Research Report on Journalism: CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS 3

1.7 JOB PROSPECTS

So what do all these changes mean for the type and number of jobs in journalism?

 

As you can see, workload has increased by about 70% and this is mainly due to the need for multi-media skills and reductions in staff. Journalists have to do everything now - write, design, film, photograph and publish all to endless deadlines in the new 24-hour news cycle. You also have to write for a number of sections, rather than your own specialised area. Currently when people are made redundant in print media, they are not replaced; their role is simply handed over to another journalist at the paper or individual stories offered to a freelancer who can be called in last minute. The changing climate in journalism with online media and 24 hours news cycles does mean that you no longer have slow days waiting for breaks, and you have to constantly seek stories. As Rafael Epstein, The Age comments, “We are living in the midst of a Revolution” and reporters such as Nick McKenzie (also at The Age) is constantly on his phone and email investigating and finding stories.

As Colin McKinnon, Editor, Training and Development, The Age confirms with this statement,  “there has been a 20% cut in journalists in the last 18 months, and gaining a job is very competitive. More than 550 applicants competed for just three positions as trainees in 2010.” In 2009, the Herald Sun offered no cadetships at all, there were 3 available at The Age and the ABC normally has a few available each year.

There are also shifts in the disparity between the numbers of male and female journalists in Australia. It was noted in the interviews that Channel 7 now has a lot of women and older women for that matter. Scary (Steve Carey, News Director at Channel 7) said the applications from males were lacking some crucial elements now, including communication skills. Other facts gained in our interviews with industry heads were:

70% of applicants to the ABC are women now

70% of trainees at The Age were female in the last 10 years

70-80% of the newsroom at the ABC is female. 

Hence the majority of journalists will be women in the future if current statistics are indicative of future trends. Evidence of this changing landscape is seen with the Chief Editor of the Sunday Age being female (a traditionally male dominated role). What are the other future trends predicted?

1.8 FUTURE TRENDS

OMG Hitler invades Poland, allies declare war see tinyurl.com/b5x6e for more

  JFK assassin8d @ Dallas, def. heard second gunshot from grassy knoll WTF?

Future of Journalism

         

Source: Louise Connor, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance

Social Media is having a big impact on Journalism. Look above and see what would it be like if news had been broadcast only in Tweets. These are some key news stories that have been converted to Twitter in an experiment. Yes journalism and media in general is changing, it will not be broadcast in Tweets only, but Twitter is an ever-growing contribution to news and a key research and networking tool for journalists. Currently 10% of traffic to the online NY Times is sourced from Twitter (that’s 2 million people per month). However, to the notion of social media replacing journalism, Jason Whittaker, Deputy Editor from Crikey  states,  “It is not the be-all and end-all. Twitter will not save journalism, as some may have you suggest. But as a self-marketing journalist it’s pretty powerful.” And it is expected that social media will continue to be a prominent tool for journalists in creating their individual online presences and by media companies in attempts to capture new audiences. To read more about this trend and its uses, check out our Social Media chapter.

Where exactly the print media industry will be going over the next few years is disagreed on mostly, but prominent opinions suggest fewer papers, a smaller size and less frequency. Also there will be more outsourcing (as already seen with the sub’s sections and the separate magazine publishing companies) and some say newspapers will transform to a more magazine style format. More and more companies will focus on their online content as this cuts printing costs. Taking into account Louise Connor’s comments, hopefully the Australian mainstream media companies will develop their online content in a more innovative manner than currently seen with their copy and paste style of the print media stories.

It is also expected that “smart” newspapers will use Twitter and other social media tools more effectively, as the NY Times has done. Stephen Quinn  comments that the “Profession will continue, yet the product and delivery will change. The newspapers will shrink in size and frequency (i.e. Weekend Australian only) and the physical size will shrink”. Stephen qualifies this statement with raising the issue that the public transport problems in metropolitan areas actually prevents people from being able to read the current size of a newspaper and it needs to adapt to this and be more like a magazine (more color, less frequency).

As Collin McKinnon from The Age states, “The newspapers will survive but they will be different.” He also states that he is “optimistic about the future. There are many new and exciting opportunities for journalism in the multimedia age. And The Age wants people who are enthusiastic, energetic and full of ideas for the future of journalism.”

With regards to technology, it is clear that the iPad and similar portable devices are going to continue to transform how news is consumed. As seen on Mumbrella there are already applications for The Australian and The Age which will more than likely continue to shrink readership levels of print media, but will not reduce readership as a whole to these large mainstream media sources who are taking advantage of the new technology.

Mumbrella can exclusively reveal the first screen shots of The Age’s iPad app, after a prototype of the Fairfax Media newspaper’s application briefly appeared on the iTunes store on Saturday night. And the app will even read the stories out for those who find looking at text too much of a chore.

Designer David Curry was able to download the app for $7 a month  – slightly more expensive than rival The Australian’s $4.99 app which made its debut on Friday to coincide with the Australian launch of the iPad.

