Environmental and Technological Changes Affecting the Publishing Industry - Literature review Example

Environmental and Technological changes affecting the Publishing industry Environmental and Technological changes affecting the Publishing industry Stakeholders and how they shape the Publishing Industry Stakeholders and public interests directly affect the actions of every organization. For a publishing company, some of the most common stakeholders are the media, government and authors of books and newspapers. All these stakeholders are closely related to one another. A publishing industry is concerned with printing copies of books, magazines, newspapers and every other thing that can be printed in a readable format and distributed to a large number of people, bookshops and other distributors (Greco, The Book Publishing Industry, 2013). However, publishing companies only publish copies that are sent to be published and what is sent depends on a lot of different factors. It is important to understand that the publishing industry comprises of books publishing, computer games publishing, education publishing, journals and periodical publishing, newspapers publishing, magazines and software publishing. There are different ways that stakeholders can affect each of the publishing categories, but according to Greco et al. (2007) it is imperative to understand that all the efforts are made towards the consumers. Consumers are the final users in buying books, playing games, reading journals, magazines and newspapers. In other words, the stakeholders (all except consumers) aim to fulfil the demand or change the perspective of the final users and in doing so it changes the way publishing industry operates. Zotto & Kranenburg (2008) believe that media is the most influencing factor for the publishing industry. Media generate news that is widely accepted or disregarded by the public. The publishing industry, through newspapers and magazines, acts on that news that are accepted and preferred to be read by a larger audience. Murray (2004) believes that media picks a topic that becomes a hot issue for a large group of people in town or city. It keeps highlighting it several times a day to keep the people engaged in the news. Later other sources like newspapers cover it on a regular basis when there is an opportunity to sell papers to a large interested audience. The most current example is the ISIS. The so-called terrorist group belonging to Iraq is all over US and UK television and social media. It all started with the beheading of a US journalists and the news quickly gained significance. There were thousands of tweets about it on Twitter and hundreds and thousands of pictures shared and tagged on popular social networking websites like Facebook. Renowned television channels like Sky news, BBC and CNN covered the news several times each day (Tracy, 2014). Markiewicz (2014) takes a deeper look into the issue and penetrates how people grew sympathetic for the journalist who was beheaded and the newspapers and magazines then decided to cover the story. The publishing industry covered it because there was a demand for it. There was a demand for news about a terrorist group that was beheading US journalists and other American and British citizens. Markiewicz (2014) observed that all the famous newspapers all across Northern America and Europe started to publish the news in no time. The Guardian, the Sun and the Telegraph are just a few of the popular ones to show the atrocities of the ISIS group in the front page. Markiewicz (2014) concluded that media is a crucial element and tool in shaping the entire publishing industry. One of the reasons is also because media is a more recognized and popular tool. Televisions and other social media have a way more viewership then there are people who read newspapers. Once the news is exposed on televisions or social networking websites then the newspapers immediately follow it. Markiewicz (2014) believes that media gives publishers a proper direction to follow and the type of news to carry in the papers. Other than media, the government plays a crucial role in shaping the publishing industry (Bowles, 2014). According to Lathrop (2010) more than 70% of the people in Asian countries read newspapers because of politics. About 50% of the people read newspapers because of the same reason in most western countries and more than 50% of the people read newspapers in the USA just to keep them informed about the politics in the country. Lathrop (2010) labels newspapers as the most efficient tool for the government to spread propaganda and to also advertise about itself. Newspaper has a target audience that is always prepared to read the achievements of the government. 