NMD: The Decline of the Newspaper Industry

The Future of Newspapers
http://www.economist.com/node/7830218

1) Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?

I do agree with the view because the situation is a simple matter of companies having to adapt to changing times, the only time when 'panic' would be necessary is when the companies refuse to change, they will reach point where the decline cannot be overturned.

2) The article is 10 years old - an eternity in digital media terms. Have the writer's predictions come to pass? Use statistics from your Ofcom research to support or challenge the writer's argument.

o But in the past few years the web has hastened the decline
o Britons aged between 15 and 24 say they spend almost 30% less time reading national newspapers once they start using the web.
o Advertising is following readers out of the door. The rush is almost unseemly, largely because the internet is a seductive medium that supposedly matches buyers with sellers and proves to advertisers that their money is well spent.
o In Switzerland and the Netherlands newspapers have lost half their classified advertising to the internet.
o Newspapers have not yet started to shut down in large numbers, but it is only a matter of time.
o  Having ignored reality for years, newspapers are at last doing something. In order to cut costs, they are already spending less on journalism
o Many are also trying to attract younger readers by shifting the mix of their stories towards entertainment, lifestyle and subjects that may seem more relevant to people's daily lives than international affairs and politics are.
o But the decline of newspapers will not be as harmful to society as some fear. Democracy, remember, has already survived the huge television-led decline in circulation since the 1950s.
oThat is partly because a few titles that invest in the kind of investigative stories which often benefit society the most are in a good position to survive, as long as their owners do a competent job of adjusting to changing circumstances

I believe that some of the writers prediction have come true as there is a definite correlation between the rise of the web and the decline in traditional news media. Only 21% of 16-24 year olds actually read the newspaper in 2014. In 2009 newspapers had closed and many had opted for a sole online presence. This would have been due to the appeal the internet had for advertisers, there was a larger audience on the internet whereas, particularly in the 21st century, certain newspapers were more appealing towards a niche market. i.e tThe Economist. There has also been evidence of less investigative journalism in order to cut costs, Investigations can often take months and wouldn't make a profit. In terms of the ad revenue, 50% of online news is consumed on the BBC app, the larger audience reach would mean that the advertisements that they pay for are being seen by more people.

3) The Economist suggests that high-quality journalism in the future will be backed by non-profit organisations rather than profit-seeking media corporations. Is there any evidence for this? How is the Guardian funded? What do major stories from the last year such as the Panama Papers suggest about how investigative journalism is conducted in the digital age?

The Guardian is funded by The Scott Trust Limited, in 1992 they identified as  'profit-seeking enterprise managed in an efficient and cost-effective manner'  However they have been consistently loosing profits. I think that in order to maintain a companies name and value non-profit organisations will have to back them. Investigative journalism usually includes leaked/leaking information online. In terms if the Panama Papers, they found out about the rich and powerful tax havens, 'There are 11.5m documents and 2.6 terabytes of information drawn from Mossack Fonseca’s internal database.' they all show the details of the people avoiding tax. Without new and digital media not only would we have never been able to have access to the information, the people responsible for investigating it may not have been able to even attempt to access the information. It raises the issue regarding the safety of information, even though the digital age means it is easier to do things, our information isn't as safe as it once was.