新媒体对传统纸媒的影响(英文原创)

SMST-321 Assignment Ⅱ

ⅠResearch topic：

In recent years, with the rapid growth of new media, the death of print media has been discussed among international press circles. Traditional print media are regarded as a sunset industry, and will disappear in the near future. Although many people worry about the prospect of print media when facing the new media situation, as an important and long-lasting information channel, print media still perform significant and unreplaceable effect. From this sense, print media still have opportunities brought by new media.

In order to get a better understanding of the relationship between traditional print media and new media, the researcher aims at studying what challenges and opportunities are brought by new media to traditional newspaper industry?

Ⅱ Literature Review:

Introduction:

The selected 6 references provides a general background and new trend of print media and new media. It can be found that traditional newspaper industry faces challenges from new media, especially the internet media. However, with the existing strengths, newspaper industry can flexibly take use of the trend of media convergence, and realize sustainable development.

References 1:

Meyer, P. (2009). The vanishing newspaper: Saving journalism in the information age. University of Missouri Press.

Meyer (2009) warns that if newspapers keeps declining with the current speed, the last reader would read the last newspaper in April 2040.

Existence of the internet directly takes away a considerable number of newspaper readers. In recent ten years, the young generation grow up with the internet, newspapers almost have no attractiveness to them. They become more accustomed to

gaining news information from new media. Development of the internet also const antly changes people’s reading habits, leading to original newspaper readers’ decreased dependency on newspapers (Meyer, 2009). With social progress and strengthened self-consciousness of people, they have stronger desire to participate in right of speech in social public life. They no longer satisfy with receiving print media information passively but want to express their own views about received information, let the society hear their voices, so as to gain the satisfaction of participating social governance. While only new media can provide people with platforms of free speech, which is the largest advantage of new media compared with traditional print media . All in all, the nature of new media’s challenges to print media is reducing newspaper reader group and influence of newspapers, causing circulation and advertising benefit to decrease.

References 2:

Boczkowski, P. J. (2005). Digitizing the news: Innovation in online newspapers. MIT Press.

This book reveals that how innovation in online newspapers becomes an ongoing process in which different combinations of initial conditions and local contingencies lead publishers along divergent paths of content creation.

An important opportunity for print media is trend of media convergence. Media convergence refers to traditional media and new media cooperate with each other and supplement with their own strengths with the promotion of new communication technology, in order to reach the largest information distribution ability. For current operation of print media groups, the trend of media convergence is far from enough. Traditional print media can take advantage of the internet, so as to keep the huge audience group, guarantee the survival foundation and development prospect of newspapers. The fundamental issue of traditional print media’s transformation and upgrading is not just opening the internet and mobile edition, but how to use new technological platforms and new communication means to satisfy more audiences’ demand, attract readers and advertisers to return, and sell newspapers more broadly

with the most effective marketing method. This is not the simple translation from traditional media to new media, but should create a brand new and stereoscopic cross-media marketing and operating mode.

References 3:

Pavlik, J. V. (2013). Journalism and new media. Columbia University Press.

Pavlik (2013) points out that journalism is undergoing the most fundamental transformation. In the spring of 2009, another two well-known newspaper withdrew from the print media industry. On February 26th, due to millions of dollars of loss, Rocky Mountain News would be closed after 150 years of history (Pavlik, 2013). On March 16th, Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced to give up the print edition and only released the online edition in the future (Pavlik, 2013). However, new media can revitalize news gathering and reengage an increasingly distrustful and alienated citizenry.

Pavlik (2013) points out that an opportunity for print media is the trend of fragmentation. Through the strategy of segmenting such as regional area news classification, industry segmentation, lifestyle segmentation, print media can effectively deal with challenges from new media. Currently, the main characteristic of fragmentized development is print media perform their regional feature to extreme, use detailed localized news narration to resist internationalized news trend. For example, Southern Urban Daily, one of the most respected newspapers in China, specially launches Shenzhen News, Guangzhou News, Zhuhai News, Zhongshan News etc. to reflect local news. While such fragmentized development is difficult for internet media to surpass. Through this strategy, Southern Urban Daily regains huge vitality. Therefore, it is practical for other print media to seize the opportunity of localization, regionalization and fragmentation to cover differentiated news, so as to gain new survival space.