1 Source: Lathrop (2010) Johnson (1998) and Dickerson (2010) explain that the sales of newspapers and some of the top magazines in Asian, Western and American countries relies on the news it carries about the government. The Democrats and Republicans are all over the newspapers in the USA to advertise about themselves by mentioning how they are helping the society. Other than this, it is a common practice for politicians amongst the two parties to verbally accuse and blame each other. It is not only true for the USA but nearly every part of the world. Martin (2003) researched and found out that a large group of people like to read newspaper because of the accusations politicians make to each other. In the USA, about 18% of the people like to read newspapers because they like to view the arguments between politicians and the counter arguments. The publishing industry would only sell more papers and magazines when they have hot topics to discuss in the newspapers. It is very common to find headlines like the Democrats slams the new policy to fight terrorism by the Republicans or the Republicans snub the offer to form a coalition with the Democrats. Other than politicians accusing each other in media and newspapers, sometimes writers and authors of newspapers and books come up with news breaking headlines and books to expose truth or cover a story related to the crimes of the government. It gets great appreciation from the public and the readers of the newspapers. Writers and authors play a major role in the publishing industry. Sargent (2002) elucidates that the greater the name of the writer, the more books and newspapers will be sold. One such example is of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who wrote for the Washington Post. Both these writers were responsible for breaking the Watergate scandal. Something like the Watergate scandal was totally unexpected, and the public were surprised when they heard such accusations in the newspaper about the then President of the USA. When the rumours proved to be true, it created a great sensation in the country. This incident forever changed the way publishers handled news (Olson, 2003). Olson (2003) believes that all of the focus of the leading newspapers went on publishing news about the government after the Watergate scandal. Most of the other leading journalists and writers started to investigate and write about government cover-ups. There were more efforts being made to attack the government and bring out the real truth to people. Newspapers and books concentrated more on conspiracy theories rather than anything else. This trend has continued ever since then, and journalists continue to sell copies of books and newspapers in million. Technology drivers and the Publishing Industry Technology has greatly changed the publishing industry in the past few years and with the introduction of more applications for phones and tablets it is still continuing to do so. Between the years 2008 and 2012, the publishing industry saw a decline in sales for the traditional hard copies of book publishing while the demand for digital publishing greatly increased (Fitzpatrick, 2013). There was a decline worth $200 million for hardcover sales while the digital publishing industry grew by nearly $3 billion. Such is the rate at which technology is changing this industry (Fitzpatrick, 2013). Source: (Brown & Boulderstone, 2008) Amazon has been one of the main technology drivers in the publishing industry. It has changed the way that organizations and individuals publish books. The traditional method required an author to approach a publishing company and then get the approval for his or her book to be published. Now the author does not have to wait for the hard copies to get printed and reach the fans or regular readers. E-books and e-newspapers can be easily accessible through many online stores, and an author can easily get it published through Amazon or other such similar publication companies (Brown & Boulderstone, 2008). Source: (Brown & Boulderstone, 2008) Modern technology allows people to get access to different applications in order to read an electronic book or newspaper. Apple Inc. has many applications in its Apple Store for people to download and read books. Similarly, Android users could also benefit from these kinds of applications by downloading book-reading applications from Google Play Store (Iglezakis, 2011). Applications like Kindle, iBook and Bluefire reader have many users who have access to hundreds and thousands of books. These smart phones companies are launching and adding more and more applications as the demand for e-books is on the rise (Iglezakis, 2011). From To Source: (Brown & Boulderstone, 2008) Not only are these applications an easier way to access books but they also allow the user to change the style of reading these books. Aldiko book reader, for example, has more than 20 million active users who by downloading the application can change the fonts, colour and background of the contents inside the book (Mureta, 2012). Moreover, they can also highlight the contents, mark the certain lines and paragraphs and undo the changes with the help of these applications. Such liberties were not available for people using the hardcover copies of the book. Mureta (2012) believes these changes have helped people belonging to different professions from a teacher to athlete as presentations on smart TV’s can now be given through smart phones. Fine (2010) is of the opinion that social media has also played a crucial role in changing the public industry. Facebook and Twitter are regarded as one of the most effective tools in changing the behaviour of people living in the modern word. Twitter, for example, is responsible for a major shift from the print newspaper to online news reading. People to get all the latest information instantly commonly use twitter. It is one of the reasons why there has been a decline in the number of people reading hard copies of newspapers. The number of users on Twitter is close to 250 million people, and the numbers are constantly rising (Parmelee, 2012). It is expected that by 2020, there will be close to a billion people using Twitter. It is also estimated that the majority of the users will form Twitter accounts in order to get latest information and news. Recent trend has shown that there has been a decline in the number of people by