Fairfax revealed last week that it was creating iPad apps for both The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. But it did not announce its pricing or when the products would be available.  

Following the initial panic and denial of new media, the major players are now taking advantage of technology and how they can once again make more money, as Murdoch states,

“Mr. Murdoch said the Internet and technology was not the enemy, but complementary platforms that media owners could take advantage of.”

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914

This is in reference to the latest figures he had just received on people paying to subscribe to the iPad App’s for all of his newspapers. Hence, it is clear that the mainstream media owners (or should I say owner) will manage to pull through their crisis with the Internet and move forward into the future of online media. As of course, innovative and independent news sources such as Crikey proved several years ago when people agreed to pay a nominal subscription fee to read quality and un-corporatised news reports. The only question left to ask, is what sort of news will subscribers be paying for from Murdoch’s main papers? A question that I personally, or even the current editors of mainstream media cannot answer at this point.

To conclude, media companies will most likely adjust to this changing climate through focusing on their online media sites and their applications for iPhones and iPads. In the future, it would be expected that any surviving news companies would all have applications for these portable devices or they will be left behind, as some of them already have with the mis-management and weak adoption of online media opportunities.

 

Go back to the Introduction Page with links to the chapters

References:

http://www.alliance.org.au/

http://www.walkleys.com/media-pass-student-days

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/small-dip-in-metro-paper-sales/story-e6frg996-1225797973630)

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/online-split-in-newspaper-readership-survey/story-e6frg996-1225831969462

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jun/14/newspapers-downturn

http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/.../internet%20access%20at%20home%20final%20version.pdf -)

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914.

http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch02.html

http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/2010/05/comments-made-on-deveny-blog.html

http://www.crikey.com.au/

http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/02/newspapers-and-bloggers-isnt-there-room-for-everyone/

http://www.alliance.org.au/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/community

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/asia/

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://spot.us/pages/about

"Center for Media Change"

Knight Foundation.

http://www.everyblock.com/

http://www.holovaty.com/

http://www.lasvegassun.com/

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2009/s2565007.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flat-Earth-News-Award-winning-Distortion/dp/0701181451)

http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/2010/06/730-report-abc.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/feb/03/society

http://catherinedeveny.com/about/index.html

http://www.kas.de/proj/home/pub/130/2/year-2010/dokument_id-18599/index.html

http://www.vericorder.com/

http://qik.com/

http://www.soundslides.com/

http://globalmojo.org/”

http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/scca/staff-directory2.php?username=stephenq

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914

 

 

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Research Report on Journalism: CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS 2

CONT from Current and Future Trends 1

The concern for the media publications in 2006 was the emergence of blogging and the threat this was making to the credibility or the need for print media:

“The growing availability of free-of-charge blogs (both news and opinion) on the Internet threaten the previous monopoly over authoritative news, and the informed questioning of government and privileged minorities essential to democracies, that newspapers uniquely offered. Even the historic richness and variety of their information sources is being challenged. More and more newspapers are responding by encouraging their regular journalists to publish blog pieces. Lack of credibility and doubts about authenticity is the chief drawback of self-motivated, unedited blogging, particularly anonymous blogging. Newspapers entering the field, insisting upon the normal requirements for authenticated material and appropriate ethics from their staff, expect, no doubt, that those features of their "brands" will eventually result in them becoming the sole, or at least preferred, choices of readers.” http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

And in 2010, it is clear that this should still be a concern, although the major players have all of their prominent journalists blogging and have blogs attached to their online sites. This does lead to an individual’s personal readers to also follow the newspaper columns by this journalist, but it also means when the journalist leaves that media company the readers may follow. This occurred with the recent sacking of Catherine Deveny from The Age, when hundreds of her fans threatened to never read the paper again, as they only read it on Wednesdays to see her column. See http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/2010/05/comments-made-on-deveny-blog.html to view these comments.  The other implication of blogging is that it is now a paid profession and many freelance writers are making their own money from their blogs and websites, which means they no longer need an attachment to a mainstream media company. More on this can be read in our  ‘Types of Journalism’ section where we discuss the different avenues you can take in journalism and offer case studies and tips for how to make it happen’.

Crikey took the lead with the online media format and in addition to this showed that people will continue to pay for journalism, in print or online, it is of a high standard and independent of corporate agendas that are even more evident in the mainstream media sources in Australia and elsewhere. Scott Bridges from Crikey writes about the threat of blogging to the media empires and how these companies did not utilize online media effectively from the beginning. The consequences of this avoidance rather than an empowering use of online media capabilities are now being fully realized by the mainstream media companies, in their late attempts to shift to an innovative and uniquely online format for news.

‘Newspapers and bloggers: isn’t there room for everyone? – Crikey’

"But one day along comes this thing called The Internet, promising to democratise the flow of information, and something terrible begins to happen: the plebs grow bold and start to rise up, empowered by having their voice heard, unworried about profit or business models. If you were that media baron what would you do? Would you adapt or would you atrophy?

