Is digital killing newsprint?

March 2008

In the wake of the digital assault on traditional media, where does the print newspaper stand? Nicole Kouros looks into the question: will the digital revolution be the death of print news and quality journalism?

We are in an age where avenues of information have been completely revolutionised and the question on all journalists’ lips is whether newspapers and quality journalism will become obsolete in the new digital landscape? Will bloggers replace editors in deciding what’s news? Will the citizen journo armed with camera phone, happening to be in the right place at the right time be able to steal the story of the journalist who has doggedly followed the piece for months? Will the sensational take the place of the important? What is the future of journalism in this digital, mobile age?
The Carnegie Corporation’s report author Merrill Brown says, “There’s a revolution taking place in the news business today … The future course of news … is being altered by technology-savvy young people no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing the news in traditional ways … consumers between the ages of 18–34 are increasingly using the web as their medium of choice for news consumption.”
But leading journalists and media moguls agree: the advent of online media and a culture in which consumers provide news content does not necessarily mean that the newspaper will die. News Corporation head Rupert Murdoch says, “Scarcely a day goes by without some claim that new technologies are fast writing newsprint’s obituary.” But he sees the advent of the digital age as “a huge opportunity to improve our journalism and expand our reach.”
All major Australian dailies have an internet site to complement their print newspaper but the industry holds concerns that print will die and that the nature of the online medium will mean that quality cannot be controlled and will therefore diminish.
Political editor of Adelaide’s Advertiser, Mark Kenny says, “One area where the internet is a threat to journalistic standards is that it requires instantaneous reportage. And that doesn’t always make for the best reporting or analysis.”
Another challenge for journalists says Kenny is “the explosion of commentary – you could argue that there is too much – it is a challenge for journalists to maintain their reputation as impartial when opinion is always required.”
Deputy editor of The Age, Gay Alcorn says the solution lies in traditional journalists holding their nerve and ensuring that journalistic standards are upheld. In her public lecture (hosted by La Trobe University, Melbourne, October 2007), “What will become of journalism?” Alcorn says that traditional media needs to hold faith that public values are the same as journalistic values: independence, trust, fairness and accuracy are principles that have never been more important.
She believes that in an age where consumers can provide news content that professional journalists need to distinguish themselves by upholding their obligation to report unbiased news designed to inform the public fairly and accurately about issues that really matter.
Alcorn believes that print and online media can work together and complement each other. She believes that at its best, online is better than print but is adamant that newspapers have a place in the digital world.
“The paper is evolving and reflects the new ways people want to get their news; if online is for breaking news: video, audio content, then the paper is about something else: more analysis, more in-depth reporting, more exclusive investigations. What the Americans call our ‘own initiative’ stories”, says Alcorn.
However, not only do print and digital news have to complement each other but at the same time they need to play separate roles and fulfil their distinct roles outstandingly. “Not all our newspaper readers read online, many people want to hold a newspaper, want to take a newspaper to have a cup of coffee. And not all our online readers read our newspaper,” Alcorn says.
In 2005 Murdoch said that online news could not just be “a bland repurposing of our print content. Instead, it will need to offer compelling and relevant content. Deep, deep local news. Relevant national and international news. Commentary and debate. Gossip and humor … We need to be a destination for … bloggers. We need to encourage readers to think of the web as the place to go to engage our reporters and editors.”
Chairman of News Limited, John Hartigan, embraces the changing face of media and journalism. “Readers can go to websites to follow the news as it breaks, comment on the story and send it to friends,” he says.
Referring to a story he covered in his early days about a fire in a block of flats in which so many people were injured that the news driver had to drive the ambulance so the medic could resuscitate the victim on the way to hospital he says, “Our driver’s first-hand account of taking the injured to hospital got no further than his mates in the pub. He would now make a powerful podcast. Back then we only had room for a couple of the Bondi pictures in grainy black and white. Now there’d be a web gallery full of the best shots in colour – some of them taken by survivors on mobile phones. Television news would show me more that night. The next day my newspaper would give the story context and meaning.”
The Dean of the University of California at Berkeley’s journalism school, Orvill Shell said, “the Roman Empire that was mainstream media is breaking up and we are entering an almost feudal period where there will be many centres of power and influence.”
It seems that the lesson here is age old: learning to share. But will this have a negative affect on the quality of news content?
As the former editor of the Los Angeles Times, John Carroll sees it, the trouble is that online media promotes “tabloid land”, pulling attention to stories about Brad and Angelina, lurid murder, the next imaginary enemy of Christmas and any sexual indiscretion that’s available – he believes that traditional media is falling for this.
And when, as Ms Alcorn cited in her lecture, the top online story of the day is “Dwarf’s penis gets stuck to vacuum cleaner” (this is true), it’s clear that newspapers have to make a stand.
But Hartigan is far from lamenting the good old days when newspaper journalism was untainted by vapid gossip and unchallenged by digital media. He believes that journalistic practice is better than ever: “In my 43 years in this game I’ve never seen more vibrant editorial cultures than I do today,” he says.
Hartigan doesn’t think that the digital revolution has diminished the quality of journalism, rather he thinks it’s just made it easier to spot. “I don’t think bad journalism is more prevalent than it was. It’s just more prominent,” he says.
He thinks the web has made it easier to compare quality and therefore has made it necessary to constantly revise and improve standards. “When we don’t stack up, there’s nowhere to hide,” he says.
For Hartigan the new media culture is to be celebrated. “I don’t see it as heralding the death of great journalism. If you really care about journalism you have to be passionate about reinventing it in the digital age. Breaking news coverage might take people online but it won’t hold them there. We need more compelling content to complement what we do in other mediums.”
He believes the competition is healthy and the fact that people can switch on and off at the click of a mouse is creating demand for higher quality journalism, not lower. He says, “digital technology is delivering a more diverse range than ever of wonderful journalism. Our audiences are capable of telling the difference (between good and bad journalism). The one thing they don’t have is enough time to consume what’s available. This is why demand for high quality news from credible sources will grow, not decline … Quality is taking on greater meaning, not less.”
Murdoch says that to solve the “threat” to newspapers, journalists and newsmakers have to listen to what the readers want. And right now readers want news fast and to know how it personally affects them. “They want their news on demand, when it works for them. They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it,” he says.
Murdoch says that what your audience wants must take precedence over tradition, “At The Times of London, circulation decline was immediately reversed when we moved from broadsheet to … our ‘compact’ edition … This is an example of listening to what our readers want, and then upsetting a centuries old tradition to give them exactly what they were asking for. And we did it without compromising the quality of our product.”
He believes that papers should use bloggers to complement the quality content that journalists provide to online newspapers. While a newspaper cannot vouch for a blogger’s accuracy and quality, he thinks they can serve a valuable purpose. “Broadening our coverage of the news; giving us new and fresh perspectives to issues; deepening our relationship to the communities we serve, so long as our readers understand the clear distinction between bloggers and our journalists,” he says.
Kenny agrees. More than worrying about the internet itself he says, “what’s crucial is the distinction between news and opinion – that’s the distinction that needs to be protected.”
It seems that far from meaning that quality news content will become a thing of the past, it in fact will be crucial to maintaining a news audience both in print and online – the reader will need to interact and will demand opinion but only professional quality news content will keep the reader coming back. In 1996 Bill Gates said, “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet” … and he should know.

