Wednesday 13 March 2013

Nothing Stays The Same - Just Ask Traditional Media

By Clare Crowden


Traditional media has changed a lot over the years, and many are pointing to the signs indicating its demise. The headlines certainly paint a very bleak picture indeed. Although we know the Web is responsible for the current state of affairs, we might not know why it has had the effect it has.

Traditional media had its real inception when Gutenberg invented the awesome printing press hundreds of years ago. It was an amazing invention that changed the course of history and changed the world. But not much has changed since then when one considers that modern newspapers and magazines continue making use of Gutenberg's astounding invention. But the world of news media changed again with the discovery of electricity, because that brought about radio, and then of course, TV. For the longest time the ad agencies and similar business all flourished.

In the beginning websites weren't taken all that seriously. Initially they were merely seen to be a new way to advertise. However, as the years passed the World Wide Web became ever more powerful. It's not all that surprising. Thanks to the Internet people discovered that they could research anything, download programs and apps, watch movies, listen to music, store files, and even keep in touch with loved ones anywhere in the world. For the first time the people could decide what they wanted to watch.

Social media has completely taken on a life of its own. The world of media has never been impacted in quite the same way as it has been by social media. Social media websites make it possible for people to stay connected no matter where they are, or what time of the day or night it may be. Just a few years ago this was not even envisioned.

According to research, radio took 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million, and TV did it in 13 years. The Internet made it even faster, in just four years. However it was social media sites, like Facebook, that achieved it in only 2 short years.

The doomsayers are correct when they predict the demise of traditional media. The print media have suffered a tremendous decline in readership, because people can now access current information online really easily, and free of charge. This obviously results in a decline in revenue. Traditional media just cannot provide current news and information to the public the way that the Internet can. The Internet has impacted every single aspect of our lives. It is unrealistic to picture the full demise of traditional news frankston media in the immediate future, however the more the Internet is integrated into the lives of people everywhere, the more its death bell tolls.




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