How Traditional Media is Facing Off While the Digital Media Era is Moving in


By UOW Malaysia KDU

The Story of Communication

Ever since prehistoric times, humanity has found methods, whether unconventional or not to relay information with each other. As time progresses, the method of communication has become increasingly less physical and more accessible via just the touch of a finger. Gone were the days of writing mail to pen pals and having to meetup for community related endeavors. Everything can be communicated through digital methods, and various online communities are able to thrive without the physical need to meet-up.

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Communication has always been deeply tied in with humans longing for connections with one another. Whether it is driven by fear of isolation or even the thrill of establishing new connections with other people, relationships with others will always be a major part of someone’s life. Being present ever since the days of prehistoric times, communication became more sophisticated with the emergence of traditional media.

Traditional Media & New Media

Traditional media, or some people like to call old media are the mass media institutions that predominated prior to the Information Age; particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television. Old media institutions are centralized and communicate with one-way technologies to a (generally anonymous) mass audience.

New media on the other hand, is defined by the rise of the Internet. Since the inception of the “WordWideWeb” in 1990 by its creators, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau, blogs and other online news portals have supplied a steady stream of free content to the general public. People quickly discovered that it wasn’t necessary to buy news off the stand any longer when Google and other reliable sources were just a click away.

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Furthermore, within recent years, microblogging sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace have taken the old media’s role as news bringer, being as fast as the moment the occurrence happens. A lot of Marketing is done on social media sites such as Instagram, all giving direct hits to older methods of advertising. The tables have turned, no longer is “news” reserved to the standard media channels, and anyone can take part in it from anywhere by commenting and giving reactions.

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New Media Bringing the Heat to Old Media

This presents a challenge for conventional media, bringing in significant hits to big industries like the newspaper industry. The global newspaper industry, which is worth some US$179 billion (RM784 billion), is facing tremendous changes in terms of content generation and distribution. Innovation that created new markets and disrupted the existing business models of newspaper companies has also changed the way print companies operate their businesses. Media companies are either forced to evolve or adjust their marketing and distribution strategies, or risk bankruptcy.

Old Media Industries Approach to New Media

Since the audience trend is changing around the world, media companies are forced to adopt new methods of relaying information to the masses, while also thinking of ways to generate sustainable revenue. News organisations needed to train its workforce, particularly journalists, to embrace the new ways of doing work. Besides that, new methods of generating revenue are conceived. This included adopting the paywall model (charges are done on online content) and metered model (readers are able to access a limited number of online articles for free before having to subscribe to read more articles). There are also some newspaper companies that have opted for a more creative way to generate higher revenue, such as offering membership subscription.

Media giants such as Times and Straits Times may have the resources required to make the jump to digital, with constantly increasing readership. Yet the same can’t be said for smaller media outlets that aren’t able to adapt. But one must remember that traditional media has a much longer relationship with the consumer due to decades of communicating with the masses. Using traditional media provides your audience with another side of content and adds weight and validity to what is shared.

Some of Us Believe That Old Media Has A Role To Play In The New Age

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Most media analysts and part of the community remain adamant that printed press still plays a vital role despite it not doing so well in the Information Age. Legacy media still accounts for a significant amount of news consumption by older Americans and global audiences. This is especially true in underdeveloped parts of the world which have failed to come full circle in embracing mobile and digital technology.

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So, What Is Going to Happen to Old Media in The Future?

In summary, mass communication has always been evolving, but in parallel with the technological advances the world goes through. The method of relaying information is becoming increasingly less physical, and results in the world being much closer to each other than ever before. Despite still playing a vital role towards the older generation, old media is slowly dissipating, and new media is more than ready to take its place as the main way of mass communication.

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20 June 2020

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Arts and Culture