Media
Print Media's Advantages: Content Quality
Amid growing competition from online websites and other electronic media, analysts argue that print media holds an edge through its content quality, which a professional editorial staff can produce. Newspapers have emphasized this feature in their digital subscription offerings, with a certain level of success. For example, Audit Bureau of Circulation figures showed that "The New York Times" boosted overall circulation by 73 percent from Monday through Friday--and 50 percent on Sunday--over March 2011, when it first launched digital subscriptions, according to "Politico."
Print Media's Disadvantages: Shrinking Audiences
By any measure, traditional print media's audience is shrinking. As content becomes increasingly digitized--and free--readers are turning away from print publications. Peaking at just over $60 billion in 1950, total print media revenues fell to $20 billion by 2011, according to an analysis posted on The Verge website. Sharper declines occurred in 2008 and 2009, with revenues decreasing by 17.7 and 28.6 percent, respectively. The trend has forced print media outlets to make major budget cuts as they struggle to remain relevant for smaller audiences.
Electronic Media's Advantages: Immediacy
Electronic media's chief advantage is its immediacy, as autocratic Middle Eastern rulers learned too late during the "Arab Spring" of 2010. Reports from satellite networks like Al Jazeera made it impossible for authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia to silence the truth, author-journalist Lawrence Pintak stated in a speech covered by Washington State University's student newspaper "The Columbian." Using mediums beyond government control, like social media networks, the younger, technically literate opposition was able to plot strategy and coordinate mass protests.
Electronic Media's Disadvantages: Superficiality
The relentless stimulation of electronic media has inspired studies to determine how it affects
Amid growing competition from online websites and other electronic media, analysts argue that print media holds an edge through its content quality, which a professional editorial staff can produce. Newspapers have emphasized this feature in their digital subscription offerings, with a certain level of success. For example, Audit Bureau of Circulation figures showed that "The New York Times" boosted overall circulation by 73 percent from Monday through Friday--and 50 percent on Sunday--over March 2011, when it first launched digital subscriptions, according to "Politico."
Print Media's Disadvantages: Shrinking Audiences
By any measure, traditional print media's audience is shrinking. As content becomes increasingly digitized--and free--readers are turning away from print publications. Peaking at just over $60 billion in 1950, total print media revenues fell to $20 billion by 2011, according to an analysis posted on The Verge website. Sharper declines occurred in 2008 and 2009, with revenues decreasing by 17.7 and 28.6 percent, respectively. The trend has forced print media outlets to make major budget cuts as they struggle to remain relevant for smaller audiences.
Electronic Media's Advantages: Immediacy
Electronic media's chief advantage is its immediacy, as autocratic Middle Eastern rulers learned too late during the "Arab Spring" of 2010. Reports from satellite networks like Al Jazeera made it impossible for authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia to silence the truth, author-journalist Lawrence Pintak stated in a speech covered by Washington State University's student newspaper "The Columbian." Using mediums beyond government control, like social media networks, the younger, technically literate opposition was able to plot strategy and coordinate mass protests.
Electronic Media's Disadvantages: Superficiality
The relentless stimulation of electronic media has inspired studies to determine how it affects