Lesson 1.2 - 12 November

Finally, we have reached the last session of twc. Yes, I did increased the font size for the word 'last' to place emphasis and express my sense of excitement and relief. Just like prof, I would like to quote a famous dead person.
"Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology"
- Daniel J. Boorstin

For the last session, four group presented their web report. The four topics brought forward were:

1. Augmented Reality
2. Shift to Solar
3. Technology and educations
4. Robotic surgery.

The first group kick start the class with an impressive presentation on augmented reality. Their website was impressive, easy to navigate through and quite comprehensive in terms of content. They did not only introduce the term 'augmented reality' but they also bring up the implications and controversial issues at hand. What I found most interesting about their presentation was the future applications of AR. This technology present an endless possibilities which I find very impressive.

Next up, the presentation on the shift to solar technology. The group presented a comprehensive idea of solar technology, however I find their content rather narrowed. It would be better if the group has presented other sources of energy in order to make comparisons. That aside, I believe great effort was put in as the website appear organized.

After the shift to solar technology, technology and education was discussed by the third group. Their interesting topic of discussion caught prof's attention due to his passion for the subject. The group presented an in depth research on the topic with diverse background information and current practices included. However the future technologies presented such as robotic teachers and holographic teachers may not be feasible, in my opinion. I think the idea can be an ineffective method in inculcating knowledge and facilitating education. As such, the group should've included the various arguments at hand, and display the pros overcoming the cons in order to sell their idea. 

The last group presented the robotic surgery. This was definitely interesting and I find this topic one of the more interesting topics discussed. I believe this method of surgical process would be a better alternative due to the reduced human err. However, noone can promise the ultimate reliability of these robots. Here, the Murphy's law come into play: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. As such, despite the huge potential success of robotic surgery, the risk is limitless as well.

All in all, I rate this session a 9/10. TWC ended with a bang as the class took a group picture to bid our final farewell. I will definitely miss writing these blog posts.
Again, "technology is so much fun but we can down in our technology."
With that, I bid farewell. 

Lesson 1.1 - 5th November

Session 11 was the second last session of TWC! One more session and we're done and out. Wow, I'm in the "let's get this done and over with" mood. Let's march on fellow students of TWC.

Instead of the usual individual presere innovative method than the traditional report writing on microsoft word document. I enjoyed the web report, since the decoration and formatting made the report a much more enjoyable read. My group, 6 people of diverse school background, chose waste management  as our topic of discussion. Do visit our web report for more information on waste management, in Singapore's context and its future by clicking on the link: http://dsweida.wix.com/bashthebin. In the midst of focusing on our topic we tried to place emphasis on the future instead of the current practices implemented. The group discussions were enriching as I delve into the policies implemented. Waste management plays a pivotal role in Singapore, especially since this is a small country vying to gain a reputation as a clean and green environment.

That aside, it was evident that other groups put in great effort on their web report as well. All in all, there were a total of 4 topics discussed:
1. Sanitation
2. Waste Management
3. Genome Mapping
4. Future Criminal Identification Methods

 The first group covered the sanitation services and facility. The group went in depth, by differing the availability of sanitation in developed as well as less developed countries. Here, it is evident that technology forecasting and assessment come into play as the group delve into the new and improved technologies, which will better the current systems based on the level of efficiency, usage and cost- based on current technologies.

My group went next. After we presented our web report on waste management, prof suggested ways to improve and better our report. I believe his input was imperative as our report lack depth on the future technologies of waste management in Singapore. Thankfully, my group took his criticism in our stride, and we implement necessary changes.

The third group discussed genome mapping which allows parents to alter the characteristics of their baby, in terms of ability as well as physical appearance. I believe this technology has huge potential, however we have to consider the ethical implications. By implementing all these alterations, wouldn't the babies lose their sense of originality? In my opinion, such technologies can be categorized under sci-fi technology. By adjusting the characteristics of these babies, isn't it the same as creating robots? By creating robots, we are given the option to choose the functionalities adopted. Similarly, these babies are altered according to desired functionalities. The ethical implication in this case, can be heavy.

Lastly, the group with the most intriguing and fascinating presentation was the group that presented the future criminal identification methods. This group presented a skit, showing the different technologies currently implemented to identify criminals. However, the group based the future of such technologies based on sci-fi movies such as minority reports. This got me thinking, in fact, movies play an imperative role in shaping the future of technology. Movies plant this seed on imagination, which navigate the innovations towards making these 'imagined ideas' a reality.

All in all, I rate this lesson a 7 out 10. Despite the various takeaways gained, basing the presentation on a website instead of the traditional powerpoint, was a new process which was faced with several obstructions. However, the session got my looking forward to the next lesson which is the last session!

FINAL individual report- technology and newspaper industry.

Here is the finlised report on technology and newspaper industry. Comments are welcomed with open arms.


Technology and Newspaper Industry

Lesson 1.0 - 22th October

Wow, in a blink of an eye, the TWC lessons conducted have come to an end. I will surely miss this fascinating and interesting class, prof and of course my lovely course mates. Session 10 was the final session taught by prof, before group presentation on the web reports. Honestly, the lessons taught and topics learnt has enriched and benefited me in so many ways. It's such a pity that the course will be coming to a halt.

