Introduction
Changes in the media industry have brought about other changes in the industry, as the players fight to remain in the market amid extensive competition. The print media has been losing its share of the market to the internet in the last years. Indeed, people are turning to internet for advertisement thereby reducing the customer base that the print media already had. This has resulted in the print publishers looking for ways to reverse this trend in an effort to keep them afloat. A change in the former methods of doing their business was necessitated by this shift in the business from print to electronic. This is through an attempt by the print publishers’ efforts to adapt to the changing consumer preferences by using the faster, economical and more widespread electronic media.
Economic theory is the framework upon which economics is based. The theory is based on the assumption that apart from the variable that is being investigated, all the others remain constant or do not change. These variables include demand, supply, opportunity cost, and utility among others. They are the mechanics that drive trade. According to (Levine, 2006, p. 5) “the full determination of value and surplus value within the immediate production process leaves for the analysis of circulation, competition, price formation and therefore the implications of the economic life.” This paper will discuss the response of the print media to the increasing use of the internet as a source of news, comment and entertainment in a profitable way.
Background
The print media has largely been in control of most of advertisement, news, comment and entertainment. This was until the internet entered the market as a user oriented provider of the electronic data. It was everything the print media was not. It was cheaper and faster with a large consumer base hence was seen as the fertile ground for advertising. This led to the decline of the print media as the provider of advertisement, news, comment and entertainment.
Printed media types include magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, and also packaging wrappers which are used to provide information about the content of the commodity wrapped in (Kiplan, 2001, p. 6). Newspaper, as a source of news and information is distinct from the others in that it ages and becomes obsolete sometimes even before it reaches the consumers. The information has to be collected, taken to a common central place for compiling and publishing and then distributed to the consumers who are far spread geographically, and once consumed it is discarded for its lifespan has ended. Once people are finished with a day’s daily publication, they get rid of it because they know that they will get another copy the following day. This, together with the emergence of internet as a major player in the media and communications industry has led to the decline of the preference for print media.
On the other hand, internet has the advantage over the print media in that the information is within the consumers reach within a touch of a button and the life scan of the information increases as days go by due to the inclusions as the data is editable. Changes in the information from the source are reflected in the data made available to the consumers.
The reduced cost of collecting and distributing the electronic data to the consumers has made the preference for the internet higher. This coupled with the increase in the cost of fuel, labor, distributing printed publications and raw materials together with the time span has further increased the problem of using the print media. These costs are not experienced by the internet making it more competitive than the print media because of the better service and low costs of advertisement.
Strategies
These are the ways through which the print media need to upgrade their business in order to have a platform from which to compete with the internet. These strategies need to reassure the public that the print media can deliver competitively and accurately at a reasonable cost. These are:
Use of electronic readers
Publishers like the Times Incorporated should look forward to the emergence of e-readers which are hand held gadgets that use electronic to deliver an experience almost similar to reading the newspaper, only without the costs of distribution, printing and the raw materials (Copeland, 2009). This would lead to cuts in the production and the distribution expenses which would put the company in a better position to compete with the other stakeholders in the industry. This is due to the reduced use of raw materials like papers and reduction of the manpower needed for the distribution purposes. The news and entertainment delivery would be efficient since the data would be posted electronically to the reader hence saving time.
Starting online publications
This is where the print media starts a corresponding electronic media. The Times newspaper and the economist periodical have, as an effort to compete against the internet, started an online version of their publications as a source of news, comment and entertainment. The online version allows for easier information flow, modification and editing as the stories and situations changes. This increases the market base of the newspaper and revenue through online advertisement and through partnerships with other businesses especially the web sponsors and search engines. The online version acts to provide the readers with instant correspondence between the publishers and the consumers therefore bridging the time and the geographical distance gap. This ensures that the consumers get what they are looking for easily and efficiently.
Charging for the online news
Charging for the online news can also be used as a strategy by the print media houses to level the field in their competition with the internet. This is where online news is charged for like it’s done by The Journal and The Financial Times. The readers subscribe to be members of a certain online publication for a given period of time on renewable basis. Although this may increase the revenue from the subscriptions, in the long run it may lead to loss of customers due in form of the advertisers. The Times publishes an online version of the printed copy and gains from it through the annual subscription fee. The online copy should be made in such a way that it is able to compete with the other online publications so that it can attract readers (Nunes, 2009)
Flexible online version
For the online version to remedy the short comings of the print media, it should be flexible to allow editing. This is where the additions can be attached to the original article as the stories develop. This would ensure that the online version is updated and contains the most recent news. This is unlike the printed version whose updates have to wait till the date of the following publication.
