Print vs. Digital Media - Research Paper Example

?Print vs. Digital Media Introduction Mass media refers to both print and digitalized communication channels that aid in disbursing information to a larger audience (s). In that case, mass media incorporates four (4) broad categories of media technologies. These include: Broadcast media, print media, outdoor media and Internet media. Each of these forms has its specific channels that it majorly depends on so as to disburse information. Therefore, print media channels use magazines, flyers, pamphlets, books and newspapers to disburse information to their audiences. Broadcast media uses radio and motion and/ or film pictures. Outdoor media includes the use of billboards and signs which can be placed at any outdoor spot such as buses, stadiums, schools, roads and so on. Internet media has become the major propagator of digitized information. It includes the use of internet radio, internet television, emails, blogs and websites to disburse information to audiences who have access to the internet. With that briefly defined, print media is regarded as one of the oldest and preliminary forms of mass communication as it was widely used in the earlier days (Kipphan 4). Due to the advent and improvement of technology, digital media has become one of the most popular forms of mass media, as it is viewed to be the fastest, cost effective and the easiest way of communicating to widespread audiences with fewer challenges. The rise of electronic media has reduced communication barriers such as access to information and it has also made the instant communication possible. As a result, it has enabled people to enjoy the benefits of access to information with ease and convenience. Thesis statement The essay will provide an analysis of mass media but specifically it will look into print media along with digital media in the modern day context. The study has been carried out to analyze the historical background of both forms of mass media as well as their relevance in the modern day era. The aim of the essay is to compare the two forms of mass media and identify the one, which is relevant in the 21st century. Background Print media in the 18th century was highly influenced by hand written works. Majority of the authors preferred to hand write their poems, preface, notes, stories and other forms of literature on a piece of paper. During that time, there were fewer publishing firms and most of the times, a lot of works ended up not being published. As a result they still remain unnoticed to this date. Through the ages, the significance of print media has slightly reduced; however, its importance still remains the same as back in the ancient times. The popularity of certain print journals and/ or books in the past such as the “Excursion to Scotland, 1832” clearly shows that despite digital media being the most preferred form of media in the 21st century, print media still has its sound roots in 21st century media culture. The journal was written in a bid to recount an excursion that started out in London to Scotland and back again in 1832. To date the author of the journal is anonymous probably because there was no proper channels of recording print information as well its storage. Despite that, this journal is currently preserved in the Internet archive as one of the most indulging novels of the 18th century. Another form of ancient print media was the book “The Book Hunter in Paris” by Octave Uzanne. It was written just a year after the “Excursion to Scotland, 1832”. Due to its significance, the book is currently preserved as a digital copy to ensure that it will still be available in a number of years to come. The 20th century saw the optimal boom in the use of digital forms of mass media such as the Internet media as well as broadcast internet media. A good example of internet media is the use of online travel blogs which can be accessed by anybody anywhere in the world. Literature review According to Chitra and Neelamalar (2013), print media can be termed as the “mother” of communication due to the fact that it was first discovered in the Metropolitan age. Over the years, print media has been used over and over again and to some extent, it has been remodeled to digital media. Despite the fact that digital technology is slowly reducing the dependence on print media, it should be noted that there still exist a number of print media channels such as books, newspapers, flyers etc. Based on that, the use of print items is something that will never go out of style. This is because printed and published works have a specific richness in them. A good example of a printed item is the journal “Excursion to Scotland, 1832”. It was written in 1832 and the author found a unique channel to tell their story through writing. To date, the story is being projected just the way it was written then. This is due to the fact that digital media technology has evolved to greater heights and the journal found its way to being preserved in the exact form that it was written in. It should be noted that, before the 20th century, print media was the main form of communication. As a result, it attracted a widespread audience in an effective and participatory manner. Apparently, majority of the people consider the notion of print media as the best platform to showcase their personal opinion regarding a particular subject matter. This is clearly seen in newspaper forums where a topic is shared and people are asked to give their comments and/ or views based on the subject and these views are later published. In addition to that, print media has helped to share information to individuals who cannot be in a position to access the different forms of digitized media such as internet media, internet radio and television. Digital media took the world by storm when the 20th century was coming to a close. During that time, a lot of print media firms had begun to digitize their records so as to ensure their longevity in the years to come. Online storages were being used then and are still being used now in a bid to store data and information that is relevant. In countries such as the USA, UK and Australia where the Internet is readily available, a number of print media firms have already digitized their newspaper records. As a result, anybody willing to access information relating to a newspaper that was published some time