Well, session 10 opened floor for discussion on technology assessment and forecasting. This session developed a framework for understanding what comes next. As quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt, "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Session 10 had succeeded in inculcating knowledge on forecasting: the importance of forecasting, methods of assessment and of course the implications involved. Well, basically, technology forecasting attempts to predict the future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or techniques. Some of the drivers raised in class includes the exponential growth in the range of new technologies with potential world changing significance. In fact, some of the technologies raised in class, especially session 9 which touch on future and emerging technologies, display the potential world changing significance. For example, the driverless car, google glasses, genetic engineering and so much more. These new technologies have so much potential, and of course a world-changing significance. This spurs the importance of technology forecasting and assessment. 

The decision, whether and when to invest in R & D of new innovations and technologies also boosts the importance of technology forecasting and assessment. This is of course a legitimate point since the capital pumped in from these investors promotes new innovations. In fact, this becomes some sort of a cycle. With technological advancements and wider imagination and society progresses, the formation of new technologies that bring about greater importance, bring about greater economical benefits. Needless to say, this will attract investors, which pump in greater capital for better innovations to be produced. 

As such, not only did I learn the drivers as well as the importance of technology forecasting and assessment, I learnt that the future bring about an endless possibilities which open up a wide spectrum of potential technologies. Thinking about this, intrigues me. Come to think of it, who knew that the huge and bulky cell phones invented in 1973, has now evolved into a pocket-sized (or smaller) smart phones with access to the internet and touch-screen functions! Don't you find it fascinating?

With the endless possibilities from technology forecasting and assessment, I rate this lesson an 8/10!

Lesson 0.9 - 15 October

Its is already week 10! Wow, time is flying by. On a positive note, we're a week closer to the December break. (*throws confetti) So, session 9 touched on emerging and future technologies. The wide range of potentially life-changing technologies are fascinating and intriguing to me. Before I discuss the key take away and what not, the quote (from a dead person, as usual) for this week is:

“You see things; and you say, 'Why?'

But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'”

- George Bernard Shaw -

This quote is important in identifying the difference between a falling and a rising star. Following the notion of "why not?" new ideas and conceptions are perceived  where the thought process is spurred towards questioning instead of the accepting of answers. The class then went on to discuss the relationship between this notion and the attitude of a rising star. Instead of settling for an answer, a rising star is receptive to new ideas and concept , constantly seeking new innovative ways to move forward. 

Some of the new technologies shown in class are highly interesting, and I was personally intrigued by the video showing the joint effort of a Japanese and French, a robot called "The Perfect Woman".

Personally, I find it shocking that technological advancements is making science fiction come to life. Never would my 5 years old self thought that I would live to see the day where interacting with a robot is actually possible. However, is this invention really necessary? I understand that technological advancements allow room for various innovative inventions but some of this inventions might actually bring more harm than good. However, it is important to note that this issue is highly subjective as what I perceive as 'harm', others might perceive as 'good'.  Take this robot for example, if the sale of the "Perfect Woman" garner popularity among the male population, wouldn't it affect the global fertility rate? Then again, as prof said: Technology is easy, Man are hard.

The individual presentations held this week was interesting as well. The topic of immortality was brought up in class. With the various medical advancements that are geared towards health solutions for the various diseases and sickness, the idea of immortality might actually be feasible. I haven't thought about it, but how far is too far? Now I understand the ethical concerns surrounding this issue. Are the doctors playing god? Should there be a limit implemented, restricting the development of this rising technology?

That aside, one of the few takeaways from this lesson is that, technology and imagination are intertwined. There is no limit to the advancement of technology. Just like the universe, theres is an endless possibilities to the technological advancements.

As such, I rate this session a 9/10. More of such sessions pretty please with cherry on top?

Lesson 0.8 - 8 October

The recess week is over, and back to school we go! Thankfully, first lesson of the week is on TWC and as usual, this class consists of a highly interactive session that opened up room for various discussions.

Prof started the class with a quote: “IF EVERYONE CONSUMED AS

MUCH ENERGY AS THE AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN AND U.S. RESIDENT, THE WORLD’S OIL RESERVES WOULD BE DEPLETED IN 9 YEARS.”

The 8th session of TWC discuss the energy and world change of the past, present and future. It hit home when I digested the quote shared by prof. As a Singaporean, I find it shocking that our level of consumption (combined with America) is enough to cause the extinction of the world's oil reserves in mere 9 years. Oil reserves, a product of millions of years, gone in 9 years. It's pretty shocking don't you think? I found an interesting video which shows the stats of world energy usage in 2012. 

From the video, I notice a trend showing a direct relationship between energy consumption and economic development. As such, is it possible to maintain a sustainable economic development without the depletion of energy resources?

During class, prof pointed out some policies implemented by the Government in order to maintain a sustainable resource consumption, in the pursuit of economic development. This policies contribute to the key takeaways from this session- showing ways in which mankind can take to ensure sustainable energy consumption. Some of this policies include carbon tax and education campaigns to raise awareness towards the issue at hand. Earth hours is one of the popular education campaign carried out in order to gather support towards sustainable energy consumption. Being an avid supporter of such campaigns, I encourage such attempts in raising awareness towards this issue.I believe that education would lead to a massive increase in the level of awareness and this allows room for the pursuit towards sustainable consumption. However, the session did not delve on the different technologies and creations innovated to cater to the sustainable energy consumption. I would like to see more technologies created to cater to this global phenomena and also governmental and societal efforts that push for sustainable energy consumption. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Lesson 0.7 - 1st October

Session 7 of TWC discuss the BioBusiness revoluntion, touching topics on agribiology, environmental life sciences and industrial biotechnology of the past present and future.