at least 200 million (Parmelee, 2012). Mostly researchers believe that this change is caused because of the ease to obtain news through social media websites. When Twitter is compared to hard copies of newspapers and books it could stated an average reader always finds the social networking website to use with more ease (Parmelee, 2012). Twitter gives an opportunity to the users to read all the news even on a smart phone. It could be done anywhere and anytime, and a large size newspaper does not have to be carried away all the time. Other than that the users will not have to rely on a company or agent to deliver them the newspaper no matter what happens the news will always be available to be read by the users (Parmelee, 2012). Technology has also brought some new players in the publishing industry. Just like there are publishing companies like Penguin books, Springer and Taylor, and Francis Group in the hardcover market there are many new publishers in the digital books and magazine market. Some of the examples of these publishers are ISSUU, YUDU and Zmags. Hogarth (2014) explains that these new drivers are focusing on large corporations and helping them out to convert their printed magazines to a digital one. Many business companies like Bloomberg and Forbes have shifted their focus on digital magazine from the traditional ones. These digital publishing companies have made it possible for the business users to use online services in regards to financial magazines like Bloomberg. Business executives do not have to stick in front of the television sets nor at the computer to see the financial figures. Everything is available online in these digital magazine applications. AIG is one of the companies that have not used and shifted towards digital magazines, and the managers of the company have already regretted it. The company lost many clients because rival companies have started offering services through smart phone applications while AIG is still in the planning process (Hogarth, 2014). Environment and the change brought in the Publishing Industries There are many researchers that have pointed out the problems with the printed versions of books. One interesting research points out that about 65% of the total carbon emission comes from forest harvests. Out of that 65%, more than 22% comes from paper production in factories and mills (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). Yearly, millions of trees are cut down all around the world to obtain a paper. It is a loss of natural resources at an enormous scale (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). Moreover, there are billions of books that are published each year and out of those billions a few million are not even sold in the market. They are then used up for pulping and in the process a lot of trees are wasted. Anderson (2012) claims that cutting down of trees not only spoils the beauty of the world, but it also disrupts the ecosystem. Many species living in the forest are dependent upon the trees for food and shelter and cutting them down means to block their food and cut down their shelter. Anderson (2012) is of the opinion that a large number of species perish because of cutting down the trees. About only 5% of the total papers produced were recycled. It is a very low percentage and means that 95% of the paper comes from directly cutting the trees every year. One of the main concerns of many environmentalists has been the excessive consumption of water. Nearly 160 billion gallons of water is consumed by publishing industry every year. According to research, it takes up to 8 gallons of water to produce an average printed version of the book (Anderson, 2012). Despite all these facts and figures, there are many things that the environmentalists are doing to bring a change in the publishing industry. One of the latest steps made by some big and medium sized publishers has been to use certified papers for their books and newspapers. Many publishers, environmentalists and the government of different countries have identified certified papers that are verified from third parties and that which comes from legal pulp fibre and pulp sources that are well looked after (Anderson, 2012). One other factor of certified paper is that it does not contribute in the destruction of the ecosystem. Although the trees are cut down but it is made sure that the ecosystem is unaffected. Mostly such trees come from places that do not have animals and other species around its entourage. Companies that are engaged in penetrating certified papers are advised to replant trees so that that the forest or any piece of land through which the trees were obtained could grow in the future Anderson (2012). More importantly, staff is trained at cutting the trees. The cutting of trees plays a very vital role around its entourage. The woodcutters are advised to only cut trees that are required and do not leave behind any dead trees or pieces of wood. Even dead wood is advised to be carried with the whole lot as it could create a damaging effect in the forest Anderson (2012). The figures are a little disheartening as only about 10% of the world’s paper is approved certified. However, there are publishers that are constantly looking for ways to make the whole process less cheap and adaptable. A great effort has been made by a group of independent publishers in the United Kingdom. These publishers have created an organization called PREPS (Publishers Database for Responsible Environmental Paper Sourcing). The organizations look to assemble samples of all the