The Print Media What Are Companies Doing Online - Literature review Example

The Print Media – What Are Companies Doing ‘Online’? Name Institution The Print Media – What Are Companies Doing ‘Online’? Executive Summary The 21st century has been marked by the advancement of technology which has significantly increased online platforms for getting information. The change had often spelt doom for print players, particularly newspaper and magazine producing companies. Owing to the challenges of technology, Carringbush Media as a leading print media company in Australia with global operation has since developed an interest in the internet and technology. Therefore, this report will give a brief overview of where the global media industry is headed and its outlook. The report also discusses on what media companies outside of Australia are doing to address the challenges of the Internet, tablets and apps among others. The report will cover publishing, especially how they attract readers to both its physical (paper) and ‘electronic’ (tablet etc.) versions of its newspapers. The report will also cover advertising especially how media companies outside of Australia continuing to attract ‘display’ advertising in its newspapers and earning advertising revenue from its websites and attracting ‘classified’ advertising for both its newspapers and websites. The report has found out the media companies outside of Australia are increasingly adopting an online version of print and also target online community in social media to increase clicks and read. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 What media companies outside of Australia are doing to address the challenges of the Internet, tablets and apps? 4 2.1 Publishing 5 2.1.1 Attracting readers to its physical (paper) newspapers 5 2.1.2 Attracting readers to ‘electronic’ (tablet etc.) versions of its newspapers 6 2.1.3 Attracting visitors to its websites 6 2.2 Advertising 7 2.2.1 Continuing to attract ‘display’ advertising in its newspapers 7 2.2.2 Earning advertising revenue from its websites 7 2.2.3 Attracting ‘classified’ advertising for both its newspapers and websites 8 3.0 Conclusion 9 4.0 References 9 1.0 Introduction A number of analysts and commentators have boldly acknowledged that the print media particularly newspaper is over. For instance, during the 2010 International Newsroom Summit, which took place in London, editor of New York Times Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. claimed that the company is considering stopping printing the newspaper in the future (Barthelemy et al 2011, p. 4). This disclose by this editor of the New York Times which is of one the major newspapers globally was merely part of the debates within the media industry about the end of print. Banerjee (2008, p. 6) argued that the industry news developments now consists dropping advertising profits and disjointed audiences, which are growingly shifting towards online platforms is claimed to be an indicator of the ending of the newspaper industry. Kung, Picard and Towse (2008, p.13) claimed that the new opportunities in internet technology and challenges of print media have made some companies gain interest adopting online platform. One of such companies which have greatly gained interest in internet technology is Carringbush Media. Therefore, this report will seeks to discuss what media companies outside of Australia are doing to address the challenges of the Internet, tablets and apps among others. 2.0 What media companies outside of Australia are doing to address the challenges of the Internet, tablets and apps? The fast ever-changing media platform to which the print media have been compelled to adapt has made many to rethink their traditional way of making news (Barthelemy et al 2011, p.10). Furthermore, editors and publishers are reflecting on questions about the manner in which the news is used and even whether the alternative revenue flows should be adopted to run parallel to the traditional way of making news. Barthelemy et al. (2011, p.10) claimed that in the US, circulation of newspaper reduced by 8.8% from 2007 to 2009. Even though the U.S. Audit Bureau of Circulations claimed that it has slowed down to 5%, the truth is that the sector is still in problems (Barthelemy et al 2011, p.10). The instability in the industry has made media owners to think of diverse viewpoints and of voices. However, there has been a considerable variation within the industry trends. Markets in the US and Europe faces considerable pressures owing to the dropping on readership and advertising revenues (Salman et al., 2011, p.3). 