When this news and journalism environment started to change dramatically about a decade ago, newspaper media companies initially refused to change with it. They whacked their stories online, slapped a couple of ads up with them, and sat back waiting for the rivers of Internet gold to flow. But people don’t use the internet like they do traditional media forms, and most attempts by traditional players to adapt to this new form have been contrived and poorly executed. The failure to adapt a product to a market is bad business, but the petulant bitching and moaning from dinosaur media chiefs who want the world to stop moving so they don’t have to get off their arse and move with it is just bad form." Scott Bridges http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/07/02/newspapers-and-bloggers-isnt-there-room-for-everyone/

This is a great article on mainstream media in Australia and their response to the internet and the 'power' that was taken away from big business papers when 'ordinary people' started to blog and share their stories, opinions and actual news. So what trends can be seen with these companies in Australia?

1.3 TRENDS in MAINSTREAM MEDIA Companies in Australia

Louise Connor, VIC branch secretary, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has been involved in the research that has been conducted over the past two years. This is centered on the changes that have been occurring in journalism and the emergence of new media and the subsequent implications of decreasing revenue streams for print media. Louise raises the issues that have been mentioned above in Crikey and which are evident in examining the use of online media by the mainstream media organizations.

Louise states that current trends in the industry in Australia (with only 2 main corporations owning the majority of news sources) means there is decreasing opposition to publish diverse views that are not covered in the media mogul’s papers. The major players (not including the ABC) limit the voices that can be heard. This means that increasing the voices and funding for the ABC is vital in maintaining this large public broadcaster. The new environment is limited with the majority of editors at the mainstream papers not being up to date with the multi-media opportunities available now. Louise feels that the mainstream papers are not utilising effective advertising opportunities that should be organized differently for online media sources (if they are to offer an online news forum that is different from their print media formats). Louise admits that this issue will be solved over time, as the older editors retire or new multi-skilled people work their way up in these companies.

In relation to The Age and their ongoing reference to advertising opportunities through counting “the eyeballs” that are looking at their site, Louise highlights that this does not take into consideration that those viewers may not be anywhere near the local BMW dealership and may be reading the story from the other side of the world. Thus there are different advertising needs for effective online news media. As Louise states, “the fixation on eyeballs is irrelevant and they need to be more discerning in their material”. Such sites as The Guardian in the UK have managed to set up their online content in relation to the needs of their viewers and have changed it for their market and their chosen advertisers. As can been seen here http://www.guardian.co.uk/community with their community section which incorporates social media tools and forums. In addition, the TIME online magazine which has a huge market in Asia centers its advertising on global products that can be sourced all over the world. With only 40% of media being sourced from print media, Louise continues to discuss that a newsroom in today’s environment should be agnostic of platforms and news should be published in a variety of manners on different platforms. She believes the current situation in Australia is “unhealthy”. The issues raised with mass media ownership in Australia can be seen when the ABC was beginning to set up regional centers and being told by Fairfax that the regional hubs were their areas. Louise comments that the Fairfax monopoly needs to learn the lessons from their mistakes in ignoring the advances with new media. They need to be more proactive and offer quality journalism in those areas if they wish to retain their regional monopoly. The problems with current mainstream media sources is that they decide on their news stories on what will make money and not through ascertaining what the audience wants.  Louise’s advice to media organizations is to create newsrooms that effectively publish on a range of platforms, such as the NY Times  which has properly integrated their online material this involves offering a continuous flow of news throughout the day and not simply repeating the print media stories until the next paper is published. Louise believes that readers need to be more critical of stories in these forums and as it evolves the quality of journalism will increase once again. The other contributing factor to the lacking quality of online media from these companies is seen with the new centralized sub’s areas that he Herald Sun and many other organizations are moving to. Even in the UK’s Telegraph the sub’s department is located outside of the UK. This means that having specialist knowledge in journalism in currently being downgraded and resulting readership issues can be seen from this.

1.4 INNOVATIVE MOVEMENTS WITH ONLINE MEDIA

The opportunities available with online media have also led some organizations or individual groups of journalists to create innovative, multi-media websites that cover news in a new manner. Louise Connor lists below some innovative uses of this technology by international media players in comparison to what has not been seen largely in the mainstream media companies in Australia thus far:

Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the "Center for Media Change" and funded by various groups like the Knight Foundation.

“We are an open source project to pioneer ‘community powered reporting.’ Through Spot.Us the public can commission and participate with journalists to do reporting on important and perhaps overlooked topics. Contributions are tax deductible and we partner with news organizations to distribute content under appropriate licenses. On some occasions we can even pay back the original contributors.”  This is a useful resource for journalists who wish to write informative and community minded articles, which are not consistently commissioned by mass media publications.

http://www.everyblock.com/

This site created by Adrian Holvaty (see his website) http://www.holovaty.com/is a very innovative media site that provides news stories in people’s local areas. It works by typing in your zip code (US based site) and offers your published news stories from your area, real estate listings, business reviews, crime reports and photo’s.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/

This site was set up by a group of journalists who were locked out of a mainstream paper in Las Vegas and decided to set up their own multi-media website instead. It has since won a Pulitzer Prize and contains news stories, videos, graphics and local and national quality news stories in their interactive site that successfully incorporates social media networking tools.