papers that are used by various publishing companies in the industry (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). Then the organization asks the companies to submit information about the pulp and the region from where the wood was obtained. These sample papers are then graded and labelled as high or low risk paper. Such efforts from these organizations would present other publishers a chance to make choices in using the paper that has been tested (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). Many publishing companies are now coming up with standards that are aimed to show how GHG emission contributes in the industry and what the role of each of the companies is in the contribution. The EAG (UK Environmental Action Group) has created some useful tools that allow companies to convert their GHG emission. The tool is used for reporting how much chemical or gas is emitted and then maintaining it to a certain level (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). The goal of such tools is to correctly guide the company and make sure that they do not generate hazardous chemicals from their factories in the future. These tools are very helpful as they prevent the company from releasing harmful chemicals in publishing papers (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). WWF has created a database where publishing companies can view the information regarding the type of paper that they use. Information about the paper is available online in their website, and it helps a company to determine what kind of paper they are exactly using and what type of paper they should actually be using. The website is constantly maintained, and new information regarding the publishing industry is always added (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). One of the areas where the government, environmentalists and publishing companies in the U.S. have greatly shown success is with the introduction of the paper calculator invented in 2005. This is a very special type of calculator that helps an organization to determine how much wood, energy and water is used to convert a tree into paper. It measures the environmental impacts on paper and what probably should be the best choice in selecting one. The advantage of the system is that it helps, and in future, will continue to help publishers to select the best type of papers in regard to the environment (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). For example, certified papers are the ones that are least harmful and are only generated from risk-free environments. The paper calculator can penetrate the environment the paper came from. It can penetrate if the paper has come from a zone that has been approved by the government of a country and where species are safely looked after before the cutting of trees. Currently over 100 companies are working, and more are being added every year to ensure that the best research is done to make this system accurate (Kreiser, Sterling, & Milne, 2012). Sustainable Strategy of Harper Collins HarperCollins is one of the biggest global publishing companies with its headquarter in New York. The company supports the use of fibre in order to reduce pollution and also aims to conserve energy and natural resources by making use of recycling papers that has been used previously. The company’s website reads the following mission statement. “We are dedicated in securing and reducing our impact to the environment. Our aim is to produce and print the highest quality paper without harming the natural environment. We also look to work with our suppliers and aim to maximize the use of paper and limit consumption” (HarperGreen, 2014). HarperCollins uses papers from industries that have been verified and approved from forestry certification bodies like Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forest Initiative. It allows the company to deal with the highest standard of paper keeping environmental safety in mind. HarperCollins only deals in countries where they can work in compliance with the government of the country by following all the rules and regulations (HarperGreen, 2014). The company only conducts business with suppliers that the government has approved. The company does not conduct business that does not meet the standards of woodcutting in the country or have been blacklisted as a result of their reputation in the cutting of wood (HarperGreen, 2014). The company clearly states that it does not include fibres that have not been harvested well, have come from old forests, have come from Indonesian tropical forests, and that have been obtained from Ramin trees. Ramin tree is internationally protected species that is mostly found in Asian countries like Indonesia. These trees are scarce, and it is irresponsible of suppliers to cut them down. Many countries have laws against such trees and HarperCollins makes the best effort not to deal with suppliers that act responsibly towards nature (HarperGreen, 2014). The issues raised by environmentalists over the years have made HarperCollins more cautious with the use of paper. The company made a few aims and objectives for the present and coming years so that they could comply with the terms of the environmentalists and act like a responsible company. The aims for 2014 include that up to 80% of the paper used for publishing in the US would be purchased from certified suppliers and about 95% of the paper that the company uses to make books for children would be of international certified standards. The company wants to ensure that no harm in any