Brexit: Print media’s Homer Simpson moment

Brexit was good news for the newspaper industry with every major news title reporting bumper increases in circulation and web traffic in the days following the referendum. And as the story is set to roll on and evolve over the coming months and years ahead, publishers will be hoping Messers Gove, Johnson and Farage (and let’s not forget May or Sturgeon) continue to create the kind of news that people are willing to leave the comfort of their homes and pay for.

Analysts have been quick to highlight the opportunities available to the print media and their advertisers following last week’s vote and the sudden spike in demand for in-depth news and analysis.

According to a report on The Press Gazzette, Ian Whittaker, head of European media research at the financial company Liberum, said: “The EU Referendum should be positive for newspapers as businesses.

“In the short-term, it will have helped to boost circulation revenues given the huge public demand for in-depth news and analysis of the Brexit vote and its consequences; and in the medium to long-term, it will be taken as a demonstration of how much influence newspapers still have, which is a persuasive argument to use with advertisers.

Christmas, it seems has come early for the newspaper industry. But after every big celebration comes the hangover.

Just how long Brexit will continue to create a positive trading environment for the ailing newspaper industry is unknown. The leadership battles in both the Tory and Labour parties might create some spikes and the triggering of Article 50 will no doubt create a surge of interest but the majority of negotiations of unpicking the UK from the EU aren’t likely to make the front pages or push circulations to new highs.

Before we know it, it’s going to be business as usual and let’s not forget – business doesn’t look good at the moment and the only thing that will save it in the long term is fundamental changes in the business.

When a business put so much importance on a single, unsustainable event, I’m often reminded of an episode of The Simpsons where Homer invests his life savings in Pumpkins.

Homer tells his drinking buddy Barney: “This year, I invested in pumpkins. They’ve been going up the whole month of October and I got a feeling they’re going to peak right around January. Then, bang! That’s when I’ll cash in.”

The moral of the story is, let’s enjoy the spike in interest in the print media – but don’t bet your life savings on a renaissance.