Industry Overview
Media in the digital age
Threat
Newspapers have always found themselves under threat from the availability of free news in radio and television. Today, because of the amount of free media available and the ease with which it can be accessed the threat is greater than ever before and a large section of the quality press is in crisis. While The Sun with its 2 and a half million daily readers and The Mail with approximately 2 million readers are profit making The Times (400,000) Guardian (200,000) and Independent (100,000) are all struggling.
They face competition from free newspapers such as The Evening Standard (which recently came back into profit after deciding to become free) The Metro and other publications, free news on tv and radio, news on social network sites and the internet, public broadcaster BBC news and online digital news.
Traditional print news is considered by many to be a thing of the past. When you can download the news in a more multimedia format for free on a device of your choice why would you pay for it? The answer is that readers may still prefer the traditional print version (although figures suggest they prefer digital news) or will be prepared to pay for quality investigative journalism produced by qualified professionals.
Convergence is the coming together of new technology
Convergence in the context of media refers to the technology driven unification of different media channels. For many years different media were clearly separated: broadcast TV, broadcast radio, newspapers, books, video and film, recorded music etc.
The internet and other digital methods of distribution have changed this. A digital connection or physical medium can carry any type of content. Video can be distributed on a mobile phone network or music over the internet.
In addition to convergence at the distribution level there are areas in which the same content can be re-packaged across media: for example, computer games and films use the same content in different ways. This also creates powerful marketing synergies.
Convergence is part of a much broader change in the media that is being brought about by new technology. Although this has not happened as fast or as profitably as many hoped during the dotcom boom, changes are nonetheless happening.
Convergence creates unique opportunities and problems for media producers. While we the consumer now have more choice over what media we consume and how we access it the producers have to ensure that old media is distributed in new forms on new media platforms in a way that will appeal to the audience.
Television : BBC / Virgin and SKY now all provide online access to their television shows which can be accessed at any time from a number of different media devices. For instance, BBC shows can be watched on the move on your iphone over iplayer. The programme makers can communicate with their audience via web sites and even allow them to contribute to producing new storylines.
Film : finds itself threatened by the internet with many examples of illegal file sharing and download sites. The industry has attacked these illegal sites while simultaneously embracing the new technology in order to create viral marketing campaigns, advertise through social network sites and youtube. Create web sites for its films. Lovefilm and other sites allow films to be ordered online or streamed. New technology in the home allows films to be ordered as pay per view.
Music : has been transformed. The internet proved a major threat with billions being lost through illegal downloading on sites such as limewire. More recently paid downloads through itunes and other sites have seen a complete change in distribution and industry sales. The physical CD and high street shop may become a thing of the past. Artists like Lilly Allen have been able to use sites like Myspace to advertise themselves and distribute their music, thereby creating opportunities for groups to become successful outside of traditional mainstream advertising campaigns while groups like Radiohead have even allowed consumers to decide for themselves what to pay for an album.
The British Newspaper Industry
The Industry can be broken down into three sectors or categories.
Redtops (The Sun/The Star/The Mirror etc)
The Sun has a circulation of approximately two and a half million a day making it the nation’s most popular daily newspaper.
Mid-market (The Daily Mail and The Daily Express)
The Daily Mail is the nation’s second most popular newspaper with circulation of approximately 2 million per day.
The Quality Press (The Telegraph/The Times/The Independent/The Guardian)
The Guardian print edition has less than 200,000 copies sold a day
Quote from The Guardian website stating their political position.
The status quo among the quality press was irrevocably altered by the launch of the Independent in 1986. Capturing the centre ground between the Guardian on the left and the Times and Telegraph on the right.
There is an immediate concern over whether the top selling and most profitable newspapers in the country are able to provide the kind of in depth and investigative news coverage that we require. It is after all necessary for a democracy to be reliably informed about national and international events. Since quality journalism costs money and the focus of the redtops and even mid market press is frequently to sensationalise or report on celebrity culture we have to ask whether we can expect to remain fully informed on crucial events in a future in which quality newspapers are struggling to survive. Since The Times slashed prices in the 80s, closely followed by other quality newspapers the quality market has been increasingly competitive.