Basically, the amalgamation of biology and technology, forms Bio-technology. This form of technology provide a room full of solutions for the global problems of today. It is interesting to know that Bio-business already constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employment of up to 40% of the world labor force. These figures provide a substantial value to the business- showing the significance and influence of this industry. The huge number of people involved shows that this issue should be given priority, and not easily dismissed. The technological advancements in relation to this industry can easily influence global standard of living  , affecting the employments and availability of food. 

The lesson touched on the genetic engineering of crops. This method of technological application require biological knowledge, tackling issues like starvation. The genetically modified crops benefit the producers, lowering their cost of production in a sense. These crops are given amicable attributes such as pest-resistance and durability against unfavorable climatic conditions. Such characteristics allow an increment in output, which producers can offer at a lower rate. This breakthrough allow massive improvement in global standard of living. However, it is important to note that the distribution of these food products determines the extent of its effectiveness in tacking global issues. As mentioned in class: "There's enough on this planet for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed." - Mahatma Ghandhi

One of the few key takeaways from this lesson would be the solutions available in ending world hunger. The advancements in bio-tech allow room for development in tackling starvation. However, it is dissapointing knowing that the developing countries still struggle in dealing with this issue. The technological disparity prevent these crops from reaching the people who need it most. I personally believe that the investments made on biotech would reap tons of benefits. Despite the environmental and ethical concerns raised, the benefits can actually outweigh the cost. It would be interesting if Prof actually delved into the concerns raised, and the potential costs involved. 

Overall, I rate this lesson an 8/10. 

How technology affect the development of print journalism in America and the rest of the world

Title: How technology affect the development of print journalism in America and the rest of the world

Content Page:

 1.  Executive Summary

2. Introduction

2.1  Communication Technology and Print Journalism

2.2  Print Journalism Industry In America

3.  Historical Perspective

3.1  America In The Past

3.2  Print Journalism Before 1990s

3.3  History Of American Print Journalism

4. Present Situation

4.1  News Media Business Trend

4.2  Transition To The Web

4.3  Current State of American Print Journalism Industry

4.4  Case Study: New York Times

5. Conclusion

6. Future Considerations

7. Bibliography

Executive Summary 

With the rise of digital technology, dissemination of news and news media changed tremendously in the last few years. This change brought about trepidations regarding the role of journalists and the quality of information presented. In turn, there have been alterations made to the motivations of professional news organizations. Despite the increased platforms for the dissemination of information, the content provided has been hallowed out. As people of all age are living much of their media life online, advertising revenue is making a shift towards online news while classified advertising are migrating from print newspapers to the web. Large reductions are made to the number of staff and amount of salary provided by newspaper corporations. With dwindling percentage of readers, many of the newspapers corporations are struggling to break even or maintain a single digit profit. There have been a growing number of talented and experienced journalists of a certain age, facing difficulty in finding an avenue to report news. 

This report examines the impact of massive technological developments and emerging popularity of new media, on the progress of print journalism on the global scale; with focus placed on newspaper organizations from United States of America (USA). In this case, print journalism refers to the practice of reporting, photographing, or editing news stories for newspapers or magazines. The advancement in technology allows an instantaneous and convenient access to a wide spectrum of information. Never in the history of mankind has so much of news been so easily accessible and retrievable in so many ways. As society becomes increasingly reliant on the use of new media, there have been irrevocable changes made to the broadcast of news, while the presence of professional news organization becomes increasingly insignificant. In America, the newspaper industry becomes one of the fastest-shrinking industries while online publishing industries experience a relative increment in market share. 

This report will provide a broad landscape on the current state of the print industry on the global scale and in America. With a chronological structure, the report will deliver a historical perspective on the print industry before 1990s, where new media was relatively undeveloped and the use of traditional media was widespread. The report will then cover the present situation faced by modern publication bodies. Lastly, conclusion will be made before an analysis on the future of print industry, where possible challenges and solutions will be brought up.

Introduction

2.1 Communication Technology and Print Journalism

Communication refers to the sharing of information and ideas. The advancements in communication technology facilitate the distribution of knowledge and news. With the ever-changing attribute of technology, communication technology of today experience rapid evolution since the invention of first practical telephone by Alexander Graham Bell on 1897. The use of digital communication is prevalent as the line separating reality and virtual world starts to blur. The use of emails, one of the initial modes of digital communication is beginning to be displaced. The use of digital communication allows instantaneous and convenient exchange, hence redefining methods of communication. The speed and quantity of communication created a qualitatively different communication medium- instead of sending information less often, less information is sent more often. The amalgamation of internet and communication allow almost immediate reachability, especially with the invention of smartphones and tablets. The rapid spread of these gadgets on a global scale significantly influences the dissemination of information and news, which undeniably impact the progress of print journalism.