2.1 Publishing 2.1.1 Attracting readers to its physical (paper) newspapers While the newspaper publication is not doing well in most countries, some countries are better off. For instance, report by Barthelemy et al., (2011, p.15) claimed that printed newspapers had grown progressively from 2004, getting to a high sales of 73.6 copies sold to every 1,000 older people in 2008 in Brazil. Austrian and German markets have demonstrated greater strength in comparison to several western markets (Barthelemy et al., 2011, p.15). The research has found out that companies which have adopted paywall targeting audience who can pay some premiums have not yielded fruit. It means that placing a newspaper online and integrating it with paywall has no assurance that audience will be attracted to pay for such service to make the company generate revenues. Lundén (2009, p. 18) revealed that companies which still have printed version of their newspaper have created a niche market and specialized product to attract readers to its physical (paper) newspapers. For example, company which have remained with printed version such as Financial Times and Wall Street Journal create a strong in-depth analysis, commentary and reports by the public intellectuals and experts to target the niche audiences who are always willing to purchase the newspapers (Barthelemy et al., 2011, p.16). The Companies outside Australia have devised a method where reports with in-depth analysis are not posted online to create curiosity of the newspaper readers to buy printed version of the newspaper. In this way, the newspaper companies also prevent customers from reading newspaper free of charge which is often the case with the online version. 2.1.2 Attracting readers to ‘electronic’ (tablet etc.) versions of its newspapers The growth of technology has seen new gadgets being made including smartphone, tablets and even creation of various apps which are suitable for these gadgets (Creeber & Martin, 2009, p. 46). The research showed that readership of newspaper lies in the development of more mobile devices. Barthelemy et al., (2011, p. 32) opined that typically, when expert talks of “mobile” they mean smartphones, which came in form of iPhone, Android and or tablet gadgets. As more mobile devices increases in the market, customer now demand for online newspaper which is easy to carry or store for later or future read. Therefore, companies now makes online version of newspaper which can be accessed through the tablet, androids, desktops and mobile phones in order to reflect the every changing need (Barthelemy et al., 2011, p. 32). 2.1.3 Attracting visitors to its websites Print newspaper has declined over the years due to consumer behavior change, especially their renewed interest in internet technology. Media companies outside of Australia have greatly embraced the internet and adopted online version of the newspaper (Chyi 2005, p. 131). However, competition in a number of online newspaper is very stiff as more companies seek for the same audience to their websites. Some of the companies with online newspaper include The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Daily News, British Library Newspapers, Daily Mail and Guardian among others. Nevertheless, the challenge is to get more audience to your website to generate revenues. The companies are posting their stories on their social media pages which have links to their website to attract more clicks and readership (Lundén, 2009, p. 19) . In most cases, the newspaper companies post both the news on some of the leading social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Since most of their social media pages have more fans or likes many people are likely to read their headlines which direct them to website hence increasing traffic. Barthelemy et al. (2011) argued that the companies have also invested in attractive websites which is characterized with good user interface, images and even videos to back the stories. Due to appealing website and article people are likely to share the website with their online friends. The Telegraph through its “content hub” enables the editors to put appealing articles, videos and picture (Barthelemy et al. 2011, p. 33). Carringbush Media can also develop their app or software which personalizes user interface of their website to more appealing look. Another strategy which enables the companies outside Australia to address the challenges of the Internet is the fact that they publish new stories the old day as opposed to print newspaper which publishes articles once in a day (Barthelemy et al., 2011, p. 13). 2.2 Advertising 2.2.1 Continuing to attract ‘display’ advertising in its newspapers Many Australian media companies had been worried about the advertising in the age of the internet. The question was whether advertising which has been their biggest source of revenue going to be phased out. However, the companies outside Australia, which already run online newspaper and advertising have been provided with an answer to this question. The research on the online newspaper shows that the concept of online advertising is the same to the print advertising (Barthelemy et al 2013, p. 22). The study of online newspaper has shown that websites too offer space in which the advertisers can integrate their advertisement to communicate to potential clients about products or services they offer. However, Wells, Moriarty and Burnett (2006, p. 67) argued that internet advertising provide numerous advantages compared to the print newspaper. Newspaper outside, companies outside Australia have able to integrate flash ads which “talk’s and display the words at the same time. As opposed to print ads which are still, online ads can be customized to change colour and even graphic of a product (Lundén, 2009, p. 80). In order to compete or gain competitive advantage, companies outside Australia now create many ads which share the same space. Many ads are accommodated due to the fact that a website can be customized to enable ads to slide and create a space for another. 