back, they can be in a position to search for the specific print and read it. Through such actions, the print firm gains a competitive edge with regard to increased audiences as compared to firms that have not take into consideration digitization. Despite these trends, there is no significance in the complete elimination of print media. There is so much information that digital media can provide to individuals located all over the world. For example; people who travel a lot can have access to travel articles, travel blogs, travel journals and travel reviews of a number of destinations. It is worthy to note that these are online forums which can be very handy in dissipating information that is accurate and reliable. Due to the fact that this discussion focuses on travel blogs are a digital item. It is important to make a clear distinction between travel blogs and travel journals. Travel journals are the non digitized form of travel blogs. As a result, they require hand writing which can sometimes be tedious as compared to typing the information in a travel blog article. It is worth mentioning that digital media also provides people with appropriate and modified learning that aids them in acquiring greater achievement. For instance, there are a number of internet archives which contain reliable and significant information that can be dated back to the 18th century. It is without doubt that such information is constantly updated, reviewed and even critiqued so as to ensure that that information is optimally relevant in this century. Such articles are better described as scholarly or peer reviewed articles. In this present digital age, it can often be identified that digital media performs effective communication and leads to inventive thinking along with decision making. Furthermore, it helps in conducting interactive communication, despite distance being a barrier. The facet of interactive communication is an important tool to improve business environment and promote growth along with development. The inventive thinking is promoted with the assistance of highly integrated and advanced technology. In the 21st century, the benefits of digital media have identified to be more in comparison with print media. The service providing companies can improve their task of offering services by making the customers aware about timely and consistent information. The business organizations can effectively follow and measure their brand equity in the market, as the digital media comprises social data module (s), which transform social intelligence into higher level of customer response (Macnamara 46-60). Print media carries a lot of relevance and significance in the collection of books and various study programs. The Kelly Library is one of the biggest amid the forty college libraries at the University of Toronto. It has a huge collection of printed rare books ranging from over 3,000,000 volumes approximately. Thus, it can also be stated that Kelly’s Library is protecting the older forms of mass communication due to the reason that the library has a section that focuses only on rare books collections. The book “The Book Hunter in Paris”, printed in the year 1893 has been preserved in Kelly’s Library as one of the most significant books in the history of literature. Apparently, it was digitized in the year 2007 with the aid of the internet archive, so that it can be preserved in the library for generations that are yet to come. The essence of its digitization was to provide the students of the University of Toronto with immense knowledge and lessons to learn from the theme of the story. The print media is one of the vital subjects to be studied in the mass media program. It helps the learners to enhance their knowledge with the books, newspapers and magazines that are regarded as various forms of print media. The learners will have the tangible form of learning materials, which will be useful in developing their learning process (Uzanne 5-10). From this, it can be concluded that print media and digital media are both important forms of mass communication since each may rely on one other. A good example of this reliance can be noticed in a travel blog and a travel journal – where the travel journal recounts the daily activities of a traveler in an actual journal book while the travel blog recounts the activities of a traveler by the use of Internet as the medium of communication. As a result, the travel blog may hold more grounds with regard to access as compared to the hand written travel journal. With that, as the world keeps advancing towards a digitalized age, programs in Mass Media as well as Journalism require that an individual should take keen focus in understanding the knowledge behind digital media. The benefit of this would be to ensure that the individual develops the necessary skills together with the experience to tackle anything related to mass communication (Fisher and Baird 95-105). Print media fits into the book and media studies program due to the reason that this form of mass media gave rise to the various digital modes of communication. Based on that, a majority of the mass media studies still require printed forms of books in their respective course study. The evidence for this can be viewed in the preservation of the printed book “The Book Hunter in Paris”. The other forms of print media such as the books, newspapers and magazines have helped the learners of mass media to enhance their knowledge to greater heights. The learners can grow their knowledge with the assistance of the tangible reading materials and also preserving those for future (Uzanne 5-10). On the other hand, digital media fits into the book and media studies program due to the reason that since the advent of technology, the digital media has managed to become more successful in contributing its value to the study of mass media. The learners of the current age are very much acquainted with the use of Internet and prefer to study through the use of the materials available on the various internet archives. It can be affirmed that digital media is much able to fit into the media studies program when compared to print media (Fisher and Baird 95-105). Discussion Based on the above analysis, it is without doubt that both print media and digital media are essential in this century despite the fact that technology has led to the digitization of some print