There are other concerns about the amount of independently researched and corroborated stories in newspapers. Nick Davies in his book Flat Earth News investigated the amount of content produced by newspapers that could be directly attributed to sources outside of the newspapers such as PR releases and stories bought from The Press Association. Although The Guardian had the lowest amount of second hand content it still comprised over 50% of the newspaper. This kind of cut and paste journalism is termed ‘churnalism’ as it is churned out by an external source and then reprinted in newspapers without being checked. Clearly, as consumers we should be concerned over whether the news we read in a newspaper has been properly checked and researched.
In recent years there have been redundancies at most of the major news groups. Trinity (Daily Mirror) The Guardian and The Times as well as The independent have all made cutbacks. Once you factor in a global recession with companies limiting their advertising budgets and the growth of the free paper (e.g The Metro) and threats from free news on the internet then we can understand how deep the crisis is. In fact, most of the quality newspapers are actually losing money. Despite having made changes to their design and layout and offering a host of special offers and giveaways The Independent, The Times and The Guardian are all losing money. Not only that, their circulation figures are falling each year. The only hope is to engage a young audience. However, this audience want newspapers in different formats and may be more part of a modern media world involving the latest news that can be accessed in podcast and video form and consumed on different devices in different places, whether in the office on pc, walking to the tune on the ipod or on the bus on an ipad or kindle.This generation are searching for a more interactive news. In either case the industry is aware that if it is to gain a slice of the internet advertising revenue then it has to change.
So what are the issues? There could be concern over political bias. The Mail Express and Sun as well as the Telegraph and Times are historically more right wing (leading more towards conservative policy) meaning that the news could favour one political ideology. This makes it more important that the ‘alternative’ and less traditional voice of the Guardian (a liberal paper) should be preserved. There are in fact, very few left leaning newspapers, making this political stance a minority in our press.
There are also clear financial concerns. If we feel that we have a right to quality journalism and a full understanding of events in our own and others’ countries then where is the information going to come from?
Threat
Newspapers have always found themselves under threat from the availability of free news in radio and television. Today, because of the amount of free media available and the ease with which it can be accessed the threat is greater than ever before and a large section of the quality press is in crisis. While The Sun with its 2 and a half million daily readers and The Mail with approximately 2 million readers are profit making The Times (400,000) Guardian (200,000) and Independent (100,000) are all struggling.
They face competition from free newspapers such as The Evening Standard (which recently came back into profit after deciding to become free) The Metro and other publications, free news on tv and radio, news on social network sites and the internet, public broadcaster BBC news and online digital news.
Traditional print news is considered by many to be a thing of the past. When you can download the news in a more multimedia format for free on a device of your choice why would you pay for it? The answer is that readers may still prefer the traditional print version (although figures suggest they prefer digital news) or will be prepared to pay for quality investigative journalism produced by qualified professionals.
Convergence is the coming together of new technology
Convergence in the context of media refers to the technology driven unification of different media channels. For many years different media were clearly separated: broadcast TV, broadcast radio, newspapers, books, video and film, recorded music etc.
The internet and other digital methods of distribution have changed this. A digital connection or physical medium can carry any type of content. Video can be distributed on a mobile phone network or music over the internet.
In addition to convergence at the distribution level there are areas in which the same content can be re-packaged across media: for example, computer games and films use the same content in different ways. This also creates powerful marketing synergies.
Convergence is part of a much broader change in the media that is being brought about by new technology. Although this has not happened as fast or as profitably as many hoped during the dotcom boom, changes are nonetheless happening.
Convergence creates unique opportunities and problems for media producers. While we the consumer now have more choice over what media we consume and how we access it the producers have to ensure that old media is distributed in new forms on new media platforms in a way that will appeal to the audience.
Television : BBC / Virgin and SKY now all provide online access to their television shows which can be accessed at any time from a number of different media devices. For instance, BBC shows can be watched on the move on your iphone over iplayer. The programme makers can communicate with their audience via web sites and even allow them to contribute to producing new storylines.