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2009/s2565007.htm

This Four Corners story won the Walkley for best sports reporting in 2009. This website includes social media tools effectively and offers numerous multi-media elements such as video on demand (ABC’s iview), maps, slide shows, reports, transcripts and ‘have your say’ forums.  This displays the difference in the acceptance and the subsequent innovative use of online media by the ABC, which displays its status as the industry leader online news media in Australia.

1.5 The CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM and CORPORATE MEDIA

The current state of journalism or ‘churnalism’ as Nick Davies labels it, can be reviewed in his book ‘Flat Earth News’ and his interview on the 7.30 Report http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/2010/06/730-report-abc.html where he states that he “found that the business of truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance.” And as Mary Riddell http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/feb/03/societyreviews,

“Davies unmuzzled deplores the rise of 'churnalism'; the quick-turnover dross peddled by hacks less scrupulous or fortunate than him. Costs are being cut and standards eroded by greedy proprietors. Hidden persuaders are manipulating truth. At its worst, the modern newsroom is a place of bungs and bribes, whose occupants forage illicitly for scoops in databases and dustbins. Newspapers hold others to account while hushing up their own unsavory methods. Self-regulation does not always offer fair (or any) redress to citizens who have had lies written about them. Stories are often pompous, biased or plain wrong. Some close scrutiny is not only legitimate: it is overdue.”

In addition to these remarks, Catherine Deveny describes what she observes as the current issues with corporate media in Australia:

“Corporate maggots are running a fear campaign at The Age” and there is a corporate and Catholic control of the newspaper.

Newspapers have vested interests in corporate enterprises – this affects everything they do and when they start loosing money the hidden agendas come out even more. “They are struggling with social networking tools, which have gone over their heads.”

Newspapers in Australia are currently run by issues with gender, class and relevance deprivation. “The state of newspapers is like watching a house you lived in go to ruins. Australian mainstream media is being run by middle aged, middle class, white men who are desperate to hold on to the power and continue their ‘prefect club’ in corporate Australia.”

“When the GFC hit, old media realized they were on their way out and the men at the top are lining their pockets with money while cutting jobs and the pay of the writers, who are being managed by a fear campaign.”

Mainstream media in print and TV is being run by the fictitious “mainstream audience”, which is the “imaginary nana in the sky that they blame their content decisions on”, the content produced for the LCD’s (Lowest Common Dominators = Hey Hey its Saturday viewers)

She states that her sacking from The Age, due to their stated reaction to her Twitter comments has had a positive impact on her and a negative impact on her colleagues; as writers are running scared at the moment in relation to Twitter – they don’t know what to write and how to write now, the freedom of speech is gone in this application which is used largely by comedians and writers. To read more about the implications of social media and further discussions on Catherine’s sacking from The Age, see our Social Media chapter.

Therefore, Deveny, the freelance writer, TV writer and social commentator and Nick Davies, a prominent investigative journalist state, both indicated that journalism in mainstream media publications is a changing landscape. This is being largely affected by the corporatisation of news sources, the shift to online media and the emergence of social media technology.

1.6 WHAT DO THESE TRENDS MEAN FOR JOURNALISTS?

It is clear newspapers are different commodities now. They have different deadlines (24 hr news cycles) and different types of owners (corporate not family owners) and editors. Redundancies are ongoing and as David Hastie from the Herald Sun commented at the Media Pass Student Day in May 2010, LINK http://www.walkleys.com/media-pass-student-days “if someone resigns now they do not get replaced, with the work being reshuffled around the remaining staff.” Currently the requirements for newly employed journalists ask for a lot because of the changes to the journalism jobs and the career path is much different now. The prevalence of cadetships is less than before and you should most likely finish university, and then work at a community newspaper before going to larger publications such as The Age. To see exactly what mainstream media publications are looking for now, check out our Tips and Tricks chapter and our Complete Interview Summaries, which includes lists of the skills required by these organizations. In general, journalists today are older and have more worldly experience before starting at large newspapers. You need to look at social networking sites and find your own stories. The Age, The ABC and Channel 7 all stated that they need people that are familiar with social media technology, which leads to a different style of stories, as there is a current push for younger audiences.

Catherine Deveny states that journalism was once a carefully crafted trade, however bloggers have changed this. Now you cannot write and not be ‘in it’ (particularly the comedic and social commentators who write). Journalists are so under the pump that they cannot even learn the craft like they used to in downtime as they are constantly racing for the next story or Australia’s great writers are going into spin (in political forums.)