records. As a result, below is a comparison of the characteristics of the two items selected; that is the print item (“Excursion to Scotland, 1832”) and the digital item (the travel blog). Information depth is an attribute in which print media always seeks to provide detailed information based on a particular subject. For example, a book always seeks to give detailed information pertaining to a specific matter so as to ensure that the reader gains full understanding. Based on the selected print item in this study, the book sought to give a day to day recount of the entire excursion from London to Scotland and back. If this information was provided through online channels, then it would not have had its richness and depth due to the reason that an individual would prefer to read this book in the form of a hard copy as compared to sitting at their computer and reading it online. As a result, print media is better at projecting information depth when compared to digital items such as travel blogs. Secondly, print media is characterized through its production time. This refers to the amount of time that is needed to produce these materials. For example, a travel journal may need to have a cover page designed, the text needs to be edited by an editor and finally it is printed so as to come up with a conclusive print item. In instances where flyers are being dealt with, they have to be delivered and this is also precious time that is wasted before the reader can finally get the original content. When compared to digital items such as travel blogs. The processes of designing are minimal since all it requires is a blank web page whose characteristics can be easily customized by the author. Printing and deliver times are completely eliminated since the reader can be in a position to get the information that they need immediately it has been published online by the author. The third characteristic is the distribution frequency of digital material. It should be noted that digital items can either be distributed daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly. For example, a travel blog can be updated daily so as to provide real time information to travelers all over the world. However, that is not the case of print items since they cannot be distributed on the same frequency as that of digital item. For example the print item in this study was written back in 1892 and to date, it still remains the same. Timeliness is another characteristic of media items. It should be noted that print items are not timely. That is, once the information has been printed, it remains the same for years to come. For example, the print item under consideration was written in 1892. To date, the information is still the same and it is an assurance that some of the locations mentioned in the journal have changed to date. On the other hand, digital items are quite timely as information can be updated the minute it changes. Media preservation techniques depend on the media item that needs to be preserved. With that, there are two common Digital Media Preservation and Conservation Techniques. These include: Replication – where the item is copied in a bid to keep the original copy and the multiple copies are stored in different storage locations so as to eliminate the factor of data loss or corruption; Digital archaeology – this involves the preservation of media content from being damaged if it has been stored in a computer system. The problem with these two methods is that the data and / or content can be lost due to the nature of the systems being used. A counter to that problem would be to make multiple copies of the item and ensure that it is stored in a number of different locations. In addition to that, it is worthy to note that print media needs more resources for its development and preservation. The reason for this is that the printing material usually possesses the maximum risks of getting damaged with the passage of time. The books or journals written in the ancient times – for example “Excursion to Scotland, 1832” - have greater risks of getting damaged. Additionally, to preserve such works, a lot of resources could be needed in terms of technology. This could in turn lead to a lot of expenses. In this present technology era, a few of the print media such as the ancient books and the old magazines are merely used and thus, their significances are diminishing. The digital media are overtaking the usage of print media in one form or another. Even businesses that rely on business magazines or books no longer use print media (Liu 1-7). Thus, it can be affirmed that the preservation of print media requires more attention in comparison with the preservation of digital media items. The digital media with its immense advantages has overtaken the utilities of print media in this present day context. It has been viewed that in Europe, people reading newspaper is very less in comparison with the one using the internet. The digital media is more interactive and effective as compared to print media. If an example is to be taken into concern in this regard, then it can be stated that the promotional campaign of a certain product of a specific company carried with the assistance of digitalized media helps to communicate directly with the customers and solve their problems on spot. However, print media does not promote such facility. In a general sense, one of the differences between print media and digital media can be represented as that print media contains writing on the bound books paper and digital media comprise writing on computer screen. If the storage of records is to be taken into concern, then print media is more relevant than digital media, as it does not have the risk of getting corrupted with a bug in the software or a small virus. From the business perspective, the print media and digital media has got certain advantages of its own. In a promotional campaign of a product, digital media assists in direct communication with the customers, identify their problems and also find the best solutions to address those problems. But in case of print media, these activities are not possible. For instance, in this digitalized world, most of the company uses printing technique to provide confirmation letter to an employee. The confirmation letter to any employee is given in a printing form rather than any information on digital media (Chandler and Munday 