Film : finds itself threatened by the internet with many examples of illegal file sharing and download sites. The industry has attacked these illegal sites while simultaneously embracing the new technology in order to create viral marketing campaigns, advertise through social network sites and youtube. Create web sites for its films. Lovefilm and other sites allow films to be ordered online or streamed. New technology in the home allows films to be ordered as pay per view.
Music : has been transformed. The internet proved a major threat with billions being lost through illegal downloading on sites such as limewire. More recently paid downloads through itunes and other sites have seen a complete change in distribution and industry sales. The physical CD and high street shop may become a thing of the past. Artists like Lilly Allen have been able to use sites like Myspace to advertise themselves and distribute their music, thereby creating opportunities for groups to become successful outside of traditional mainstream advertising campaigns while groups like Radiohead have even allowed consumers to decide for themselves what to pay for an album.
The British Newspaper Industry
The Industry can be broken down into three sectors or categories.
Redtops (The Sun/The Star/The Mirror etc)
The Sun has a circulation of approximately two and a half million a day making it the nation’s most popular daily newspaper.
Mid-market (The Daily Mail and The Daily Express)
The Daily Mail is the nation’s second most popular newspaper with circulation of approximately 2 million per day.
The Quality Press (The Telegraph/The Times/The Independent/The Guardian)
The Guardian print edition has less than 200,000 copies sold a day
Quote from The Guardian website stating their political position.
The status quo among the quality press was irrevocably altered by the launch of the Independent in 1986. Capturing the centre ground between the Guardian on the left and the Times and Telegraph on the right.
There is an immediate concern over whether the top selling and most profitable newspapers in the country are able to provide the kind of in depth and investigative news coverage that we require. It is after all necessary for a democracy to be reliably informed about national and international events. Since quality journalism costs money and the focus of the redtops and even mid market press is frequently to sensationalise or report on celebrity culture we have to ask whether we can expect to remain fully informed on crucial events in a future in which quality newspapers are struggling to survive. Since The Times slashed prices in the 80s, closely followed by other quality newspapers the quality market has been increasingly competitive.
There are other concerns about the amount of independently researched and corroborated stories in newspapers. Nick Davies in his book Flat Earth News investigated the amount of content produced by newspapers that could be directly attributed to sources outside of the newspapers such as PR releases and stories bought from The Press Association. Although The Guardian had the lowest amount of second hand content it still comprised over 50% of the newspaper. This kind of cut and paste journalism is termed ‘churnalism’ as it is churned out by an external source and then reprinted in newspapers without being checked. Clearly, as consumers we should be concerned over whether the news we read in a newspaper has been properly checked and researched.
In recent years there have been redundancies at most of the major news groups. Trinity (Daily Mirror) The Guardian and The Times as well as The independent have all made cutbacks. Once you factor in a global recession with companies limiting their advertising budgets and the growth of the free paper (e.g The Metro) and threats from free news on the internet then we can understand how deep the crisis is. In fact, most of the quality newspapers are actually losing money. Despite having made changes to their design and layout and offering a host of special offers and giveaways The Independent, The Times and The Guardian are all losing money. Not only that, their circulation figures are falling each year. The only hope is to engage a young audience. However, this audience want newspapers in different formats and may be more part of a modern media world involving the latest news that can be accessed in podcast and video form and consumed on different devices in different places, whether in the office on pc, walking to the tune on the ipod or on the bus on an ipad or kindle.This generation are searching for a more interactive news. In either case the industry is aware that if it is to gain a slice of the internet advertising revenue then it has to change.
So what are the issues? There could be concern over political bias. The Mail Express and Sun as well as the Telegraph and Times are historically more right wing (leading more towards conservative policy) meaning that the news could favour one political ideology. This makes it more important that the ‘alternative’ and less traditional voice of the Guardian (a liberal paper) should be preserved. There are in fact, very few left leaning newspapers, making this political stance a minority in our press.
There are also clear financial concerns. If we feel that we have a right to quality journalism and a full understanding of events in our own and others’ countries then where is the information going to come from?
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Revision Videos
The Newspaper Industry
Ownership
Production