Is Digital News Replacing Print?
When was the last time you or a member of your family actually bought a physical copy of the news? Or saw your grandad sat at the table with a cup of tea and a copy of The Times? For me, my last memory was a very long time ago due to the fast advancement of technology and news being accessible with the touch of a button. Does this mean digital news is taking overprint?
Print news consists of current affairs that are printed out in physical form so, the news you see sitting on the shelves in the supermarket compared to digital news which you can access on electronic devices including smartphones, laptops, computers, etc. As the content of digital ‘journalism’ is published online, (although not a definite definition of what digital journalism is), it travels a lot faster than the traditional form of journalism, therefore, becoming more convenient to the average person, being accessible to get a quick read of the news during a busy schedule. As stated in the ‘Digital Vs. Print Media’ an article on o2 Creative, that digital journalism has many benefits, ‘It can be less expensive than print media, depending on the details of each campaign. Digital campaigns can also usually be produced, launched, and updated faster than print’, suggesting the multiple benefits digital journalism consists of. The content of digital journalism consists of a lot less than traditional print journalism, including audio (radio news), media such as GIFs, text, and small sections of videos, therefore targeting a larger audience as more interesting and easy to understand than traditional print news.
Digital Journalists gather information from social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in order to compile this information into a smaller word count than print news by using techniques such as hyperlinks. As journalists though, when using hyperlinks the plagiarism rule must be kept in mind to avoid any legal consequences. Hyperlinks help the reader to learn more about the content of the story being published, explained on the Online Journalism website with the article called ‘When to hyperlink within an online news story?’, states that ‘Hyperlinks imbue a news story with the power of the World Wide Web’, where they could include a link to the full interview for example, without the journalist including an overload of information. Digital news also allows for a large amount of interaction with the audience and the news story. Unlike traditional journalism, digital journalism allows for more of an opinionated response. When posting online there is a chance for the readers to voice their opinions on the current story using the comment section, by writing their feedback on the story which was impossible before, and allow for the digital journalists to alter their writing to gratify the reader. This, therefore, differs from print news due to the time frame of the feedback being given reaches the direct journalist. In print news, the feedback from the public has to go through multiple platforms and people before directly reaching the journalist whereas as we can see in digital news stories, the feedback is direct.
How is the information gathering for news stories changed due to Digital Journalism?
The way in which journalists now research for their news stories differs hugely from how print has in the past. Journalists would often make calls to the PR office in order to gain information but now all information is found online, using social media and online newspapers.
‘The media through with journalism is conducted vary diversely to include content published via newspaper and magazines (print), television and radio (broadcast), and their digital versions published through digital media- news websites and applications.’ Explained in an article by N R Satish in 2019, ‘Impact of Online Journalism.’
As well as the information being collected in differing ways, the advertisements published in traditional and digital journalism differ greatly. Although physical newspapers consist of advertisements, more consumers will perceive advertisement's on an electronic device more often. Therefore, digital journalism increasing profit and knowledge of online sales.
Digital journalism also allows for independent journalists to break away from media outlets and write in a more unique and independent way. This allows for digital journalists to write in their own style, using writing techniques they choose to instead of being directed by the media outlets to write in the way of the specific newspaper. Furthermore, independent journalists can take their news stories to whatever level they choose to do so without a limitation to their writing, another thing that traditional print news does not allow for.
Is Print News being taken over?
So, I guess the ultimate question is, is digital journalism replacing traditional print news? Although digital journalism is rapidly covering the news sector using different technologies to publish stories, traditional news hasn’t quite given up yet, still flourishing in the news departments of all supermarkets and small shops. As much as the predictions of many around stated that print news would be diminished by now due to digital news, it has not and is still going strong even if not as well as digital!
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