As a result of these changing times and technological advances the modes of journalism are rapidly expanding and transforming. Stephen Quinn, Associate Professor of Journalism at Deakin University, Geelong and a Mojo discusses the emergence of mobile journalists (Mojo’s).  A Mojo is somebody who reports only using a mobile phone and it is currently very popular throughout SE Asia, USA, Canada and Europe. Stephen suggests that as the technology in the phone cameras is advanced, this will increase as a common form of journalism. Mojo  is a tool to publish videos online and across networking sites and for graduating students is aids the creation of an online portfolio which shows employers that you can film and publish video easily and effectively. This free software allows you to photograph, film and write up your story live from the scene and publish it instantaneously (with Wi-fi access) directly from your mobile phone.

As Sharon Green reports from the Media Pass Day in May 2010, 

“Gone are the days where a journalist can sit in an office and log stories. The future of news will mean that journalists need to be where the story is happening. Associate Professor Stephen Quinn has written a book on the practice of mobile journalism and a free copy can be downloaded online: http://www.kas.de/proj/home/pub/130/2/-/dokument_id-18599/

He also recommended the following websites for mobile journalists who want to engage in software options for reporting from a mobile phone:

http://www.vericorder.com/

http://qik.com/

http://www.soundslides.com/

The rise of social media also allows reporters to disseminate information quickly to an audience and will increasingly play a role in how we communicate news. Stephen Quinn is heavily involved in social media research and believes that having social media is a good way to build your brand and is a powerful way to do some self-promotion. He also emphasised the importance of having a blog that can double as a marketing tool and offer an online location for your portfolio. This makes it easy for prospective employers to visit one location on the web where they can get a clear idea on where you want to position yourself as a journalist. To view Stephen Quinn’s blog, visit: http://globalmojo.org/”

1.6.1 ARE MULTI-MEDIA SKILLS A MUST NOW?

 

In a reflective analysis of the 2006 State of News Print Media it was stated that, “Emerging trends have implications for journalists. In the future it probably will not be the sole role for journalists employed by newspaper companies to find stories and compose them into well-written reports that appear only in print. The same, or re-written or re-edited, content might be destined for the company's online site, for fee-based stored audio and video files available to a variety of text, audio and video devices, or even SMS mobile phones… will journalists have to become multi-skilled, able to appear in front of a camera and speak engagingly for audio files as well as seek out and write original stories for the newspaper? Will physical attraction become a key recruitment criterion?” http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

 

The short answer is ‘yes’. It is certain that journalists today need multi-media skills in print, TV, film, photography, social media knowledge and both web-based and now phone-based and iPad based applications and software. More information on the current skills need for journalists can be found in our extensive Tips and Tricks section, which details what skills the industry heads are requesting from new graduates. To see what social media tools you need to utilize to create your online presence and gain employment can be seen in our  Social Media chapter. You can also see what the need for these multi-platformed skills means for job prospects and job conditions in our Job Prospects section, which is below.

1.7 JOB PROSPECTS

So what do all these changes mean for the type and number of jobs in journa

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Research Report on Journalism: CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS

This chapter will explore the following areas in examining the current and future trends in Journalism in Australia

 

1.0 TRENDS IN THE JOURNALISM INDUSTRY

 

1.1 PRINT MEDIA TRENDS

 

1.2 THE SHIFT TO ONLINE MEDIA: In Australia and Hong Kong

1.3 TRENDS in MAINSTREAM MEDIA COMPANIES IN AUSTRALIA

1.4 INNOVATIVE MOVEMENTS WITH ONLINE MEDIA

1.5 The CURRENT STATE OF JOURNALISM and CORPORATE MEDIA

 

1.6 WHAT DO THESE TRENDS MEAN FOR JOURNALISTS?

 

1.7 JOB PROSPECTS

 

1.8 FUTURE TRENDS

 

2.0 REFERENCES

 

 

1.0 Trends in the Journalism Industry

 

 

The Journalism industry has certainly experienced some changes throughout its time and more so in the last few years following the emergence of the internet and the subsequent development of blogging, multi-media software and social networking sites. This has led most recently to the substantial changes to the operations of the traditional newsroom, the skills required by journalists and the use of social media tools to not only capture and distribute micro-news stories but to also utilized to market individual journalists and media companies in today’s changing landscape of journalism.

 

Current Trends in the Journalism Industry

• Newspaper sales are down
• Online media is growing exponentially
• Jobs in mainstream print media are down
  
• Opportunities to be entrepreneurial are ­up
• Technology is developing rapidly and multi-media skills are a must

 

 

And it all started way back then when news print media was “the spring of the knowledge”, as seen below in a poem from 1770. This was shown to us by Louise Connor, from the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) in her presentation at the Media Pass Day  in May 2010.

 

The News-Paper

Tis truth (with deference to the college)

Newspapers are the spring of knowledge,

The general source through the nation,

Of every modern conversation.

What would this might people do,

If there, alas, were nothing new?

A newspaper is like a feast,

Some dish there is for every guest;

Some large, some small, some strong, some tender,

For every stomach, stout or slender.

