The Effect of the Internet on Established Media

The internet has greatly affected how the established media does business by forcing it to change how it gathers and distributes news and information. In the past, traditional news media relied on advertisers’ dollars; they sold their news prints cheap in order to attract bigger audiences, and in turn, the advertisers rewarded them with a good stream of revenue - life was good (Koen, 2011).

Enter the internet and readership shifted. More and more readers began to shift their focus on a wider array of media platforms. And younger people especially, who grew up with internet and mobile phones, are a major factor for this big shift in media consumption (Gibson, 2006). This shrinking audience continues to be the major reason why many advertisers pull ads or cut ad spending on traditional media. But Larry Kilman, of the World Association of Newspapers, thinks that there is actually an increase in audience if we account for all platforms. He affirms, “It’s not an audience problem – it’s a revenue problem” (quoted in The Economist, Koen, Victor, 2011).

Established media has been forced to grapple with the realities of the internet. They are learning, rather quickly, how to make revenue on all platforms. They are beginning to treat the internet for what it is; a dynamic and interactive type of medium. For example, those companies that simply transfer static content of their traditional news prints to the web are not faring well. But those that treat the internet as a separate entity with its own unique qualities and challenges are doing very well. Media companies like the Tribune have lost this battle, while others like the New York Times and Dallas Morning News are adopting pay content models on targeted audience. Apart from the added subscriptions revenue, these models seem to work well since advertisers are able to track and actually see what is working for them and what is not. For example, Google’s revenue model for “clickthroughs” although not new, has worked well compared to pay per impression which offers little or no meaningful data on targeted advertising.

The best examples for new media borne of the internet are the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The effect of these new media was apparent in the “Arab spring” revolutions that have seen the ouster of various dictators in countries like Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen.  Due to the “blackout” of foreign journalism in these countries, protesters have continued to rely on these social networks in sharing and distributing information beyond their borders.

References:

Gibson, O. (2006). Changing Media. The Guardian, Retrieved June 5, 2012, from http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.uml.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=8422&sr=lni%284JHN-6760-TX37-G286%29

Koen, V. (2011). Reinventing the Newspaper. The Economist, Retrieved June 5, 2012, from http://www.economist.com/node/18904178