The presence of newspapers and magazines are dwindling, as society becomes increasingly technological driven. Many say that the ultimate demise of the daily paper will occur in a matter of time. The circulation of newspaper is dropping while display and classified advertising revenue dries up. The industry experienced unprecedented wave of layoffs as various publication firms are forced into bankruptcy. It is important for the various professional news organizations to adapt to the technological developments in order to maintain sustainable business. As more people consume news online, news organizations face the dilemma of reallocating resources to attract new readers and viewers while maintaining the existing, and usually aging, print or broadcast audiences. However, online revenues for most news media still make up a small fraction of the total income from traditional print or broadcast.  Generally, newspaper firms typically generate 10 percent or less of total revenues from online operations (although the Los Angeles Times reported in late 2008 that online income was enough to pay for the paper's entire print and online news staffs). Similarly, magazines spawn less than 10 percent of their revenue from their digital operations according to an Advertising Age survey of 2008 revenues. As such, financial viability for newspapers and most magazines, at least for now, requires retaining as many existing print readers as possible. At the same time, it is important to note the existing trend: consumers, especially the younger generation, access the Internet in order to receive news updates. 

2.2 Print Journalism Industry in America

According to the Newspaper Association of America’s research, almost 50 million Americans purchase a newspaper and nearly 117million read one daily. Despite millions of readers, it is a widely known fact that the newspaper industry in America is declining at an alarming rate. Today, the revenue of American newspaper industry, as a whole, is smaller when compared to the revenue generated by Google. The future of newspapers has been widely debated as the industry faced soaring newsprint prices, slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation. In recent years the number of newspapers slated for closure, bankruptcy or severe cutbacks has risen, where the industry has shed a fifth of its journalists since 2001. Revenue has plunged while competition from internet media has squeezed older print publishers. Meanwhile, there are nearly 10,000 different magazines available in the U.S. today. 

The revenue streams that newspapers counted on to subsidize their product have changed irrevocably: in 2008, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, more people in the United States got their news for free on the internet than paid for it by buying a newspaper or magazine. "With newspapers entering bankruptcy even as their audience grows, the threat is not just to the companies that own them, but also the news itself," observed writer David Carr of The New York Times in a January 2009 column. As shown by the figure above, the newspaper industry have shed a larger percentage of jobs than any other industry in America over the past five years, losing more than 28 percent of its jobs during that time.

Historical Perspective

3.1  America In The Past

Leaving newspapers free to perform this function was considered significant enough by the first Congress that they specifically protected it in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1791, which, among its other guarantors of free expression, prohibits Congress from passing any law "abridging the freedom...of the press." In 1787 Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote, "...were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

3.2  Print Journalism Before 1990s
The 1990s is often considered the true dawn of the Information Age. Though info-age technologies predate the 1980s, it was not until the late 1980s and the 1990s that they became widely used by the general public.

The invention of the movable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1456, led to the wide dissemination of printed. The earliest newspaper to date is published in the 17th century Europe when printed periodicals began rapidly to replace the practice of hand-writing newssheets.
During the 17^th century, the early newspaper featured items from all over Europe and occasionally America or Asia. But with very few exceptions (mostly in Holland), they never reported any news about the country in which they were printed. Print shops were tightly regulated; in most countries they required government licenses to print; and they could be quickly shut down if they printed anything that offended the authorities. Europe's rulers allowed them to print newspapers as long as these papers did not presume to discuss any local or national issues or events.

The first major change in this arrangement came in the years before the outbreak of the English Civil War. As Parliament, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, struggled with King Charles I, national news suddenly assumed a new importance, and newspapers, liberated by the breakdown in the king's authority, began to feel free enough to discuss it. The first English newspaper to attempt to report on national news was a sedate little weekly entitled, The Heads of Severall Proceedings In This Present Parliament, which appeared in November 1641. This paper soon had a number of competitors.

The idea of freedom of the press was articulated with great eloquence in England 1644 by John Milton in his Areopagitica, which, however, was concerned primarily with books and took little notice of these scruffy, little weekly newspapers. Nevertheless, these newspapers, among the first in the world to escape government control, were conducting an important experiment in what a free press might do.

By the early 19th century, many cities in Europe, as well as North and South America, published newspaper-type publications though not all of them developed in the same way; content was vastly shaped by regional and cultural preferences. Advances in printing technology related to the Industrial Revolution enabled newspapers to become an even more widely circulated means of communication. In 1814, The Times (London) acquired a printing press capable of making 1,100 impressions per minute. It was soon adapted to print on both sides of a page at once. This innovation made newspapers cheaper and thus available to a larger part of the population.

3.3 History Of American Print Journalism

The history of American newspapers begins in the early 18th century with the publication of the first colonial newspapers. Interestingly enough, the history of journalism in America is inextricably intertwined with the history of the country itself. The first newspaper in the American colonies - Benjamin Harris's Public Occurrences both Foreign and Domestic - was published in 1690 but immediately shut down for not having a required license. Harris' newspaper employed an early form of reader participation. The paper was printed on three sheets of stationery-size paper and the fourth page was left blank so that readers could add their own news, and then pass it on to someone else.

Growth Of Newspaper Over The Years

Many newspapers of the time were not objective or neutral in tone like the modern papers published. Rather, they were fiercely partisan publications that editorialized against the tyranny of the British government, which in turn did its best to crack down on the press.

