The Relationship Between Print and the Web
Peter and I have had this conversation many times and I’m glad he’s written down his views on the relationship between print and the web for publications:
Still, the flaw in the print person’s perspective is in thinking that there is any relation between your print audience and your web audience. There is none. You are not undercutting your print product by publishing a website because the people who you can reach online have almost no overlap with the people who you reach in print. Your print readers don’t want your website, and your web audience doesn’t. want. your. paper. (or magazine). (There’s a small overlap for whom that’s not true — many of whom are the mediavores who read articles like this one.) Audiences are more stratified by media habits than they are united by common interests.
I don’t totally understand the last bit (italics are his), but the rest rings very true for me. (Just to give some context/credentials: Peter worked in research for print publications for many years, so there’s some rigor to his analysis.)
Hi, I'm 
Peter responded over at Tumblr:
They are undercutting their print product.
I don’t have a weekly subscription to the New York Times anymore, because of their web product.
Print needs to play to the advantages it does have over other media: size and permanence. A newspaper can display large, complex graphical information in a way that a regular computer display never could. No scrolling, just one large visual. Easy to spread out on a table or hang on a wall.
The Internet’s advantages are speed and research. The Internet gets the word out, fast. And, if you want more information, you can find it for yourself.
TV and radio have the advantage of being personal. The information comes from someone you can hear, a human voice.
I like this. I also think if a website viewer views a print ad, they just sort of think “oh hey there’s a print ad for that brand.” Like it’s almost completely irrelevant to the user of the website – they already have a significantly deeper relationship with the brand.