Thirty years ago, few people knew how to use computers, but now, almost every college student has their own laptop. With the developments of the economy and technology, more and more people started to use digital media instead of traditional paper media.
Digital media is perpetually becoming more and more popular. Despite hardly any stores offering newspapers, people still choose to read the paper on smart phones.
Electronic magazines offer new sensory oriented experience to people, and social media encourages the upsurge of sharing and commenting. Digital media has attracted more and more readers and become an inseparable part of our daily lives.
However, will paper media exit from the media market? The answer is certainly, no.
Lasting over thousands years, paper media has the strength to support its development with the preference of readers and the support of newspaper owners. The power trend of the media world will still go to paper media because of its mature technology, easier concentration and safe management.
First, owners actually combine both paper and digital marketing to operate together. Digital newspapers are one of the options paper media systems use to make money from the young generation. If readers desire quick and convenient media, then they have to pay.
When you open The New York Times online, there are only partial articles on the web page and you have to pay monthly in order to receive the digital version. Another option is subscribing to their print newspapers monthly because this will allow full access to the articles online.
Besides, the pyramid working system of paper media provides the basic support for these entrepreneurs. The people on the top of the pyramid are the owners who make decisions for the management, the contents and the business corporation. They are the power-blocs, controlling the trends of the media world.
Editors and reporters have benefits by following power-blocs. Owners need these capable people to work, and employees also rely on the bosses to pay salary. If bosses make more money, employees will get more money. This reciprocal relationship makes the system more stable. Therefore, paper media workers will stay in the paper media industry.
However, because a company is publishing on a website, most website media companies do not have a settled stable duty system. Everything is flexible and risky. The owners have little money to operate their companies, so the writers have less salaries, smaller offices, and some of them even work at home. Some online writers write articles for the website newspapers without money.
Websites can be controlled easily by comment systems that allows anonymous users to verify false information. Anyone can claim something is true online as we cannot see who is writing it. At the same time, there are always variety views, and some comments are unethical, extreme or even discourteous. We can frequently see drastically different arguments in the comment section. Reading those impenetrable words and sentences easily bring negative influences on both individuals and the network environment.
The most important thing is that people still have the habit of reading papers. Every time professors ask the class if they want to read materials online or on paper, most people choose paper. Newspapers are more flexible editorial pages with objective and authentic contents that can always make readers feel informed, cultured and authoritative. It brings trustworthiness to the readers without worrying about the technological problem of digital reading.
Overall, paper media will never die with the support of readers and newspaper owners. Feel free to continue to enjoy your morning coffee with a newspaper.
Xinyi Yan is a senior studying strategic communication at Ohio University. How do you feel about print news? Let Xinyi know by emailing her at xy307715@ohio.edu.
