Explain the impact of technological developments and changing economic contexts on the cost for audiences of consuming news. Refer to The Guardian and the Daily Mail to support your answer. [10]
Look carefully at the following essays, both written by students. As always ask yourself:
- Have they answered the question?
- Does the essay have a clear core?
- Have they used specific and detailed examples?
- Have they always analysed their examples?
- Does the whole thing build toward supporting the core?
- Does it read as if it has been written by a Media Studies student?
In addition to looking at the essays in this very analytical way, you may wish to ask yourself whether you could produce something similar in the time you have and to think about how much you would have to cut out given your usual word count.
EXAMPLE 1:
Over the last few decades, the circulation of print newspapers has significantly declined, and the circulation of online news has overtaken changing the economic structure of news corporations. Technological developments and changing economic contexts have changed the consumption of news by moving readers online, attracting readers on social media and using advertising to recover capital lost in declining sales of print newspapers.
The development of the internet and online news has moved the consumption of news to online, which provides access to a wider, international audience. The movement of news to online has made consumption digital, interactive and immediate, with readers now able to speak back to producers, comment on stories and have access to news everywhere and anywhere (martini media), they are no longer constrained to the organisational and bureaucratic restraints of print news. The Guardian have a print circulation of around 100,000 (July 2021) and around 17 million monthly readers online, which is slightly less than the Daily Mail who have a print circulation of around 1 million (2022) and around 21 million monthly readers online. The fact that the Daily Mail still has a large print circulation reflect the nature of their demographic, who are more likely to be older, right-wing, conservatives and therefore traditional readers. So, while the paper aims to appeal to these traditional readers, their online platform appeals to others (perhaps younger) who prefer more celebrity and soft news. This shows how technological developments have changed the main consumption of news to online, changing the way newspapers make their money (with less reliance on sales and print circulation), but also changing the values and beliefs reflected in their content.
According to Ofcom's 2022 report on News Consumption in the UK, social media is overtaking traditional channels for news among teens and Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are now their top three most used sources for news. The Guardian and Daily Mail have used social media to their advantage and gained millions of followers across a range of platforms. The Guardians biggest following is on twitter (10.8million) where they share snippets of articles (mostly hard news, like on their website and print) with links to the full story on their website. The news they share on social media allows their followers to find stories that interest them and head to the website whilst scrolling through their feed, making it easy to access. The Daily Mails biggest following is on Snapchat (14.6million) where they mostly share clickbait celebrity and soft news, attracting a younger audience than their print counterpart attracts. Users ‘swipe up’ on stories that catch their interest and are shown to the full story; unlike the Guardian, users are not signposted to the website which may not appeal as much to the young online readership. This allows a new consumption channel for newspapers via social media, due to technological advancements and changing economic contexts.
Technological advances lead to the decline in print circulation of newspapers, hence, they have had to find alternative ways to make money, including advertising online. The daily mail online has large banner advertisements surrounding the borders and various pop-up videos ads, aimed at each reader through the use of cookies, their app has an option to pay for an ad free version allowing them to make money through adverts or a subscription service. The Guardian does not have adverts on their website but have a subscription service where readers can choose to support the paper through monthly contributions. This is very much in keeping with its overall model of serving an audience rather than being captured by the need to serve a capital driven employer. They also have an app where people can pay to get quicker access to news stories and receive personalized recommendations though they have yet to move to the paywall feature that is used by The Times, which may also reflect their belief that news should be accessible to a wide audience and not constrained by economic contexts. Technological advancements (such as the internet and technologically convergent devices)s have changed the economic context of newspapers where they have to find alternative ways to make money other than print sales including advertising, apps and various pay walls.
EXAMPLE 2:
The main economic context affecting newspaper distribution is the movement of advertising revenue from traditional to new media (online newspapers); with the drastic drop in print newspaper sales technological developments have led to changes in newspaper models, an increase in “clickbait” advertising and a rise of citizen journalism. Mainstream newspapers, like Guardian and The Daily Mail, have had to adapt to audiences sourcing their news from digital platforms rather than print and as a result we can explore how different ownership models adjust to growing economic pressures.