 

Quebec Gazette, March 1770

 

 

 

Journalism dispelled through newspapers was once the prominent source of news information in society.  And it is evident that times have changed dramatically since then. Some people still refer to print media as a feast -as mentioned in the poem (although this is mostly the large corporate owners) and more so people are referring to it as a famon (the readers). So what changes are occurring and where is journalism headed now…

 

1.1 PRINT MEDIA

 

There are undeniably changes to the readership levels to print media in Australia. There has been the incidence of decreased readership for some years, due to the emergence of the Internet and the fast growth of online media options for readers. Recently, as discussed in May 2010, http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html

 

“Australian newspapers post drop in sales

SARAH MALIK

May 14, 2010

Australian newspaper sales continue to fall and the industry body for major publishers lays the blame on a slower news year rather the inroads made into circulation by online news sites.

Sales of metropolitan and national newspapers fell by an average of three per cent in the March quarter compared with the same period a year ago, Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) data on Thursday showed.

Fairfax Media Ltd's The Australian Financial Review was the hardest hit, with the daily circulation of its Monday to Friday edition falling 8.6 per cent to 75,624 copies.”

As discussed in this article in The Australian LINK http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/small-dip-in-metro-paper-sales/story-e6frg996-1225797973630) by Sally Jackson in November 2009, there are continuing declining readership levels in metro paper sales in Australia, however, this is still considerably better than the US and the UK, but is this simply foreshadowing Australia’s future?

“THE Australian newspaper market showed a small decline in the three months to September with sales of national, metropolitan and regional Monday-to-Sunday titles down 1.5 per cent compared with the previous corresponding quarter.

Sales of Monday-to-Sunday metro newspapers decreased by 1.1 per cent and regional titles dropped 1.2 per cent.

Sunday metropolitan circulation was 2.5 per cent lower.

However, that continued to be the biggest day for newspaper sales, with 3.2 million Sunday papers sold every week.

On average, Australians are buying more than 20 million newspapers a week, according to figures released last night by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The audit report showed the Australian market was continuing to outperform the US and Britain, said Tony Hale, chief executive of industry body the Newspaper Works.

In the US, year-on-year weekday newspaper sales dropped by 10.6 per cent and Sunday sales by 7.5 per cent in the six months to September.”

Despite it being stated in the first report above, that the reductions in readership are a result of it being “a slower news year rather the inroads made into circulation by online news sites” it is difficult to even compare readership figures for print media with recent years due to changes in separating the figures of print and online editions, as seen in this article, in The Australian in February, 2010.

“THE Monday-to-Friday readership of The Australian averaged 446,000 in the year to December 2009, according to the latest Roy Morgan Research survey.

Readership of The Weekend Australian was 853,000.

Roy Morgan said the figures could not be compared with the previous year because of changes in the survey to differentiate reading of a newspaper's printed and online editions.

"We believe the figures we are now reporting are accurate estimates of hard-copy newspaper reading," a spokesperson said.

Average readership of the other national daily, Fairfax Media's The Australian Financial Review, was 263,000 on weekdays and 172,000 on Saturdays.

After a long dispute between publishers and Roy Morgan over its methodology for measuring readership, industry body The Newspaper Works is running a tender process to find an alternative metric.”

Thus, as can be seen in the statistics, newspapers are certainly not dead, although they may be a dying breed, as the levels of readership in print media have been declining steadily in recent years. And this and other factors have led some prominent media commentators to say:

“The survival of newspapers is by no means guaranteed. They still face big structural obstacles: it remains unclear, for example, whether the young will pay for news in any form.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jun/14/newspapers-downturn

1.2 THE SHIFT TO ONLINE MEDIA: In Australia and Hong Kong

 

All of our interviewees from mainstream and independent media publications and media commentators concurred that the Internet is a big part of the future for journalism. This is largely due to the technological opportunities available and the fact that currently at least 20% costs go to printing. It is also evident that more and more people these days prefer to read their news online due to cost and convenience.

 

Ed Lee (ex South China Morning Post) stated his view about online journalism:

‘It’s important because the Internet is everything. More and more people are switching from traditional media platforms to the net. It only makes both editorial and business sense to have an online presence. How they do it is another story. Some establishments have greatly embraced this trend like the Washington Post and The Guardian. To look at Hong Kong, one big player is Next Media's Apple Daily. The English papers however, SCMP and the Standard, fall far below. In fact, the SCMP, which was, once lauded for its multimedia push, has now fired everyone from that department, including me.’ He then commented ‘I think media companies will try to blend both. But it's only a matter of time where newspapers and magazines will devote more time & effort to mobile, web and other online platforms where costs are lower.’ 

 

This demonstrates journalism is following technological trends as it is developing largely online content sites and most companies have applications available for IPhones and even more recently the IPad. Perhaps the next stage within each of the big journalism companies may be to hire a team who will take charge of phone journalism. This can be different to online and traditional media platforms as a wider audience will be able to be reached through developing specialised sites for phones. Special effects may be needed to stand out which differ from how the online journalism layout would be.