Printed media subscription
Readers subscription as a strategy has already been implemented by the times and economist. This is where the print media companies deliver the printed copy of the newspapers or the magazines to the readers on agreed days according to the contract. Although the prices are charged at a lower rate, there is a guarantee of sales as the payment is done upfront (Nunes, 2009)
Target audience
Tailoring the online publication to meet the individual needs would act to speedup the process of finding the data one is interested in without having to peruse through the other unimportant data. This can be done by creating links that will lead the reader to the specific area of interest. This could be: sports, weather, and politics, among others this would make it time sensitive.
Periodicals and journals can be published to meet the demands of the targeted audience. This can be done through publishing according to the desired parameters which may include age, sex, religion and economic status among others
Interactive publications
The online publication should be designed in such a way that the readers are given a chance to say what they think of the online publication and giving suggestions on how to better them. They could send comments on their views about some of the topics handled by the publication. This is the ability to engage the consumers. This would lead to information on the type of readers the publication has and their preferences hence better services in future (Nunes, 2009)
Variety in means of retrieval and consumption of information
The readers could be given different options on the state they want to retrieve and utilize the data. An oral version of the news should be made available and the customers would be able to indicate the kind of news they want. This can be helpful to the busy readers who have no time to sit still and go over the publication. It may also be helpful to the blind who like getting the news from the source and not through a second or third party.
Focusing on strengths
One of the greatest strengths of print media is its credibility. Whatever is printed holds a higher position in terms of value and the public opinion, a privilege not enjoyed by the internet.(Admedia Solutions, 2010). This is due to the poor content of information posted on the internet.
Also print media works very well with periodicals for they are meant for the given period of time after which the following copy would be released hence the need to have the previous copy with you as you wait for the next one.
Print can also focus on the small local businesses especially the starters. This can be through direct mail and postcards. This can be personalized and could elicit a big response (Admedia Solutions, 2010)
Print media creates a more personal feeling than the internet. This has resulted in the preference of print media over internet in promoting a brand. In print one is able to come up with the branding statement and deal with it in ways not possible with the digital media (Schwartz, 2008)
Remedying its weaknesses
This is by trying to overcome or encroach on the advantages other forms of media have over it. The internet has had a very low publication expense due to costs as payments for paper, postage or the printing stationery. This in comparison to the cost of running a network connecting a large amount of people is very high. So the print media need to find ways to cut costs. The print media on the other hand incurs expenses associated with: storage of materials in form of finished products and raw materials, shipping which depends on delivery mode, freight, fuel and times of arrival. Mailing, packaging, and labor (Cummings & LeMaire 2008, p. 67)
Many printing companies are limited geographically hence serve a limited amount of people. This is in contrast to the internet which serves the whole world. Many people are reached in a within a small period of time. It operates daily and 24 hours a day hence easy to access. The print media should remodel themselves using these parameters so that they can compete healthily with the internet
Using the internet, the information is at the consumers end almost immediately. The print media should try and speedup its product distribution process in order to ensure that the consumers get the products on time
Conclusion
Due to the changes in the media industry with the emergence of internet as a key player, many other changes have come about in the industry, as the players fight to remain in the market. These changes have threatened to kick some players out while others continue to grow exponentially. This led to the need to listen to the customers and so that an integrated version of what they needed could be supplied to them. Therefore strategizing on what do in order to remain viable in the media industry will help the media industry compete for consumers with internet in a healthy profitable way. This will achieve stability in the media industry for each sector will major in what they are good in and where they get most returns. This effort to be better at what they do, will ensure that the consumers in return, get better services. An integration of the two is the best bet for it will cover all areas.
References
Admedia Solutions. (2010). Advantages of print media. Web.
Copeland, M. (2009). The End of Paper? Fortune, 159 (5), 66-72. Web.
Cummings, J. & LeMaire, B. (2008). Print Media Distribution: A Look at Infrastructure, Systems and Trends: NY, RIT Cary Graphic Arts press. Web.
Kiplan, H. (2001).The Hand Book of Print Media: Technologies and Print Media. Web.
Levine, p. (2006). Economic Theory: The Elementary Relations of Economic Theory. NY, Routledge. Web.
Nunes, T. (2009). Change in Newspaper industry.Web.
Schwartz, M. (2008). Print valiant B to B, 93(3).28, 32. Web.