Print Publishing vs. Digital Media Essay

Introduction

The print media has been slowly losing its popularity especially among the young generation in the recent past. The decline in its effectiveness has been greatly influenced by a number of technological developments. Many people envision a future where print media will be forgotten completely. However, others feel that it will be almost impossible to do away with the convectional print press. Whether true or false, the bottom line is that the conventional print press is facing numerous survival challenges. This is amid the development of internet and online press platforms.

The print press was initially the main platform through which information was disseminated. This has however changed with the inception of online platforms. Social networks and other sites used for blogging have rapidly created a major shift in the process of disseminating information. Currently, most people spend more of their time in the internet than they do in the library or reading books. This has also been influenced by the ease of access to internet services (Busfield, 2010). This paper seeks to prove that the print media is on the verge of becoming extinct although the industry is exploring some of its available options to remain relevant.

Are Digital and Networked Media Dismantling the “Publishing Industry”?

Production and distribution procedures of the print publishing business are in actual fact being dismantled by digital and networked media. This is happening despite the evolution from print to online platforms. A superior prominence is placed on the quantity of news that can be produced and disseminated. This includes the momentum in which these methods can be accomplished (Busfield, 2010). Ultimately, cutting cost is a major concern in any industry.

The current theme being echoed by the growing publishing world is that print publishing is becoming extinct (Busfield, 2010). It is more prevalent among the conventional book publishing and print journalism. In the near future, newspapers, magazines and books will die away and their production will greatly be reduced. These are straight effects of digital and networked media infringement which hauls out to the production and circulation processes. These are the reasons that are causing the convectional print media to fade away while online and digital journalism is thriving (Busfield, 2010).

Is It Being Replaced?

Journalism, print or online, makes every effort on the production of journalistic content which seeks to execute the function of the media as the fourth-estate. The dominant functions of the media are to update the community, set up debates, act as the custodians and monitors of political rule, and empower general public (Charalambous, 2011). Articles and print content are normally edited before they reach the general public. This gives the editors an opportunity to restructure their sentences and also to include omitted highlights that were meant to be printed. In actual fact, this is how conventional journalism works, especially print journalism (Charalambous, 2011).

This is a paradigm of the production procedures that supported the decree to solve the dilemma of making news obtainable to the community. Since the prologue of new-media stage and the Web, the conventional processes have been rapidly facing extinction (Charalambous, 2011). The total expenditure of fabricating a newspaper or magazine impacts how its contents will be shaped, dispersed, and in the end published. Extensively, production costs are inevitable in the conventional publishing business hence the dilemma of making content accessible to the community. To make anything public, the cost incurred is enormous.

For those who are disseminating their own journalistic content, their production costs are not in essence pecuniary. They circle around internet data usage and time (Chessel, 2010). Even as it may cost a lot of funds to set up a print press, the only cost involved in setting up an online data is the internet.

What Is the Publishing Industry Becoming, and How Is It Doing so?

Websites, blogs and online societies have given ascend to the creation of information and media content by anybody. These include citizen journalists, as opposed to completely getting information from specialised correspondents or media experts (Carnoy, 2010). As such, the authorship and privileges features of the conventional press have been greatly destroyed (Grossman, 2009). The internet through social media such as tweeter, Face book and blog posts have allowed the flow of information from one region of the world to another in a competitive speed.

Therefore, the print business is restructuring to engage both print and online platforms to maximise the opportunities available to disseminate information (Harkaway, 2012). Regardless of the pros of generating additional content, the capability to copy and share information on the internet is challenging patents and rights of digital content, is in spite of the fact that internet users by and large link content as they share it to other users. In order to distribute their products, print journalists incur delivery costs for distributing magazines and newspapers (Harkaway, 2012). Compared to the conventional media trends, in the new online platform the delivery costs are greatly reduced.

The cost incurred for sharing out a news article online, whether by means of a specialised news organisation, a citizen or self-employed journalist, is significantly low. Distribution agents are also displaced from the delivery chain since the online platform gives an opportunity for the producers to distribute their own content. Consequently the chains of distribution are expanded greatly through online dissemination of information.

Is Everything Being Entirely Replaced? What Is Surviving Of The Older Industry?

The way in which print journalism has changed and transitioned to the online and digital stage highlights an inconsistent liaison. While online digital journalism respects conventional print journalism, the two shapes of publishing also fight with each other (Hooper, 2012). As digital and networked media present chances for the publishing business to develop, characteristics of the conventional journalism are being substituted, and at the same time other features are extinct (Hooper, 2012).

These characteristics have dominantly been the main influencers of outstanding alterations from print book publishing to digital book publishing. This reflects the constant development of the publishing business as a whole. Newspapers and magazines have not been completely thrown out of the market (Lacy, 2012). Print publishing is surviving through custom publication, purchase, and ordinary appraisal. Yet at the same time as the print structure exists, its digital counterparts are becoming extra fashionable and consequently print distribution is fading away. Print publications have over the years been outstripped by online newspapers, news content, and magazines (Lacy, 2012). In addition to online platforms, articles and other print publications are accessible through some electronic gadgets, for instance, smart phones (Lacy, 2012).

