Media Specialty Overview of Print

¶ … Media Specialty

Overview of print media today and its future

Is print media dying? Although the printed word in book, magazine, and newspaper form has not yet gone the way of the 8-track, there can be no doubt that today's print media faces cutthroat and devastating competition from the printed word on the Internet. E-zines, spanning everything from television and music fan E-zines to serious news publications such as Slate, "have virtually no traditional paper, printing, or distribution costs, and are better versed in new media interactivity" (Walsh 2008). In other words, not only do readers not have to pay for the content, but these Internet publications without real-world counterparts also cost less money to produce. Furthermore, Internet readers on all types of print media sites have the added excitement of being able to interact with other people on message boards, as well as look at related video content on the sites, luxuries they do not have when reading print. It is widely agreed, even by industry professionals, that the future of print must "include integrated and stand-alone rich media, primary source materials, and community participation," to remain viable (Greenspan et. al. 2008).

Even for long-standing print publications like the New York Times with online content that reprints or expands upon the traditional format of the printed, paper newspaper, it cannot be denied that print is experienced in a profoundly different format by online users. On the Internet readers are able to more carefully filter the content they desire -- they can search a publication for the specific articles they are interested in, rather than read it cover to cover. Advertising can be more specifically targeted to consumers who are interested in specific content, even on general interest publication websites. The content of future print media seems likely to exhibit a greater specialization of interests and more partisan ideological orientations.

The troubled state of the non-virtual printed media is evidenced in the age-related nature of print vs. solely online readers. According to a recent Reuter's survey, because of the greater specialization of content endemic to the Internet, nearly half of all Americans are turning to the Internet to exclusively to get their news, and a generational divide is emerging in terms of the type of news content accessed by readers. This figure has grown from 40% just a year ago. "Less than one third [of readers] use television to get their news, while 11% turn to radio and 10% to newspapers... More than half of those who grew up with the Internet, those 18 to 29, get most of their news and information online, compared to 35% of people 65 and older. Older adults are the only group that favors a primary news source other than the Internet, with 38% selecting television." But with this shift to the Internet comes dissatisfaction amongst all readers, regardless of age, about the quality of the journalism they are perusing. Reuters noted that 64% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the quality of reporting they got through the Internet, as opposed to print media.

Additionally, there is another problem with online media, as opposed to print or print media with online sources. It is similar to the problems experienced by the music industry with the invention of Napster, namely that of profitability. "Gone are the days of print's incredible profit margins...Ad revenue is way down...it's extremely difficult to create print advertisement, [even] compared to radio or television ads...it's not very glamorous either, so many advertising agencies ceased doing print ads.... Our advertising staff now goes to ad agencies and businesses to show them what can be done with print ads and to do the technical layout for them'" (Greenspan et. al. 2008). On the Internet, rather than merely advertising a product and requiring the consumer to do the footwork to purchase the item, the consumer can be linked to a website where they can easily and impulsively buy the product in question. This makes using the Internet much more desirable for advertisers, who may soon be unwilling to advertise in newspapers at all, especially as the current age demographic of news readers begins to taper off with the inevitable consequences of aging.

Of course, it could be argued that people have always had access to free content in the form of libraries, which did not result in the demise of paid, print media. The convenience of reading a book, however, has become less of a factor as laptops grow more streamlined and because of innovations like Amazon's Kindle, which enables users to access printed content on a small, easily transported computer device. In fact, even libraries themselves are becoming more digitally-based, as college students can research journals online from their dorm bedrooms, and many academic journals, facing small subscription pools and high costs of production, are shifting to an online format.

The issue is not simply quality of print, however. There is also the issue of how the industry can financially sustain itself. Producing legitimate media content, with adequately researched stories, can be challenging when consumers are not wiling to pay at all for content, because they can get something similar for free. Even online publications with advertising revenue are not as financially remunerative as sites with solely user-generated content and nonprofessional authors. These sites may also be more popular, even if readers know they are less reliable, because of their partisan content. The readers of today in younger demographics are more used to being able to tailor the content of the opinion and subject matter they read, and to pass by newspapers filled with a variety of information.