 The 1800s

There were already several hundred newspapers in the U.S. by 1800, and that number would grow dramatically as the century wore on. Early on, papers were still very political and partisan in tone, but gradually they started to become more than simply mouthpieces for their publishers. Newspapers were also growing as an industry. In 1833 Benjamin Day opened the New York Sun and created the "Penny Press." Day's cheap papers, filled with sensational content and aimed at a working class audience, were a huge hit. With huge increases in circulation and larger printing presses to meet the demand, newspapers became a mass medium. This period also saw the establishment of more prestigious newspapers that had begun to incorporate the kinds of journalistic standards that we know today. One such paper, started in 1851 by George Jones and Henry Raymond, made a point of featuring quality reporting and writing. The named paper refers to The New York Daily Times, which later became The New York Times. By 1990, the United States had 1,611 general-circulation daily newspapers - 14 percent fewer than it had in 1940, before the arrival of television.

  Present Situation

  

4.1  News Media Business Trend

With the news industry struggling to find new revenue streams that can reshape their broken business model, efforts are made to monetize news media. This will also include content that is guided more than ever by the audience and revenue generated by adverts

Social Media Monetization
With the advancement in digital technology, emerging business models now includes social media monetization. As advertisers become increasingly comfortable and receptive with advertising in social media, newspaper publication firms are now making a transition to the web. Some news organizations have already experimented with social ads. Robert Quigley, social media editor at the Austin American-Statesman, claimed to have sparked mixed reactions from followers, after venturing to twitter ads. The Huffington Post is also providing sale of tweets to advertisers.

Revenue beyond Advertising
Instead of diving into social capital, it is also important for news organizations to diversify their source of revenue. Paul Bradshaw, course director of the MA Online Journalism program at Birmingham City University, said in 2010, news organizations need to at least adapt to the "measurability, customizability and personalization of advertising."
Some news organizations are already beginning to reshape their structures in a way that erases the line between advertising and editorial division. In fact, online advertising is not predicted to overtake the market share of newspapers until 2015. Perhaps rethinking advertising altogether and looking for additional services, value, or products to sell may be a new approach to remain sustainable in the future.

Fold of Publication Corporations
The closing down of the very publication that covers the print industry, Editor & Publisher, display clear indication of the state of news media organisation today. Though advertising is facing stabilization, budgets cuts are made towards print publications. As such, more print publications are forced into bankruptcy or make direct transition to the web- running their business online-only. However, at the same time, it is important to note that the closing down of some publications allow other new publication to tap on the market share. In 2009, there were 428 magazines that stopped publishing, while 275 new ones launched. Those that make it through this downturn will be poised to rebuild leaner and meaner –- investing in the future of digital news rather than simply hoping it fades away like a bad trend.

Growth in Local and Community Models
The fall in market share forces many traditional and regional news organization’s to face cutbacks in staff, and in some cases closures. As such, local and community-based models and start-ups will look to fill the gap in content. In fact, some local publication models have done relatively well in comparison to professional news organizations. This is made evident by the launch of many various local online news start-ups from the big Texas Tribune to the smaller Oakland Local, often relying on grants or funding from wealthy donors. Oakland Local, which is a blend of building community with a focus on using technology to gather and report news experience great success. The highly entrepreneurial and community-driven with tech expertise attribute of this website allow steady increase in readers and consumers.
Furthermore, there is a growth in local advertising. Borrell Associates predicts growth in local online ad. This growth will continue in the near future. Even large news organizations like CNN taps on this potential market by investing money into local aggregator content sites.

Fall in price wall

With the availability of the Internet, various information of every kind is now available with a mere click on the search engine. As such, news organizations that implemented the idea of putting up pay walls experience a decrement in traffic. This is made evident when Newsday implement a price tag to their information: Unique visitors declined just 21% from October (the pay wall went up October 28) to November. But page views declined more, dropping 34%. The readers that do end up paying for content online will be loyal and few.

According to Gina Chen, a Ph. D. communications student at Syracuse and blogger on the news industry, news organizations that put up pay walls may flounder and die and those that don’t will be forced to innovate new ways to make money. The future for news organizations will have less to do with relevant and up-to-date news. Instead, information is filtered and selectively published to feed consumer demand. This in turn, creates a sense of community among the readers.

4.2  Transition To The Web

Newspaper circulation has been in decline for many years, but the drop accelerated in 2007 and even more rapidly through the recession. While the Internet is widely cited for the drop-off, the lower circulation figures have resulted in part from a conscious decision by publishers to focus on the most loyal and profitable readers, often raising prices and limiting discounts. The Web is now the sole distribution channel for newspapers that can no longer afford to publish hard copy  and those that don’t follow the best practices of social media may see their brands marginalized in cyberspace as well.

            Newspaper Site

While print journalism continues to experience marginal reduction in market share, newspaper readership continues to thrive. In order to reach out to the wider audience base, various newspaper publication firms set up an online website which provides online users with news and latest information at zero charges. The rest of the quality sector has grown immensely thanks to the internet. More people now read The Guardian online than buy the newspaper, with the online audience adding 119 per cent to the monthly readership. The Daily Telegraph's audience has grown by 97.5 per cent with the addition of its website readers and The Independent's by 70.2 per cent. Websites increased the total UK audience of the quality press by 49 per cent by bringing in readers that do not read the print products. Unlike the traditional media, online websites allow professional news organisations to provide credible and original information instantaneously with convenience and easy access on the reader’s part.