 

Billy Clarke, Asia City Publishing, states ‘the line between journalism and blogging will become a blur soon as anyone will have the capability to reach the same audience as a journalist would.’ Some people may get the news before actual journalists as they may record an event as it is happening on their iPhone and reach a large online audience with the documentation. Therefore it is important journalists are original, can pick out good stories and are passionate about what they write as they need to keep the audience interested at all times as it is a very competitive time.

 

 

By reviewing the comparison of opinions discussed in the 2006 Press Council’s State of News Print Media Report it is clear that the internet has and is having a large impact on print media companies and by looking at the changes that were predicted and the generational data of who the remaining readers actually are, readership may continue to decline: 

Traditionalists believe that the Internet is no more likely to bring down newspapers than the advent of TV half a century ago. The special attributes of newspapers, their immediacy, involvement, credibility, creativity, consistency and flexibility of use will continue to ensure their longevity…Traditionalists are, however, being stalked by doubters, including most recently The Economist (August 2006) which is following the line that extinction of all or some of the papers in the UK is only a matter of time. It claims '…that newspapers are on the way out and that it is only a matter of time before there are closures with half the world's newspapers likely to close in the foreseeable future because 'business of selling words to readers and selling readers to advertisers, which has sustained their role in society, is falling apart…The data is threatening. Reading habits are changing. Some age groups are reading newspapers less. Circulation is threatened. Nearly half of those who read Australian metropolitan newspapers are over fifty. Successful responses to the ubiquitous Internet challenge are essential.

 

Admittedly this report is from 2006, as the more recent reports have to be purchased (and as I am a student and unpaid writer I cannot afford it!). Despite this, the positive elements of having this report to examine is that it offers a reflection on what the predicted trends were only four years ago and offers an opportunity to analyse what has happened since.  In looking at Chapter 2 of the report on the top trends, it is interesting to note that the penetration of internet access in Australian homes was at 56 percent in the 2004-2005 period and the Press Council offered an analyse of how this effected the media companies at the time:

Newspaper companies are rapidly transforming into multi-media companies

Penetration of Internet access into Australian homes had reached 56 per cent (65 per cent of which was by broadband) by the end of the 2004/2005-year. Abundant indications that an increasing number of Australians were turning to Internet sources for information in real time have led major metropolitan newspapers, and some regional dailies, to establish parallel print and online editions. http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

 

With reviewing the most recent statistics of Internet penetration in Australian homes,

 

The rate of household Internet access has quadrupled over the

past eight years, from 16% in 1998 to 64% in 2006–07

 

In connection with the above commentary, it is clear that the movements the print media companies were making in 2006 have only been exaggerated since then. The focus on the online content has changed dramatically, through ending the process of saving ‘breaking news’ for the morning print edition and instead ensuring that it is immediately published on the online site, in desperate efforts to ‘beat’ other media companies. More so this shift can be seen with the recent developments from The Australian and The Age being the first of Australian mainstream newspapers to introduce new and interactive applications to read news online via the latest portable device the iPad in early June 2010, as Mumbrella discusses. Is this the device that will save newspapers or does it simply indicate a more permanent shift to online news media as a whole? I am certain that the media companies owned by Murdoch will survive as companies, however, it is more the question of whether the quality of journalism will survive and whether this will remain to be printed in hard copies in the near future.

One of the pressing issues here, is that the large media companies in Australia did not capture the essence of the online environment early on and some are still struggling with its uses. There have been some changes seen in relation to how the online media is now managed by the large media organizations, as described below in the Press Council Report: 

The race to be first to disseminate news has already led to sections of on-line newspaper sites devoted to breaking news. In the last 18 months metropolitan newspapers that had been updating their Internet sites as the day progressed, while reserving exclusives and scoops for the morning newspapers, have reviewed that policy. Newspapers such as The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and the Herald Sun, are moving to the 24-hour newsroom, filing stories online as news breaks.http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

 

It is certainly not the case currently that any media source would consider “reserving exclusives and scoops for the morning newspapers” anymore. With readership levels being down, competition is as fierce as ever and if a station or paper has a breaking news story they will publish it immediately on their website or in a news flash on television or via social media sites. With the use of current technologies, journalists will report live from a conference simply via a Tweet back to the newsroom, which will instantly be re-tweeted by the media organization and published instantly on their Twitter site. This story will then be further developed and published via their online site or in their print form, but sole consideration of the morning paper is mostly a thing of the past. And this is precisely where the print media is struggling. What can the print editions offer that are different to the online content? The emergence of more colored lift-out’s and specialized magazine style components on food, travel, the Arts and real-estate is a small solution to this, but as these magazines are now available as separate downloads on the new applications for IPads this is still not going to lead to increasing sales for print editions.

