In the Internet age a common question has become apparent, does it make sense to read a newspaper?
Even though 'new media' seems to be overtaking 'traditional media' in the communications horse-race, I have often been confronted with the issue that 'online and global media is killing the newspaper'. Traditional news media is faced with several dominant issues that are influenced by the rise and uptake of the new economy. As the new economy embraces ideas and thoughts, rather than physical capital that was the past, intellectual resources are taking the forefront (Rifkin, 2000: 1). Once dubbed 'the most stable variable apart from sex and date of birth', newspapers are declining due to a number of factors such as the cost, concentration of media and the introduction of online mediums such as blogs, forums, wiki's and online editions (Tunstall, 1971). According to Schoenbach, Waal and Lauf (2005), the widespread introduction of daily online newspapers has helped attract the younger generation; online newspapers will replace printed dailies in future generations as the printed version is not attracting young audiences.
We all know that more and more people are turning to online mediums, with their ongoing development, efficiency and superiority of the Internet (particularly Web 2.0), newspapers are lagging behind with major news breaks and current affair events and the speed of the distribution patterns of daily newspapers is incompetent in comparison to its online counterparts (Tiffen, 2006). Once the dominant channel in media, newspapers have little choice in having to reinvent themselves as the digital media age continues to dictate the future (Hartigan, 2007). A particular form of new media that is becoming an issue for traditional news media is citizen journalism and open source, mainly news blogging. Blogs are a form of online writing, reading and publishing, that promote self expression and leave the field open for people or ‘citizen journalists’ from all walks of life to create their own or contribute on others if permitted. Cunningham & Turner (2006) describe blogs as being, “an online journal, that offer new ways to distribute news, ideas, images, and sounds, and to comment upon, and link to, others work” (272). An important aspect of society these days, blogs free up the ‘playing field,’ kick off new practices and unwrap new spaces for a mass of communities with varied interests. The world is changing, the public wants to be part of the process, contributing to content and sharing information, the term 'passive audience' has become dirty (Hartigan, 2007).
You only have to log onto websites such as perezhilton.com or tmz.com to satisfy your latest celebrity news and gossip craving, or add Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to your Facebook to view the Labor parties current situation, and you can even receive constant worldwide news coverage on websites such as current tv or ninemsn. Overall, these online news sources offer everyday publics' or 'citizen journalists' to bypass governing media bodies to voice their opinions and deliver open sourced news. As Bruns (2008) explains, Internet fan sites, blogs and open source publishing all stand as indicators that the Internet sites with the highest levels of investment in resources do not necessarily research the widest audience. Not only this, but mainstream media like CCN and daily newspapers have turned to blogs and 'citizen journalists' for reliable and up-to-date sourcing, and are using these online mediums as a determinant for public opinion. As Hartigan (2007) explains, "newspapers are far from dead" but the challenge for the traditional media is to become part of the online scene (Hartigan in AAP, 2007).
In my opinion the decline of printed newspapers was inevitable, with the increased accessibility and growth of the Internet, online mediums seem more attractive. Newspapers are not dead, nor will they soon be forgotten, but they will one day permanently shift to global and online media.
References:
Cunningham, S., and Tuners, G. (2006). The Media and Communications in Australia. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.
Hartigan, P. (2007). Online Age Revolutionising Traditional Media. Australian National News Wire (AAP). August 7.
http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&dc=anh&AN=74C252985&site=ehost-live
(accessed May 12).
Rifkin, J. (2000). The Weightless Economy. In the age of access: how the shift from ownership to access is transforming modern life. Sydney: Penguin.
Schoenbach, K., Waal, E., and Lauf, E. (2005). Research Note: Online and Print Newspapers: Their Impact on the Extent of the Perceived Public Agenda. European Journal of Communication. London: SAGE Publications.
Tiffen, R. (2006). ‘The Press’, in S. Cunningham and G. Tuners (eds) The Media and Communications in Australia. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.
Tunstall, J. (1971). Journalists at Work. London: Constable.
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