allows nurses to more easily share interesting, relevant content with one another. Nurses won’t need to locate a copy or wait for delivery. The move also allows us to expand our reach to the entire state more effectively.”
“From an environmental standpoint, Metro Publishing is able to reduce its footprint while at the same time still delivering the quality content our readers have come to expect.”
Eldridge noted the Nursing Times’ more than 20,000 weekly readers can look forward to more robust, interactive online content in the coming months including interviews with nursing recruiters, other nursing leaders and nurses excelling in their profession.
Readers are encouraged to contact Eldridge with story ideas by emailing news@okcnursingtimes or visit the Oklahoma’s Nursing Times Facebook page or website.
“We have highlighted Oklahoma’s nursing community in words and images weekly for 19 years now, highlighting the successes of caregivers all at no charge to our readers,” Eldridge said. “We look forward to continuing that tradition through a format that better serves our readership.”
Metro Publishing has a history of innovation.
The digital job board has long been the most comprehensive local source of nursing positions available in our state.
In recent years, Metro Publishing purchased the former Seasoned Reader and rebranded and redesigned it to Senior News and Living.
The move brought an additional 60,000 readers into the Metro Publishing portfolio.
Across the globe, the process of mushing up dead trees to bring readers news is rapidly coming to an end.
The newspaper industry began transitioning to a digital-only form in earnest more than a decade ago.
One of the nation’s largest papers – the Seattle Post-Intelligencer – has delivered a digital-only format since 2009.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Los Angeles Times – the top five circulating papers in the U.S. – all offer digital-only subscriptions.
In 2008, the Internet surpassed print media as the way the majority of people receive their news, according to a Pew Research study. While subscriptions to Oklahoma’s Nursing Times Digital edition continues to grow rapidly, very few requests are made for the print edition. “The nursing audience is a highly educated and technical group of readers and have proven the preference for a digital product” said Eldridge.
According to Pew: * In the U.S., roughly nine in 10 adults receive their news online either via mobile or desktop formats * Digital advertising continues to grow as a proportion of total advertising revenue, increasing $12 billion from 2015 to 2016. * Total estimated circulation for U.S. daily newspapers has declined steadily since 1980 as more and more readers receive their news in other formats. * But since 2014, the average number of newspaper website unique visitors has nearly doubled.
Late in 2017, studies showed the gap between people who receive their news online versus television also declined to just a seven-percent difference. Local, network and cable news networks reported declines across the industry as consumers increasingly go online for content.
As always you can go online to www.oknursingtimes.com to access current and archived content or email [email protected] to have it delivered to your inbox.