Social Media Frenzy

Social media has changed journalism. Social journalism, an extension of those practices, is now an essential component of any news organization’s strategy.
Citizen journalists post photos of fast-breaking events, and cover stories from a different angle than legacy news organizations, but it’s the premeditated watchdog or advocacy role that defines a social journalist. Another factor is the network effect: people using social media to communicate and collaboratively produce content. Editors are still important, but the pieces are shaped by crowd dynamics and the velocity of information. For journalists and news organizations, social networks provide an opportunity for connecting with people, distributing news stories and complementing news coverage with feeds from social media. Professional news organizations can now create pages on social networks, such as a fan page on Facebook. This page act as a platform for these organisations to alert readers to important news stories the news organization has published or post other items of interest to its followers. In fact, news firms can set up their own social networks, to facilitate a sense of community which encourages consumer loyalty and brand devotion among readers. Social networks are great for generating conversations among people about stories. Many news media have found that the volume of reader comments on a story posted on Facebook can exceed comments posted on the news organization's website. In addition, reporters can join the networks formed on social media, providing a platform for interaction. As such, reporters can converse with readers and showcase their stories thus developing personal brands their written work.

There is marginal increase in the number of consumers feeding the current information and news through the use of social networks. Only 27 percent of American adults regularly or sometimes get news or news headlines through social networking sites, according to a report by the Pew Research Center released in September 2011. The number increased to 38 percent for people fewer than 30. Social networks are driving an increasing percentage of the traffic to news sites, beginning to rival search engines like Google as sources of referrals to news stories. Facebook reported that the average media site saw referral traffic from Facebook more than double in 2010. News websites got 9 percent of their traffic from social media such as Facebook and Twitter in 2011, about a 57 percent increase over 2009, according to the State of the News Media 2012 report on digital news by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Some have even speculated that social networks will supplant news websites as the place where people get news. One online news site, Rockville Central in Maryland, decided in early 2011 to stop publication of its website and instead publish entirely on a Facebook page.

Furthermore, the widespread use of social media change the way news has been published. News organizations also need to do more than just post links to stories on Facebook or services like Twitter. Instead the postings need to be more informal and conversational, while providing commentary on the news. Also, reader participation is encouraged as journalists question readers and seeks suggestions for stories or story angles to pursue. Adding to that, a quality photo to a posting also significantly increases reader responses, such as likes or comments.

4.3  Current State of American Print Journalism Industry

 It is widely known that America's newspapers are suffering from declining readership and circulation. In many cases, this is occurring due to the availability of alternative forms of news and the changing habits of Americans. Despite the growing population and affluence of the United States, many newspapers continue to suffer from declining or stagnant circulation. In 2000, daily newspaper circulation reached a low of 0.20 newspapers per capita, down from 0.30 in 1970. Fierce competition from cable channels, network television, radio, and the Internet continues to cut into newspapers' market share and circulation. Although advertising revenues continue to grow, their growth has generally been slow. The boom years of the 1990s reversed this trend to some extent, but the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States accelerated an already-existing economic slowdown and led to major declines in ad lineage and advertising revenues across the country. One positive result of the attacks, and the subsequent military response to the attacks by the United States, has been an increase in circulation, in both long-term subscriptions and daily single-copy sales. However, even this interest-driven increase was slowing as of the summer of 2002.The general trend of the United States press over most of the twentieth century was toward consolidation, chain or corporate ownership, and newspaper monopolies in most towns and cities. In 2001, only 49 U.S. cities had competing daily newspapers. Of those 49 cities, 16 had two nominally competitive newspapers owned by the same company. Another 12 cities had competing newspapers published under joint operating agreements, an exemption to antitrust laws allowing two struggling newspapers to combine all operations outside their respective newsrooms. Only 21 U.S. cities, therefore, had true competition among daily newspapers. Of those cities, five—Tucson, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Seattle—had more than two competing daily newspapers, leaving 16 cities with only two competing newspapers. This number represents a massive decline from newspapers' height in the late nineteenth century, when nearly every rural town and county seat might have had two or three competing daily and weekly papers, and larger cities might have had up to 20 or 30 papers.The number of newspapers in the United States has continued to shrink, even as the country has experienced substantial growth in population, affluence, and literacy.

The Internet and the prevalence of free news sites, including newspaper sites, are often credited with playing a major role in the problems experienced by the newspaper industry. Research clearly shows that America's newspapers are generally embracing the Internet and are using new and improving Web tools to their advantage.

The United States leads the world both in the number and in the diversity of Internet news sites operated in any country. Many newspapers, excluding television and radio stations, operate Internet sites that have the capability of providing streaming video and audio to consumers, but many of those consumers still have Internet access only through a modem, which has a relatively slow connection speed. The growth of broadband connections to the Internet, either through digital subscriber lines or through cable connections, has been slowed by the recession and needs to pick up speed before technical innovations can be used to their full advantage by media organizations. In the early days of the Internet, many newspapers experimented with a revenue model that asked readers to subscribe to a site to get access privileges. For the most part, newspapers quickly dropped that idea when they realized that the same information many people were interested in was available for free on other sites. Particularly with regard to national or breaking news, the existence of even one site offering an Associated Press story for free was enough to draw consumers away from a subscription site, and most newspapers simply cannot offer enough unique local content to justify the price of a subscription.

