Paper prepared for the Future of Journalism Conference, Cardiff, September 2011 Newspapers, particularly in the Western world, have seen paid circulation decline in the last decade. Online news is abundantly available, but at the same time newspapers – in print and online - often serve as sources for other media. Their position is definitely weaker than before, but it would be an exaggeration to write their obituary right now. In this research we track the significance of newspapers in 160 countries worldwide by calculating how many people use daily newspapers and how this changed over the last decade. We compare countries and continents, and distinguish between paid and free newspapers. Results show that newspapers are particularly significant – with more than 50% of the population reading a newspaper on a daily basis - in sixteen countries in Europe (mainly in Nordic and Western Europe) and ten countries in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Macau and some Gulf states). Most African, Asian and South American countries show a very low penetration of newspapers. Free dailies, however, have increased the presence of newspapers in Europe and some Asian and American countries. When shifts over the years are analyzed, the decline of newspapers mainly shows in Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand although newspapers are still very well read in those areas. In Asia newspaper penetration has increased over the last decade. Latin America shows a stable penetration with population growing fast. In Africa there are only two copies of newspapers distributed per 100 inhabitants, a number that has not changed over the last decade.
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Whereas most continents see circulation of newspapers drop, Latin America is one of the few areas in the world with rising newspaper circulation. A substantial part of this rise is caused by the introduction of free newspapers in a dozen countries on the continent. We map this development, discuss possible reasons for the rapid growth and try to answer whether this introduction has substitution effects on paid newspapers. The growth of this new format is most probably caused by economic growth while we conclude that substitution is low, meaning that free dailies serve a new reading audience in Latin America
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In The Guardian, Alan Rushbridger compared the future of newspapers to climate change. Five years ago, many climatologists were sceptical whether climate change was a real and serious issue. Today, most scientists agree that global warm ing is a fact of life. In the world of newspapers, at present, almost everyone agrees that the traditional, particularly quality, newspapers are facing huge problems. The blog ‘Print is dead’ chose a fitting title for Rushbridger’s article: Print is dead: an inconvenient truth. Another traditional icon of the information society, the public library, is facing similar problems as the newspaper industry. The information function, the core business of the library, is under threat. People tend to use search engines at home instead of visiting and accessing the (virtual) library and ask for professional advice. It is important to note that these search engines are more and more driven by commercial interests than by a genuine concern of quality information. Ranking algorithms are more beauty contests and quality stamps. (Local) governments tend to demand more and more new social services included in the library. Commercial publishers’ concerns are understandable. In the United States and Europe the world of the press faces a real crisis, and the battle to survive is a race against the clock. Newspapers, especially the quality press, will only survive if they can persuade the audience of generation Z to read them on the Web. Failure to do this will signal their demise. We will discuss the tensions in this field by addressing the mutual relationships between the stock market driven economic business model and the traditional characteristics of quality journalism as well as the cultural changes in consuming news stories and analyses in print and on the web. The key question is: how these societal tendencies will affect the quality of information consumed by the public and hence the public quality of discourse? This paper aims to address both issues by asking whether quality is really under siege and to what extent can the new, convergent media improve the quality of the information society by fostering the interaction of the roles of journalists and librarians. In the new world of journalism and librarianship both will prove their roles and functions by engagement, enrichment, empowerment and entertainment for both readers and library users.
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Paper presented at Diversity of Journalisms. ECREA Journalism Studies Section and 26th International Conference of Communication (CICOM) The launch of more than 300 free daily newspapers worldwide during the last 15 years defies the idea that newspaper markets are impossible to penetrate. Although a third of papers closed down in the last ten years, newspaper circulation in most countries with free newspapers is actually higher than before their entry. Readership analysis of free newspapers shows that these papers have a younger audience than paid newspapers, contradicting the notion that young people don’t read newspapers anymore.
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What is the impact of blogging, either by journalists or readers, on journalism? Do entries on readers' blogs lead to stories for professional journalists and how is the work of a blogging journalist influenced by the fact that he or she nowadays has a second publication platform and is more in contact with readers through the blog? We conducted content analyses of blogs and interviewed professional and amateur bloggers with blogs on Dutch national and local newspaper websites as well as editors who are responsible for the blogs on the websites. Newspapers employ different strategies when it comes to allowing either journalists or readers to blog on their newspaper websites. Local papers seem to profit most when it comes to getting story leads, or even scoops, from readers' blogs. Blogs on national newspapers' websites function more as personal diaries for the bloggers. The blogs by journalists and invited experts seem to flourish more on national papers' websites. There is also a difference in the 'directions' that bloggers get. With a stricter policy, mostly meaning that off-topic entries are discouraged, readers' blogs are more focused and are more valuable for journalists looking for news.