This means that the content is accessible through phones, iPad, and mini computers which are easy to carry, hence, enhancing their mobility. Instead of flipping over physical pages, today one only needs to have internet and a computer or a smartphone to access unlimited range of publications online (Ovide, 2011). Additionally, even as newspapers have supplementary photographs to their narratives, it is digital descriptions that have more accessible multimedia content.

Another process of the conventional media that is facing replacement by digital and networked media is the conventional prioritising of interesting stories. This involves the process of determining the most important stories for the front page. It has been greatly influenced by the digital setup and design (Guthirie, 2011). Analysts have warned against the eBooks structure and attempts to make the print media available online in the same format as it is in the physical structure. This may not translate to any enviable development as far as printing press is concerned (Guthirie, 2011).

To address the threat of extinction, the print media press must device new ways of presenting better interface online. The same idea can be functional in digital and online publishing (Salmon, 2011). Using the digital platform can give booklovers a great view and access at once, and provide access to information through a homepage and other navigational tools (Salmon, 2011). Through private qualitative study of the print newspapers, stories are prioritised and accentuated in a different way.

Are There New Difficulties and Complexities or Expenses Involved?

There are two upcoming developments that relate particularly to the structure of journalism that has been affected by digital and networked media (Charalambous, 2011). Consequently, they have caused changes that impacted the industry in both ways, positively and negatively. The first and very important trend that has led to the decline of print media is the speed of production. With the online platform, creating news has been made very easy and straightforward.

Meeting deadlines in journalism is vital for a successful career in the industry. Journalists are always under pressure to meet deadlines and work within time limits. This is greatly influenced by the competitiveness of the industry and the rising changes in the trends of journalism (Charalambous, 2011). To meet deadlines and beat other competitors, journalists have chosen to forgo the source verification process. Consequently, the information which gets to the general public may lack authenticity, hence, compromising the effectiveness and integrity of the fourth-estate (Charalambous, 2011).

Nonetheless, the online platform has given the press freedom to present information to the general public. Websites like the wiki leaks have been very successful in exposing information withheld by governments, hence, enhancing the right of information to the public. Other sites can to provide information that is vital for human knowledge online. This includes health service providers. For all intents and purposes, as digital and networked media dismantles conventional publishing businesses, more publications are projected to be created. This will be achieved since there are more chances for people to be converted into active authors as opposed to clients are being created.

Not only are procedures shifting, but the practices themselves are sprouting. So many things are shifting in both good and bad terms (Charalambous, 2011). Conventional print journalism is still essential and it cannot be wiped out completely in this generation. As such, dismantling the conventional feature of the press by digital and networked media is posing a dilemma to the habitual processes for the better.

Conclusion

This paper has critically discussed the dilemma of the print media as a result of new emerging trends in the media industry. The paper has sought to give an insight on the effects of new technological improvements on the survival of print media. The paper argues with evidence that the print media is facing a challenge as a result of increasing use of internet as a platform for quick and effective dissemination of information. The paper also discussed the impacts that the social media and blogging sites had on the prevalence of the print media. According to this essay, the print media is not yet completely removed from the industry, but in due time the situation could change and it may become obsolete in the near future. The advancement in technology and use of the internet interface could prove to be a lasting dilemma to print publishing.

This paper has categorically stated that the print media is facing a challenge from other faster and more convenient trends of disseminating information. The paper argues that speed and accessibility of the internet has given online publishing an advantage over the conventional physical print media. The paper also presents some of the challenges that are faced by physical print media in terms of distribution. The paper clearly shows the new challenges and difficulties faced by the print publishing industry. This is a comprehensive essay that has captured a wide scope of the media fraternity. In a nutshell, the paper has outlined the challenges that the print media is dealing with in this era of digital advancement.

References

Busfield, S. (2010). Publishers Take Note: the iPad is altering the very concept of a book.Web.

Charalambous, L. (2011). Transitioning Publics & Publishing. Web.

Chessel, J. (2010). Digital strategy key for News Corp. Web.

Carnoy, D. (2010). New study suggests e-book piracy is on the rise. Web.

Grossman, L. (2009). Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature. Web.

Guthirie, R. (2011). Publishing: Principles and Practice. London, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.

Harkaway, N. (2012). The Blind Giant: Being Human in a Digital World. London, UK: John Murray Publishers.

Hooper, M. (2012). Who says print is dead? Web.

Lacy, S. (2012). Confessions of a Publisher: We’re in Amazon’s Sights and They’re Going to Kill Us. Web.

Ovide, S. (2011). Bookstore Chain Borders Is Dead. The Wall Street Journal, 1(2), 234-256.

Salmon, F. (2011).How the New York Times Pay wall is working. Web.