 

The concern for the media publications in 2006 was the emergence of blogging and the threat this was making to the credibility or the need for print media:

The growing availability of free-of-charge blogs (both news and opinion) on the Internet threaten the previous monopoly over authoritative news, and the informed questioning of government and privileged minorities essential to democracies, that newspapers uniquely offered. Even the historic richness and variety of their information sources is being challenged. More and more newspapers are responding by encouraging their regular journalists to publish blog pieces. Lack of credibility and doubts about authenticity is the chief drawback of self-motivated, unedited blogging, particularly anonymous blogging. Newspapers entering the field, insisting upon the normal requirements for authenticated material and appropriate ethics from their staff, expect, no doubt, that those features of their "brands" will eventually result in them becoming the sole, or at least preferred, choices of readers. http://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.htmlhttp://www.presscouncil.org.au/snpma/ch01.html

 

And in 2010, it is clear that this should still be a concern, although the major

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Research Report on Journalism: CONCLUSION

FUTURE TRENDS

Media companies will most likely adjust to this changing climate through focusing on their online media sites and their applications for iPhones and iPads. In the future, it would be expected that any surviving news companies would all have applications for these portable devices or they will be left behind, as some of them already have with the mis-management and weak adoption of online media opportunities. Some print media companies will adjust to the changing needs of their remaining readers and develop smaller, less frequent and more magazine style formatted newspapers. More departments will be out-sourced and more effective use of social media tools should be evident in the next 12 months. More independent media sources, such as Crikey will be given a voice in the Australian media circles, as the focus on online media rather than expensive print media businesses will enable a more dynamic and diverse set of news sources to be accessed by the public at large.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

It is clear that an online presence is vital in today’s media world, if you want to market yourself and create an online portfolio for your writings, video, photography and audio files. It also offers extensive research gateways and enhances your networking capabilities enormously, in relation to employment, interview possibilities and leads for stories. But of course, like all your work in the media industry, your published material can be brought up at any time and may be used against you, used as a reason to not give you a job or lead to public embarrassment if you have made comments that you cannot stand by at a later stage. So as Jason Whittaker states, “don’t be afraid of it”, but be diligent and consider the consequences and benefits involved with your social media presence.

 

TIPS AND TRICKS

The most important tips that were shared with us from prominent industry heads were the need for an online presence and multi-media skills. Of course, the ability to write and effectively tell stories is still a must in being a journalist but the industry is changing and you need to be multi-skilled, flexible, resilient and energetic to cope with the new continuous news cycles. To gain employment, you need to prepare thoroughly and reading newspapers every day will be a definite advantage in job interviews and in your writing skills and knowledge. And you need to write every day, whether this is published on your blog (preferable) or simply filed away somewhere. You need to follow journalists that you admire and examine their writing styles. If you want it to happen, it is possible, so read our full Tips and Tricks section and take advantage of the extensive information that has been gathered for this report.

 

The major benefits of conducting this research report was to gain the enormous amount of insider information that was gathered through online research and interviews with leading professionals in journalism. It was also an excellent opportunity to network with industry heads on a professional basis and the personal emails and phone numbers that I have now collected will undoubtedly prove useful upon my graduation and subsequent search for employment in this very competitive industry. The tips and tricks that were collected will be followed closely and the knowledge gained, which I have now shared with you, will benefit all of us in our future goals of becoming journalists! I will now present my report to various organizations that I spoke to through the research process such as the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance and the Walkley Foundation http://www.walkleys.com/media-pass-student-days or organisations that I found along my travels, such as Upstart http://www.upstart.net.au/ to see if they may want to publish my report on their respective websites.

 

So good luck to all of you out there that are seeking a career in Journalism and if my tips were helpful in you gaining employment in the industry, or you are an industry professional reading this, remember me when I ask you for a job!

 

Clare Peterson

 

E punchyproductions@gmail.com
Twitter:  PunchyC
Skype:  Punchyp
punchyp.posterous.com
www.punchyproductions.com.au
B http://thoughtsbecomethings-dreamer.blogspot.com/
B http://journalism-research.blogspot.com/
B http://raws.adc.rmit.edu.au/~s3087922/blog/
Delicious: clares_bookmarks

To go to other chapters in this report, go to:

Introduction

http://filethis.posterous.com/pages/research-report-on-journalism-in-australia

Ways to Make Money in Journalism

http://filethis.posterous.com/pages/different-ways-you-can-make-money-in-journali

Types of Journalism

http://filethis.posterous.com/pages/types-of-journalism

And more to come, once they are posted!

 

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Watching newspapers on your computer? That's crazy talk...

This news report from 1981 points out how much has changed over this time, with not only computers being developed, but data speeds have enormous development and now with the Ipad it is apparent that this 'crazy' news bulletin was correct when they said reading newspapers on your computer with your morning coffee "is not as far fetched as it seems"...

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What the Ipad has done for newspapers...is it the answer?

Exclusive photo's and information on The Age application for Ipad's can be read below at Mumbrella.  Is this the answer Murdoch has been waiting for or will consistent trends of falling readership continue for the 2 media moguls in Australia?

http://mumbrella.com.au/exclusive-the-ages-ipad-app-revealed-26914

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