According to an Ofcom UK 2022 report, reach of print/online newspapers has seen a decrease from 2020 (47%) to 2022 (38%). “The decrease is driven by decreases in print (online newspaper reach remains steady)”. This drop in sales has caused The Guardian and the Mail to become more dependent on distribution via the internet and as a result the advertising revenue for newspapers has changed. Although neither use a paywall, which many online newspapers have adopted to try and prevent a loss of revenue, The Guardian’s trust ownership vs the Daily Mail’s proprietor model has led to different required outcomes. The Daily Mail’s proprietor model has moved towards more sensationalist stories to maintain its market share/ profitability, paired with their traditional use of “clickbait” and advertising. Whereas the Guardian website states the Scott trust “safeguards our journalistic freedom and liberal values, ensuring they remain free from commercial or political interference.”. The Guardian has moved to a (successful) donation model alongside advertising to remain as impartial as possible. However, theorists, like Curran and Seaton, would argue that the pursuit for profit leads to a decrease in quality and although The Guardian is less geared towards profit than the Daily Mail, they still include advertisements on their website. The impact of technological developments on the economic context around print newspapers arguably has contributed to lower quality news content for the consumer.
Newspaper companies have not only become more focussed on online distribution but also have adapted their print models to adjust to the economic pressures derived from the increase in online news. The Guardian moved to a compact (tabloid) model to save money in printing/ distribution costs on Monday 15 January 2018. According to The Guardian “The print format change will generate significant savings and forms part of Guardian Media Group’s three-year plan to break even at an operating level by April 2019”. To also keep costs low, the Mail has only increased its cover price slightly in the last few years (up 15p since 2010); The Guardian has almost doubled its cover price, from £1 to £2. The Mail outsells The Guardian by a factor of 10, although both have seen their circulation halve in that time, which suggests that the Mail’s wider distribution is due at least partly to its relative cheapness. So, when explaining the change in economic context one may argue that sales of print media will continue to decrease as they become more expensive, and perhaps tabloid, like the Daily Mail will survive longer in the industry due to their capability to attract mainstream audiences with “sensationalist” news and clickbait.
However, as news becomes more mainstream, there becomes a lack of hyper-local news and views, making it difficult for communities to campaign on issues that matter to them. Citizen journalism adds value to mainstream news coverage by bringing local stories to a wider audience. It can help media to reflect greater diversity of voices and inspire more people to change their communities for the better. This reflects a massive technological development in journalism and the media industry, as now reporters can be anyone, they just need to capture content with a device. The advent of the Internet, new technologies, social platforms and grass-roots media has heralded a significant shift in collecting, disseminating and sharing information. Citizen journalism can be considered as the offspring of this evolution - an alternative form of news gathering and reporting, taking place outside of the traditional media structures and which can involve anyone, helping media to reflect greater diversity of voices and inspire more people to change their communities for the better. However, although citizen journalism benefits newspapers, with the rapid shareability on social media there is a danger that newspaper's ability to source this distinctive content may be too slow and eventually newspapers, like the Guardian and the Daily Mail and their journalist, which may be seen as just middlemen in the distribution process, will be not needed. The content shared my citizen journalists on social media is free and therefore creates massive economic pressures for traditional news companies, as they are no longer competing with other traditional news companies but a new social media world full of unlimited niche content that they can’t compete with.
In conclusion, technological developments have massively impacted news companies economically. With more and more people sourcing news digitally, traditional media and newspapers have had to adapt. However, with the pressure of citizen journalism, we can only question how long these traditional newspaper- the Guardian and The Daily Mail will last. Will print newspapers and online paywalls be too expensive for the consumer? Maybe, the Guardian’s fight for their “integrity” will attract audiences who could become victims to fake news on social media or will its content become more mainstream, like The Daily Mail, as the economic context worsens. We will have to wait and see...
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