Print publications on web

One thing, we all certainly agree is the advent of information and communication technology (ICT) that has revolutionised almost everything in our life.

Let’s look at media. Most traditional media, such as television and newspapers, are reshaped or redefined using the technologies of the Internet. Print publishing has been reshaped into websites, blogging, and web feeds. The Internet has enabled or accelerated the creation of new forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking sites.

The world is constantly becoming faster and more demanding. People want news and information wherever they are, at any time. As a result, most publications are expanding their businesses through World Wide Web or into other similar ICT enabled services.

The reality is that there are so many ways in which people can access information, today. Media forms like the internet and mobile phones have made it so easy for people to obtain news updates, sports scores, stock reports and so on. News and advertising mediums like newspapers have been compelled to broaden their scope to the internet as well, in order to keep up with the booming business of online communication.

The majority of internet users are young people, and the majority of newspaper-readers are adults, it was only a logical move to make in order for the newspaper to cater for both age groups.

In the race of retaining their readership, all major newspapers and magazines today have both online and print editions. Most of their online editions are up-to-date and often provide breaking news as it happens.

For an example, Singapore’s the Straits Times has been able to increase its readership by relaunching its website. According to ST, it’s annual readership in 2008 rose to 1.44 million a day within a year of launch of its website.

But it’s not the same happy news for newspapers in the US. Outsell Inc. recently predicted steep drops in US newspapers’ print circulation as consumers continue to gravitate toward the Internet for news. The firm forecasts 3.5 percent annual declines in both daily and Sunday circulation, leading to a low of 43 million Sunday newspaper readers by 2012, compared to more than 62 million in the early 1990s.

As technology is changing the way of people consume news, and many people are shifting to get their news through modern media such as the web and mobile phones, it is important for the print media to keep going by diversifying and taking advantages of multimedia platforms.

References:

Outsell Inc. viewed 6 February 2010, http://www.directmarketingnewswire.com/2010/January/Outsell-Report-Shows-Nearly-Half-of-News-Users-Bypass-Newspaper-Sites-in-Favor-of-Google.htm.

Straits Times, viewed 6 February 2010, http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_291524.html.