way should be brought to children and the paper they use must be safe for all their readers (HarperGreen, 2014). By 2015, the company wants to only deal with certified papers. Every effort would be made to bring the percentage as close to 100%. The aim of the company in 2015 is also to increase the percentage and number of certified papers used abroad for publishing. The company plans to use papers that will be tested to ensure the quality of papers in countries outside USA (HarperGreen, 2014). HarperCollins is dedicated to reducing the amount of fibres as much as it is possible. One of the initiatives that HarperCollins has taken is that they look to reduce the weight in tiles so that the amount of raw material and fibres can be reduced in the process. Other than that the company has also taken initiatives in technology like Print on Demand that minimizes the use of ink and its chemical effects on the readers. These initiatives have made HarperCollins lead from the front in regards to Green Publishing (HarperGreen, 2014). HarperCollins have also launched a campaign known as HarperGreen. The main aim of the project is to look into every aspect of the business and to reduce carbon emissions. The company does not only encourage the employees to make a difference, but they also urge the customers to make an effort in order to protect the environment. The company has installed efficient systems to save energy and through this act they are also promoting other publishers to follow their example (HarperGreen, 2014). HarperCollins has become the first publisher in the UK to take its carbon operations seriously. They have formed a partnership with Forest Stewardship Council that will see a new logo appear in all the books published by the company (HarperGreen, 2014). It might not be a very major step towards eliminating the use of carbon but the company is showing the rest of the world what it stands for. They are showing other publishers about the vision they have and how they want to operate. The company has already won many awards like the 2008 Southern Highland business Award that they won in Australia as acting as an environmental responsible company. It has motivated them to serve the needs of the customers even more in newer markets and achieve recognition in all of the countries where it operates. It is one of the main agendas of the company to provide customers with safe published papers and work in compliance with the government of all the nations it operates in (HarperGreen, 2014). List of References Anderson, M., 2012. The Politics of Saving the Environment. 3rd ed. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing. Bowles, N., 2014. Transparency in Politics and the Media: Accountability and Open Government. 3rd ed. London: I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd. Brown, D.J. & Boulderstone, R., 2008. The Impact of Electronic Publishing: The Future for Publishers and Librarians. 3rd ed. London: Walter de Gruyter Publishers. Dickerson, M.O., 2010. An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach. 4th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning. Fine, R., 2010. The Big Book of Social Media: Case Studies, Stories, Perspectives. 2nd ed. Lancashire: Yorkshire Publications. Fitzpatrick, K., 2013. Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology, and the Future of the Academy. 5th ed. New York: NYU Press. Greco, A.N., 2013. The Book Publishing Industry. 2nd ed. Mason: Routledge. Greco, A.N., Rodriguez, C.E. & Wharton, R.M., 2007. The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century. 3rd ed. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Iglezakis, I., 2011. E-publishing and Digital Libraries: Legal and Organizational Issues. 4th ed. New York: IGI Global. Harper Green. 2014. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 6 November 2014]. Hogarth, M., 2014. How To Launch A Magazine In This Digital Age. 3rd ed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Johnson, T.J., 1998. Engaging the Public: How Government and the Media Can Reinvigorate American Democracy. 3rd ed. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield. Kreiser, L.A., Sterling, A.Y. & Milne, J.E., 2012. Carbon Pricing, Growth and the Environment. 4th ed. London: Edward Elgar Publishing. Lathrop, D., 2010. Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice. 2nd ed. New York: OReilly Media, Inc. Mureta, C., 2012. App Empire: Make Money, Have a Life, and Let Technology Work for You. 3rd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Murray, S., 2004. Mixed media: feminist presses and publishing politics. 4th ed. New York: Pluto Press. Markiewicz, G., 2014. Content-Based Sentiment and Geolocation Tagging of Social Media Messages for Trend Analysis. Raytheon BBN Technologies, 3(1), pp.211-36. Martin, S.E., 2003. The Function of Newspapers in Society: A Global Perspective. 3rd ed. Chicago: Greenwood Publishing Group. Olson, K.W., 2003. Watergate: the presidential scandal that shook America. 4th ed. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Parmelee, J.H., 2012. Politics and the Twitter Revolution: How Tweets Influence the Relationship between Political Leaders and Public. 3rd ed. Lanham: Lexington Books. Sargent, T.J., 2002. The Big Problem of Small Change. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Tracy, J.F., 2014. ISIS is Americas New Terror Brand. Global Research, 12(2), pp.67-79. Zotto, C.D. & Kranenburg, H.V., 2008. Management and Innovation in the Media Industry. 2nd ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More