However, there are few exceptions to this trend. For example, The Wall Street Journal 's Internet site,  has been able to continue charging a subscription fee because of its unique content and the value that it holds for people interested in business and the stock market. The site was also one of the first, and likely still one of the only, online newspaper sites to turn a profit for the company that operates it. It is also worth noting that the site, unlike many so-called "online newspapers," has its own editorial staff, including reporters, columnists, and editors, who produce unique content for the Internet that sometimes spills over into the printed Journal —unlike most newspaper sites, in which part of the daily paper's content may get "shoveled" over to the Internet site, but without any extra work or efforts to make the content more suited to the Web.

The downfall of the subscription model left newspaper companies somewhat at a loss for ways to create revenue online. Many publishers initially balked at providing stories free online that people had to pay for in the print edition. However, the growth of advertising on the Internet mitigated that concern to an extent. Many publishers came to believe that the model for an online site would end up looking more like a "shopper" newspaper, which is thrown for free and makes its revenue solely from advertising, rather than that of a standard subscription paper. The frustrating complication that papers have confronted is a massive lack of success in coming up with a revenue model for online advertising that takes into account both cost and the number of "views" an advertisement gets. Ordinary papers, of course, charge for ads on a relatively well organized basis, based on the number of subscriptions they can legally claim. The theory is that each paper sold translates into a certain number of people viewing an ad. Online advertisers, by contrast, are unwilling to accept "page views" as evidence that an ad has been viewed and have pushed for a "click-through" model for pricing, for ads that direct a consumer to a company's Web site. The ultimate end of this debate remains to be seen.

In addition, the growth of online classified ads has not been as quick or lucrative as some newspapers could have hoped. Online classifieds were immediately trumpeted as the most lucrative source of revenue newspapers could hope to get, and publishers had visions of offering classified ad buyers access to the world, instead of just a single city, with their buy. However, online classifieds have begun to show some modest growth and have become especially useful for people moving from one city to another. Some newspaper sites have applied this model to their online archives, charging consumers a fee for searching and downloading past content. These sites generally give users a certain amount of content for free—basic stories, photo galleries, and breaking news, for example. "Premuim" content, including streaming video and audio, special columns or reports, and archives of columns, is then available by subscription only.

The real problems that Internet newspapers have to overcome in the future are partially technological, as with issues related to making Internet publication an easy and quick process for even small newspapers, and partly cultural.

4.4  Case Study

The New York Times (NYT) is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 108 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Its website is the most popular American newspaper website, receiving more than 30 million unique visitors per month.

Although the print version of the paper remains the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States, it is the third largest newspaper overall, behind The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and its weekday circulation has fallen since 1990 (as have other newspapers) to fewer than one million copies daily.

The New York Times has had a strong presence on the Web since 1996, and has been ranked one of the top Web sites. Accessing some articles requires registration, though this could be bypassed in some cases through Times RSS feeds. The website had 555 million pageviews in March 2005. The domain nytimes.com attracted at least 146 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study. The New York Times Web site ranks 59th by number of unique visitors, with over 20 million unique visitors in March 2009 making it the most visited newspaper site with more than twice the number of unique visitors as the next most popular site. Also, as of May 2009, nytimes.com produced 22 of the 50 most popular newspaper blogs.

In September 2005, the paper decided to begin subscription-based service for daily columns in a program known as TimesSelect, which encompassed many previously free columns. Until being discontinued two years later, TimesSelect cost $7.95 per month or $49.95 per year, though it was free for print copy subscribers and university students and faculty. In order to counter the paid subscription of the paper, bloggers often repost TimesSelect material, and at least one site once compiled links of reprinted material. On September 17, 2007, The New York Times announced that it would stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight the following day, reflecting a growing view in the industry that subscription fees cannot outweigh the potential ad revenue from increased traffic on a free site.

The New York Times was known for their flexibility to changing trends and technological advancements. The Times Reader is a digital version of The New York Times. This is the creation from the collaboration made between the newspaper and Microsoft. Times Reader takes the principles of print journalism and applies them to the technique of online reporting. Times Reader uses a series of technologies developed by Microsoft and their Windows Presentation Foundation team.

In 2008, The New York Times created an app for the iPhone and iPod touch which allowed users to download articles to their mobile device enabling them to read the paper even when they were unable to receive a signal. In April 2010, The New York Times announced it will begin publishing daily content through an iPad app. As of October 2010, The New York Times iPad app is ad-supported and available for free without a paid subscription, but translated into a subscription-based model in 2011. In 2010, the New York Times also launched an App for Android smartphones.

The New York Times was also the first newspaper to offer a video game as part of its editorial content, Food Import Folly by Persuasive Games. In addition The New York Times is in the process of digitalising their old editions.

In order to reach out to wider consumer base in the competitive and cut-throat industry, The New York Times introduced a Chinese-language news site by June 2012. With content created by staff based in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, cn.nytimes.com server was placed outside of China to avoid censorship issues. The New York Times also reached out to Russian readers by launching a special project in February 2008. Through this, some Times articles covering the broad spectrum of political and social topics in Russia are being translated into Russian and offered for the attention of Russia's bloggers in The New York Times community blog. After that, selected responses of Russian bloggers are being translated into English and published at The New York Times site among comments from English readers.

