The Newspaper Industry And Journalism In Transition

Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Industry History; (3) Industry Conditions: Industry Cost Cutting: Key to Survival?; Declining Advertising Revenues, Recession, and the Internet; Other Factors; Alternative News Sources; (4) Rise of the Web; (5) Interdependence: Searching for New Business Models; Non-profits; (6) Public Policy Issues; (7) Congressional Action: Industry Proposals; Supporting the General Practice of Journalism. Charts and tables.

The U.S. newspaper industry is suffering through what could be its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Advertising revenues are plummeting due to the severe economic downturn, while readership habits are changing as consumers turn to the Internet for free news and information. Some major newspapers chains are burdened by heavy debt loads. In the past year, seven major newspaper chains have declared bankruptcy, several big city papers have shut down, and many have laid off reporters and editors, imposed pay reductions, cut the size of the physical newspaper, or turned to Web-only publication. As the problems intensify, there are growing concerns that the rapid decline of the newspaper industry will impact civic and social life. This book examines the transitional shift of the newspaper industry and journalism, in general, and the impacts this change will have on American democracy.

This book tells the story of modern-day newspapers by exploring the digital transition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune as a microcosm of the industry. The book shows what news organizations, journalists, news consumers, and professionals can learn about the future of the global newspaper industry.

The 21st century has already seen dramatic changes affecting both journalism and politics. The rise of a range of new digital and networked communication technologies combined with the stagnation and decline of many traditional mass media has had a profound impact on political journalism. The arrival of new digital media has affected the ways in which political actors communicate with the public, with or without journalists as intermediaries. Newspapers that once held political leaders to account are now struggling to survive; broadcasters that once gathered whole nations for the evening news are now fighting for relevance faced with innumerable new competitors on cable and digital television; online-only media, such as blogs and social networking sites, are changing how we communicate about politics. News media remain central to political processes, but the ways in which journalists and politicians interact are changing. This book examines how and provides a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the state of political journalism in Western Europe today, including the many challenges facing journalists in this important period of transition.

The media industry is undergoing an accelerated pace of change, driven in large part by the proliferation of digital platforms. In many cases, the speed of adoption has exceeded our ability to process the impact of these changes on individuals and society at large. This book provides a “behind-the-scenes” look at the media industry’s transition into the digital era and examines its impact on marketing, advertising, innovation and other economic and social activities. The impact of digital technologies on traditional media sectors, such as advertising, video games, film and television is well-documented. Less understood is its effect on our perceptions, thought processes and inter-personal relationships. Social media, for example, represents a fundamental change in the ways we interact with media, communicate with each other and even present ourselves to the world. This has shaped the way we communicate with institutions and brands. Similar to the first “Transitioned Media” book, Transitioned Media: A Turning Point into the Digital Realm, this book combines media industry leaders and academics to explore various transformative trends and issues. Themes include measuring cross-platform behaviour, artificial intelligence in journalism, the evolution of video games, digital media and physical space, the mobile use trends, social media and the corporate world, the changes in the television and newspaper business and the evolving relationship between advertisers and target audiences. The varied backgrounds of contributors and array of topics make for a unique and insightful point of view.

Journalism, what happened? In the last decade, the industry and the profession have been rocked to the core. Newspapers as consumer product are as ripe for comic mocking and satire as are the techniques of the journalism profession. The contemporary death and life of journalism is the story of an historic cultural transition. We have lived through the end of the mass-media era and the beginning of the networked-media era. We took in news one way for a century and we simply don't do it like that anymore. Networked: A Contemporary History of News in Transition examines this moment in journalism, the conditions that brought it about and the characteristics that have shaped it and will shape its future. In crafting this sophisticated yet accessible study, new-media scholar Adrienne Russell draws on personal interviews with journalists and analysts at the center of the shift, examines innovative and revealing digital news projects, and underlines larger cultural changes that reflect the new news reality. Networked also examines emergent journalism practices that suggest the forces at work and the stakes involved in developments we have all experienced but, caught up in the rush of change, have had limited perspective to interpret.