2.2.2 Earning advertising revenue from its websites Media companies, particularly ones dealing with online newspaper have devised ways in which they can earn advertising revenues from their websites. Barthelemy et al. (2011, p. 22) posited that these companies have integrated Google’s technologies such as Adword and Adsense to modify the advertisement for their particular customers and even for particular regions across the globe. Adsense operates in a way that if a customer clicks an advert, they earn funds in their Adsense account. The Newspaper companies also create streams from revenue from the online advertising through creation of “content portals”. For instance, IMAKO Group which is a Greek company has created a section of travel ads where Greek hotels can put their own adverts to seek for more customers (Barthelemy et al. 2011, p. 22). In this case, customers can book for holiday through the website of IMAKO Group’s. Some of them have started dating or job search advertisements to generate more revenues based on clicks. Examples are newspaper companies Axel Springer AG and The Guardian, which have integrated online-dating websites and job search websites to their online newspaper. 2.2.3 Attracting ‘classified’ advertising for both its newspapers and websites The research shows that it is now easier to attract consumers to classified ads on the website more than classified ads in a newspaper. The reason attributed to the fact that many people are now interested in technology and the internet. A study conducted by Pew pointed out that in 10 people using internet, one has to visit classified sites everyday (Lenhart & Shermak, 2005, p. 14). In reaction to the increase of the internet classified ads, the classified ads on newspapers have plummeted in terms of revenues. However, companies outside Australia are still attracting classified’ advertising for both its newspapers and websites. Some companies have developed free advertising newspaper for niche markets (Salman et al. 2011, p. 4). For instance, jobs are the most searched news on both print and online version of the newspaper. Therefore, the print newspaper exploits such opportunities to attract more readers. They also have special editions for classified ads. For instance, in a particular day of the week, the company can concentrate on a popular niche such as property or real estate market (Manduchi and Picard, 2009, p.213). On the other hand, website or online newspaper has been improved to attract consumers. Most companies outside Australia have realized that the free access website is more attractive compared to subscription website hence using the strategy to attract more readerships. Craigslist is one the leading website in term classified advertisements which have adopted various strategies to gain competitive advantage (Lundén, 2009, p. 62). People now prefer seeking picture of what is advertised to make an informed decision. Therefore, media companies outside Australia now integrate pictures of the product on the website to appeal to consumers. 3.0 Conclusion In the 21st century, advancement in technology has impacted so many business industries. Media industry is one of such industry which has affected greatly. The traditional media and in this case print newspaper companies in Australia are experiencing fast change where the customers are embracing technology. In this way, they have been forced to change and put more consideration on online platforms to sell their products. The change has also been influenced by companies outside Australia who has since adopted ways to address the challenges of the Internet, tablets and apps. Therefore, this report recommends that for Australian media companies to compete not only in the Australia but also beyond, they must move with speed to adopt and maintain technology to attract more customers who now spend most of their time online. 4.0 References Banerjee, I. (2008). The Impact of New Media on Traditional Mainstream Mass Media – A Critical Assessment: A Series of Lectures on Trends & Future of the Malaysian Mass Media. University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur. Barthelemy, S., Bethell, M., Christiansen, T., Jarsvall, A., & Koinis, K. (2011). The Future of Print Media: Capstone Report 2011. Columbia University. Creeber, G., & Martin, R. (2009). Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill. Chyi, H.I. (2005). Willingness to Pay for Online News: An Empirical Study on the Viability of the Subscription Model. Journal of Media Economics, 18(2): 131-142. Kung, L., Picard, R., & Towse, R. (2008). The Internet and the Mass Media. London and Newbury Park: Sage. Lenhart, A. & Shermak, J. (2005). Selling items online. Pew Research Center. Lundén, K. (2009). The Death of Print? The Challenges and Opportunities facing the Print Media on the Web. University of Oxford. Manduchi, A. and Picard, R. (2009). Circulations, Revenues, and Profits in a Newspaper Market with Fixed Advertising Costs. Journal of Media Economics 22(4), 211-238. Salman, A., Ibrahim, F., Abdullah, M.Y.H., Mustaffa, N., & Mahbob, M. H. (2011). The Impact of New Media on Traditional Mainstream Mass Media. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 16(3): 1-10. Wells, W., Moriarty, S. & Burnett, J. (2006). Advertising: Principles and Practice (7th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Read More