Facing falling print advertising revenue and projections of continued decline, a pay wall was instituted in 2011 which, as of March, 2012, was modestly successful, garnering several hundred thousand subscriptions and about $100 million in revenue. The pay wall was announced on March 17, 2011, that starting on March 28, 2011 (March 17, 2011 for Canada), it would charge frequent readers for access to its online content. Readers would be able to access up to 20 articles each month without charge. (Although beginning in April, 2012, the number of free-access articles was halved to just 10 articles per month.) Any reader who wanted to access more would have to pay for a digital subscription. This plan would allow free access for occasional readers, but produce revenue from "heavy" readers. Depending on the package selected digital subscriptions rates for four weeks range from $15 to $35. Subscribers to the print edition of the newspaper would get full access without any additional fee. Some content, such as the front page and the section fronts will remain free, as well as the top News page on mobile app.

5.  Conclusion

The challenges facing the print journalism industry are not limited to the United States, or even English-speaking markets. The threat to print journalism is occurring on a global scale. "With newspapers entering bankruptcy even as their audience grows, the threat is not just to the companies that own them, but also the news itself," observed writer David Carr of The New York Times in a January 2009 column

Most of the credible and original news reporting is still produced by journalists working out of newspaper news room. However, too many of these newspaper publication firms have been hallowed out with their news staffs and content reduced. The newspaper companies of today may be surviving the downward spiral of the industry for now, but the news most communities need is disappearing.  The future of most influential professional news organisations is the future of qualified news staffs- that can produce original and independent credible news reporting regardless of where or how it is published.

Of course there are now many millions of bloggers, freelance journalists and ordinary citizens posting content on a myriad places over the web- every single day. These groups of people do surface information or current news that might not come to life. The blogosphere now disseminate news that is originally produced by the staffs of newspapers or other professional news organisations. The scrutiny by bloggers and other news organisations in their content and credibility has made them more accountable and responsible for their news reporting than ever before. However, bloggers and citizen journalists are only able to produce a relatively limited amount of reliable and original reporting even at the local level. This is because, the content published is often influenced and distorted by the opinion and biasness discourse on the internet. At the end of the day, original and dependent viable and credible news reporting are best done by journalists working under professional collaboration with standards for accuracy and fairness, despite the mistakes they sometimes make. Particularly important is their ability to commit in-depth and investigative reporting that holds powerful account that eliminates issues so citizens can address them. 

As such, it is important for the surviving newspaper publication firms to adapt to the ever-changing attribute of the technologically-driven society of today. Taking The New York Times as a case study, it is essential for these organisations to come up with solutions that will cater to the needs and changing demands of readers. The sustainability of their business is only possible through adjusting to the technological advancements achieved. Furthermore, adopting a flexible business model that will fit the progresses of the modern world can act as a comparative advantage for these firms. 

6. Future Implications

The increasing use of the internet's search function, primarily through large engines such as Google, has also changed the habits of readers. Instead of pursuing general interest publications, such as newspapers, readers are more likely to seek particular writers, blogs or sources of information through targeted searches, rendering the agglomeration of newspapers increasingly irrelevant.

The ability to disseminate information was restricted to those with printing presses or broadcast mechanisms. Internet has enabled thousands of individual commentators to communicate directly with others through blogs or instant message services.  Even open journalism projects like Wikipedia have contributed to the reordering of the media landscape, as readers are no longer restricted to established print organs for information.

But even as pixels replace print, and as newspapers undergo massive changes, necessitating deep cutbacks, reallocation of remaining reporters, and the slashing of decades-old overhead, some observers remain optimistic. With time, the broadcast of news may be timelier, more topical and more flexible. Making those technological changes work for them, instead of against them, will decide whether newspapers remain vital – or road kill on the information superhighway.

Incentives to Readers

In order prevent content from being consumed online; publishers have to continue encouraging the purchase of newspapers. This can be done by offering incentives to buy the print version. At Le Monde, the online content is only a limited version of what they publish in their print version. Therefore, readers will be forced to buy one from a local newsstand if they want full access to the content published. Print firms can also lure audience with discounted issues that comes with a subscription. As such, print will need to find innovative and effective marketing techniques. 

Ultimately, the future of print journalism may bear little resemblance to the newsprint edition familiar to older readers. It may become a hybrid, part-print and part-internet, or perhaps eventually, as has happened with several newspapers, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Christian Science Monitor, internet only. Critics argued that modern newspapers may appear visually different from their predecessors, in many ways, newspapers of today differs and failed to keep pace with changes in society. The technology revolution has meant that readers accustomed to waiting for daily newspaper published can now receive up-to-the-minute updates from web portals, bloggers and new services such as Twitter. This allows frequent updates for users, especially the more affluent, an audience cultivated by advertisers. In the meantime, the transition from the printed page to whatever comes next will likely be fraught with challenges, both for the newspaper industry and for its consumers. As succeeding generations grow up with the Web and become increasingly reliant on technology, print journalism loses its significance. Thus, print journalism industry can thrive despite technological advancements when appropriate strategies are implemented to allow these firms to earn relatively higher revenue than ever before.