Update: multimedia's effects on newspapers
So many outlets, so little time. Today's consumers are barraged by an unprecedented range of multimedia devices that are rapidly transforming the entire media landscape. What are the consequences for newspapers?
Mobile: Already popping up around the globe, mobile news services are due to pass the USD 9 billion mark in 2006 according to Rafat Ali at PaidContent. The latest development comes from China, whose Ningbo Daily Newspaper Group launched a 'colorful' mobile phone newspaper with additional image, video and audio capabilities. The UK's Guardian Unlimited has also announced a campaign to promote an interactive mobile crossword game, moving the traditional print game to digital. You can keep up on the 'mobile revolution' at moconews.net, a subsidiary of PaidContent, who quickly responded to today's terrorist attacks in London with some advice on how to free up swamped mobile networks.
RSS: Forget trying to find out how newspapers can add advertisements to their RSS feeds; the advertisers have already got you beat! Frank Barnako's MarketWatch e-Newsletter describes some companies' efforts to bypass the middleman and peddle their wares directly to the public via product specific feeds. An idea originally proposed by the recognized founder of RSS, Dave Winer, companies such as Continental Airlines and American Express have launched their own RSS feeds, alerting consumers to special deals. This is a potential nightmare for any large media company. All advertising money could essentially fly right out the window if advertisers are able to successfully connect to consumers through RSS. And as newspapers, who provide static ads that are not even assured of influencing readers, continually raise their advertising fees, RSS will undoubtedly become an increasingly appealing publicity source.
Podcasting: Audio versions of newspaper articles?! What is this integrated media world coming too? Podcasting allows consumers to download audio files and listen to them on their MP3 Players as they go about their daily routine. A few American papers, including the Denver Post and Philadelphia Inquirer, have jumped on the wagon, essentially having a staff member read an article into a voice recorder that is easily transferred to the Net. Mr. Barnako reports that the well-known online news source Slate soon plans to release a few podcasted articles a day and is even looking to include podcasts from other publications. Newspapers may be wise to start investing in podcasting, especially noting the ubiquity of MP3 players among youth who, contrary to popular belief, are still interested in the what's going on in the world.
Cluttered media, cluttered minds?: So what are the implications of these digital innovations for print? Well, people actually seem to pay much more attention to dead-tree content than to their visual and audio counterparts. A 'Simultaneous Media Survey' conducted by BIGresearch showed that only about 40% of people multitask while reading a newspaper or magazine whereas up to 70% of people use multiple forms of media while watching TV, surfing the Net or listening to the radio. But that doesn't necessarily mean that print is about to make a comeback. Young people are especially prone to multitasking, habits that they will more than likely carry with them throughout their lives and we already know that. Seeing as youth have recently developed an aversion to print, newspapers should definitely find ways to distribute their quality content over various channels, expanding their brand name and catching the young while they're, well, young.
Think about teenagers. Today they're tapping their feet to the rap blaring on their MP3's while they text a friend with their mobile phone in one hand and play a video game on their PlaystationPortable in the other. In twenty years, they'll probably be listening to the news in one ear, chatting with a client in the other, texting their families to let them know they'll be late again for dinner, while simultaneously scanning the headlines and stock market activity, all on one portable device. So who's going to provide these services? Business opportunities anyone?
Sources: PaidContent, cnnb.com, The Guardian, Frank Barnako's MarketWatch e-Newsletter, Mediapost
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READ....SALUTE......SHAME.......MEDIA IS WASTE.!
Dear Editors of HT, TOI, Indian Express and The Hindu,
I got the mail below from a friend of mine and following the unwritten
code
of conduct,
I am forwarding it to my friends but all efforts of people who have
been
forwarding this mail would go waste if this mail doesn't reach
YOU......
Something to think about..!!
Shame on Indian Media??? Really what a shame...
By the time u guys read this news, the body of Major Manish
Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with
full military honors.
On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels 'Sanjay Dutt
relieved by court'. 'Sirf Munna not a bhai' '13 saal ka vanvaas khatam'
'although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh
of
relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn' Then many
personalities like Salman Khan said 'He is a good person. We knew he
will
come out clean'. Mr Big B said "Dutt's family and our family have
relations
for years he's a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek". His
sister Priya Dutt said "we can sleep well tonight. It's a great relief"
In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad;
Greg Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC
and
other such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt's
"phoenix like" comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges.
Surfing through the channels, one news on BBC startled me. It read
"Hisbul
Mujahidin's most wanted terrorist 'Sohel Faisal' killed in Anantnag,
India.
Indian Major leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four
others
are injured.
It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels,
but Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded
to
the court saying 'I'm the sole bread earner for my family', 'I have a
daughter who is
studying in US' and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was
not wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and
also how he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months.
A suspect in Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act...
was being transformed into a hero.
Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; Sure he did not do any terrorist
activity. Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist
community and also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a
pistol so that again is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to
all the temples; Sure he did a lot of Gandhigiri but then........ ...
Major Manish H Pitambare (who is from our very own city Thane, was
residing near makhmali talao,who was just like one of us some years ago
a
former student of maharashtra Vidyalay,Thane) got the information from
his sources about the terrorists' whereabouts. Wasting no time he
attacked
the camp, killed Hisbul Mujahidin's supremo and in the process lost his
life
to the bullets fired from an AK47.
He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt) who's
only 18
months old.
Major Manish never said 'I have a daughter' before he took the
decision to attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never
thought about having a family and he being the bread earner.
No news channel covered this since they were too busy hyping a former
drug
addict, a suspect who's linked to bomb blasts which killed hundreds.
Their
aim
was to show how he defied the TADA charges and they were so successful
that
his conviction in possession of armory had no meaning. They also
concluded
that his parents in heaven must be happy and proud of him.
Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest
of their lives without their beloved son. His daughter won't ever see
her
daddy again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero,
someone who laid his life in the name of this great nation.
So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows
which news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army
Major's death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!!
Media always forget our real great heroes when there is any matter that involves all hyped person.
This is really sad to know that such a great person who lost his life saving us in the field is not covered and the former drug addict involved in killing so many innocent person is getting so much of light.
ITS A SHAME .. REAL SHAME
It is a real shame on the Media to focus on Sanjay Dutt and not on Major Manish Pitambare. Great shame to get the news from a foreign channel. I agree that Sanjay Dutt’s news will sell more newspapers then Major’s death, but is not good journalism…A genuine paper will sell. Commercialization has entered. Nobody is to be blamed… as for the last line… that Sanjay pleaded for his daughter and Major did not think twice. Major, is a country man. Sanjay is a normal selfish man, who wants his own freedom and well being and nothing else. We all are like Sanjay.. are’nt we? We all live in our selfishness…. People like Major Manish Pitambare.. are not regular borns. We can’t compare Apples with Oranges. Kudos to Major Manish Pitambare. Well, I would also want to know if Major took the decision by himself or was pressured by the higher authorities to attack.
ITS A SHAME .. REAL SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA..
DAY BY DAY THEY ARE BECOMING PATHETIC.