References 4:

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU

press.

Traditional media should find their positions in the age of media convergence, storage relevant technology and talents. USA Today is just a successful example of the intimate interaction of newspaper and internet.

Specifically, print media can combine their own advantages with the advantages of the internet, including fast update, huge information amount and users. Thus print media can set up independent websites to form cross-media comprehensive information platforms. Internet media can largely make up for drawbacks of print media, because they can break through layout and time limitations of print media and realize round-the-clock operation. Meanwhile, the internet can provide readers more contents than print media. For example, all types of services (weather forecast, transportation situation, shopping guidance etc.), and internet technology can integrate all relevant local information into an online database. This database can be a window platform of cities on the internet. Existence of the internet provides an excellent technological platform for print media to realize all-round cross-media and cross-regional expansion (Jenkins, 2006). Print media operators can take full use of this high-tech platform, combine print contents and digital contents, so as to increase attractiveness to consumers and advertisers.

References 5:

Flew, T. (2005). New media: An introduction. Oxford University Press.

This book overviews the historical development of new media, relevant new media theories with contemporary case studies, which can be used as the background of this research.

Reviewing history, print media was once the dominant media. Till today, all kinds of media forms coexist and integrate with each other, including newspapers, broadcast, TV and internet. Currently, all kinds of print media, such as daily, weekly, monthly and seasonally, they use time as the coordinate. All types of working modes and staff allocation are also made on the basis of time. However, existence of TV media directly apply the concept of time in business, thus generated the concept of prime

time (Flew, 2005). When online communication makes all news be reflected and spread, media communication and news almost reach synchronization, thus time becomes plane space in internet media. Meanwhile, as internet media achieve interactivity and participation through technological platforms, audience no longer passively receive information communication, but receive information in participation, interaction and selection. Audience can even become the creator and spreader of information.

References 6:

Negroponte, N. (1996). Being digital. Random House LLC.

Negroponte points out that development of information technology would revolutionize people’s way of learning, working and entertaining. Digitalization also brings huge hits to traditional media industry. It cannot be denied that print media has been severely hit by new media. However, compared with new media such as the internet, traditional print media still have many strengths (Negroponte, 1996). Firstly, print media are more convenient and economical, people can obtain news without limitations of tool or place, as long as they hold newspapers in hand . However, broadcast, TV, mobile news, internet media, electronic book all need to depend on electric or electronic terminals. They cannot be read randomly at anytime and anywhere like newspaper, and their costs are much higher than newspapers. Meanwhile, if people read news with electronic terminals for too long, they will suffer from visual fatigue, cervical pain etc. Therefore, vitality of these new media cannot surpass newspapers, they cannot totally replace print media.

Secondly, coverage of print media has certain authenticity. In this internet age, all needed information can be found instantly. Occurrence of a news event can spread to the whole world within several seconds, but it is very difficult for people to distinguish credibility.

Thirdly, print media are easy to be reserved. Before the existence of new media, print media played a vital role in human survival and development. Print media keep achievements of human civilization in black and white, which could not be revised or

daubed, so as to let readers read in future life, such performance is incomparable with other media.

As a result, if print media can fully perform these intrinsic strengths and seek for technological support behind new media, print media will obtain new opportunities and realize sustainable development.

Conclusion:

Traditional print media and new media are not bitter rivals, there is no need for a life-or-death struggle. On the contrary, facing huge challenges brought by new media, print media should realize make their respective advantages complementary to new media, so as to achieve integration, co-existence and common prosperity. Digitalization of newspapers is not just competing with new media, the more far-reaching goal is the future development. All in all, it is a great opportunity for print media to openly embrace digitalization, proactively promote the progress of media convergence and seize the commanding height of media convergence.

Reference list:

Flew, T. (2005). New media: An introduction. Oxford University Press. 1-156. Negroponte, N. (1996). Being digital. Random House LLC. 2-17.

Meyer, P. (2009). The vanishing newspaper: Saving journalism in the information age. University of Missouri Press. 6-28.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU press. 87-101.

Boczkowski, P. J. (2005). Digitizing the news: Innovation in online newspapers. MIT Press. 14-56.

Pavlik, J. V. (2013). Journalism and new media. Columbia University Press. 8-42.