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Turkey has received consistent criticism from international media for having many naturalized athletes in its national squad, both in the Olympic Games and other major international sporting events. Similar criticisms have also been a feature of debates for a long time in domestic media, varying in views toward these athletes. This research focuses on media representations of naturalized athletes in Turkey between 2008 and 2020. We investigated the sentiments of news items from four major Turkish newspapers (Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Sabah and Fanatik) on their stances toward naturalized athletes over the timespan of 2008–2020. Beside analyzing the sentiment of the media content both cumulatively and fragmentedly, we also identified the yearly trends and most featured sports in this context, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. Our findings showed that sentiments in Turkish media toward naturalized athletes are mostly neutral and negative as well as with differences varying on the basis of the newspapers and news item types. The most criticism underlined pursuing “shortcut” success with naturalized athletes representing Turkey in the international arena. Among the featured sports, basketball, football, and track and field have been the most discussed ones in the naturalization context.
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Regional news media are facing tough times, as they lose readers and advertisers rapidly. In The Netherlands, circulation decreased from 2.7 million in 1990 to 1.8 million in 2010, household penetration declined from 47 percent to 25 percent, and the number of titles went down from 35 to 18 in the same period. We interviewed managers and executives (2009 - 2010) of nine of the eighteen regional newspapers in The Netherlands, to analyse if and how they consider convergence (the transition to an integrated newsroom) a significant option to regain readers and advertisers. This study is part of a research project on the potential (long-term) consequences of convergence for the organizational structure, the work procedures, journalistic quality, and business models of regional news media. Our first results show that convergence is, indeed, embraced as a solution. However, views on how to approach the new market for online news through an integrated newsroom differ significantly. Management tends to operate safely, experimenting with small projects that can be discontinued easily, while editors and journalists on the work floor wish to invest heavily in both the education of employees and technical convergence on a more structural basis. In its examination of how convergence is strategically and operationally changing regional media in The Netherlands this study is the first of its kind.
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In 1999 werden de gratis kranten Metro en Spits in Nederland gelanceerd. Behalve die twee titels werden ook zes andere gratis dagbladen in Nederland gestart tussen 2000 en 2008. In 2007 bereikte de totale gratis oplage een hoogtepunt van bijna twee miljoen per dag. In dit artikel wordt de geschiedenis van de deze categorie kranten beschreven tegen de Europese achtergrond waar ook sprake is van een ‘levenscyclus’ met een snelle opkomst en een sterke sanering die tijdens de economische recessie inzette. Daarnaast wordt ingegaan op de voorlopers van deze mediasoort, op de lezers van gratis kranten en de gevolgen die gratis kranten op de totale krantenoplage in Nederland heeft gehad. Halfway the first decennium of the 21st century free newspapers in the Netherlands had a circulation of almost two million and were responsible for a third of the total newspaper circulation. Four national titles competed. They saw a quick rise and also a sudden decline after 2008. In 2015 only one national model remains. In this article we analyse this development against the European background as several countries in Europe show the same picture. Also the historical context of the global rise of free newspapers – going back to the late 19th century – and kickstarted in 1995 by Metro Sweden -is provided. As free newspapers rely only on advertising for income, a combination of economic recessions and fierce competition can be lethal. Free newspapers mainly compete among themselves which explained the sudden decline in the number of titles and circulation after 2008. Also the rise of digital media could be harmful for free newspapers as they provide a attractive alternative for young readers, the target group for free newspapers. There always has been a high overlap between the readership of free and paid newspapers, suggesting low substitution. Free newspapers seem to follow a pattern of a classic ‘life cycle’ model.
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Free newspapers may offer different news contents to different audiences, when compared with traditional, paid-for newspapers, but they, nevertheless, concentrate on news, and thereby provide society with information on current affairs. These papers have seen circulation rise until 2008; after that, a decline set in, leading to closures and often a monopoly situation in the mature European newspaper markets covered in our research. Free newspapers seem to follow a typical life cycle pattern, moving from growth to maturity, and to saturation and decline. Diversification strategies – home-delivery, weekend, sports, afternoon, and financial – have been disappointing so far. There is no evidence, however, of total extinction, indicating that there is room for at least one title – possibly two – in every market. The situation in the surveyed markets also suggests that a free newspaper may be a ‘natural’ monopoly.
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Blog about media, communication and the freedom of speech. But dr. Elving also discusses the drawback; the messages coming from our TV, internet or newspapers might not always be telling the truth.
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