269-275). Both the forms of media have contributed a lot to mass communication. In this case, it can be affirmed that none of the aspects i.e. print media and digital media cannot be replaced as such books in the form of print media cannot be substituted by the television or neither the internet access as digital media can be replaced by reading newspaper. It is also true that the print media is the foundation of digital media. But, the growing age of technology has adopted digital media due to its speed and accuracy. It can also be considered as the dynamic means of marketing owing to the reason that it provides the facility of transmitting the product information to the customers efficiently and quickly (Chandler and Munday 269-275). Conclusion The above study was conducted with an intention to attain knowledge of print media and digital media in the context of mass communication. The print media is the foundation of printing technique in the world, which later developed to digitalized form. The digital media came into popularity when there was a greater need of printing in bulk quantities and within the stipulated time period. The offset printing system was introduced in the year 1875 for printing in a large volume by an American inventor (Johansson, Lundberg and Ryberg 303-310). In the current scenario, the print media and digital media have got its advantages. However, it can be viewed that digital media has played a vital role in this modern era. Both of them cannot be measured in terms of their efficiency and effectiveness, owing to the reason that they are much renowned and act as popular means of communication. The relevancy of print along with digital media can be apparently observed in Kelly Library’s Rare Book Collection. In this similar concern, certain critical challenges can be apparently observed in the preservation of these media forms in Kelly Library’s Rare Book Collection. Therefore, based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that digital media possess more importance in this modern world of advanced technology as it is quite easy to preserve and does not require regular clean-up along with extra efforts for its maintenance. Reflection The essay comprises the study about the evolution of printing and its significance in this present day context. From the literature study, I came to know that printing and/ or print media was the first form of communication that existed. And with time, it evolved to digital media due to the introduction of the aspect of technology. While conducting research on the subject of print media and digital media, I came to know numerous interesting facts. In this regard, I found that the majority of the populaces of Europe spent their maximum time in accessing internet rather than reading books or newspapers. Despite this, the benefits of print media seem to be quite equal as that of digital media by a certain degree. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the growing use of internet has not diminished the utility of the books, newspapers and the magazines. For this assignment, I have used only journals and books as the source for the purpose of providing accurate and detailed information about the subject matter. In relation to this particular assignment, initially I had just gathered certain information based on mass media of present age. In the view of comparison, I introduced one digital item – that is a travel blog which could be compared to the travel journal (print item) and from that, differences between the two selected items would be deduced. The knowledge of the mass media helped me to get acquainted with the terms such as print media and digital media acting as two major forms of mass media. Although in this essay, the conclusion has been drawn in favor of digital media, but in my opinion, I feel that neither of the form of media can overtake the other form. It is right that the present age is of technology but it is also true that the emergence of internet has not been successful in abolishing the newspapers or the magazines. People still prefer to read newspaper in morning, instead of gathering all current news on the internet. Moreover, people still visit libraries for reading books and magazines. From the above study conducted, I must recommend that the people ought to be mindful in adopting digital media in accordance with the changing trends along with technologies. The digital media requires low costs in its preservation and maintenance. However, print media requires regular cleaning up and formatting, because this sort of media has the higher chances of getting damaged. For the preparation of this essay, I have mostly used the journals and the books not older than 2001. The books or the journals of the latest year will give the exact information of the advantages of both the media in the current age of 21st century. I also knew the fact that the print media and digital media are of equal importance in the study of journalism and mass media. One of my suggestions for future research of the above study can be accessing more sources and working more specifically upon the subject matters relating to print along with digital media. Works Cited Chandler, Daniel and Munday, Rod. A Dictionary of Media and Communication. United States: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Chitra, P and M. Neelamalar, Print Media Technology and Social Change: The Role and Effectiveness of Right to Information (RTI) Act, 297-299. India, 2013. Print. Fisher, Mercedes and Baird, Derek E, Online Learning Design That Fosters Student Support, Self-Regulation, And Retention, 95-105. California, 2005. Print. Internet Archive. Excursion to Scotland, 1832. N.d. Web. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/stream/excursiontoscotl00anonuoft#page/n7/mode/2up Johansson, Kaj, Peter Lundberg, and Robert Ryberg. A Guide to Graphic Print Production. United States: Wiley, 2012. Print. Kipphan, Helmut. Handbook of Print Media: Technologies and Production Methods. United States: Springer, 2001. Print. Liu, Ziming. Paper to Digital: Documents in the Information Age. Australia: ABC-CLIO, 2008. Print. Macnamara, Jim. The 21st Century Media (r)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices. Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2010. Print. Uzanne, Octave. The Book Hunter in Paris. London: Elliot Stock, 1893. Print. Read More