Bibliography:
Sites consulted in article:
Rupert Murdoch, speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, “The challenges faced by traditional media in an online world”, (2005). http://www.guidomedia.com/murdochonline0405.html
John Hartigan, CEO News Limited, on journalism, “The Andrew Olle Lecture 2007”, (October 2007). http://www.guidomedia.com/archives/2007%20Andrew%20Olle%20Lecture.pdf
Essay by Bill Gates (of historical interest), “Content is king” (January 1996). http://www.guidomedia.com/contentisking-billgates96.html
Sir Tim Berners-Lee (regarded as the ‘father’ of the web) to the US House of Representatives, “The future of the world wide web”, (March, 2007). http://www.guidomedia.com/archives/Sir-Tim-Testimony-US2007.pdf
Graeme Samuel, ACCC head, speech for La Trobe University, “Australia’s changing communications & media landscape”, (August 2006). http://www.guidomedia.com/ACCCmediachange0806.pdf
Merrill Brown, author of the Carnegie Report article, “Abandoning the news”, 2005, pp. 2-11. http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/carnreporterSp05.pdf
IBM paper on the challenges for publishers, “Navigating the media divide”, (February 2007) http://www.guidomedia.com/mediadivide%20-%20ibm%20-%200702.pdf

Recommended Links:
The future of journalism
Julian Lee, a related article, “Paper publishers revive industry body”, (July 20, 2006). www.smh.com.au/.../2006/07/19/1153166457813.html
Steve Stecklow and Martin Peers, an in-depth interview with Rupert Murdoch, “Murdoch’s Role as Proprietor, Journalist and Plans for Dow Jones”, (June 6, 2007) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118115049815626635.html
Christopher Connell, a report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, “Journalism’s Crisis of Confidence: a challenge for the next generation”, (2006). http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/journalism_crisis/journ_crisis_full.pdf
James Owen, a report for National Geographic News, “London Bombing pictures mark new role for camera phones”, (2005) http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0711_050711_londoncell.html
Picrurephoning.com, shows “Top ten camera phone images that made news”, (November, 2007). http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/cat_citizens_as_camera_phone_reporters.htm
“The editor’s weblog” a site that invites consumers to provide news http://www.editorsweblog.org/

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The Stats

Carnegie Report:
44% use a portal once a day for news
19% use a printed newspaper on a daily basis
Looking out three years:
39% expected to use the internet more to learn about the news
8% expected to use traditional newspapers more
9% describe print newspapers as trustworthy
8% find newspapers useful
4% find newspapers entertaining

1964: four of every five americans read a newspaper every day
2005: only half of Americans read a newspaper every day

Advertising:
Roy Morgan Research 2006
60% increase in expenditure of internet advertising revenue from 2004-2006
This was $620 million, surpassing that spent on cinema, pay TV and outdoor advertising combined

Print Newspaper Circulation (report for June 6, 2006):
Australia:
2.23% decline in sales of print newspapers in Australia in 2005
8.14% increase in revenues over one year (2005)
10.46% increase in revenues over five years
Internet News (worldwide):
8.71% increase in online news consumption (2005)
200% increase in online news consumption over (past) five years (2000-2005)
24% increase in online advertising revenues (highest growth for five years)
20% increase in number of newspaper sites in 2005