The Decline in Newspapers: MM Case Studies

The decline in newspapers: MM case studies

With impeccable timing, the latest issue of Media Magazine has two case studies on British newspaper brands and their recent decline.

The New Day

The New Day was a brand new newspaper launched by institution Trinity Mirror earlier this year and folded after just two months. Complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) Read the feature: 'A New Day for British journalism' on page 6 of Media Magazine 57 (our Media Magazine archive is here).

2) What was the New Day trying to achieve?

They were trying to appeal to people who don't usually buy newspapers. It was suggested by Alison Phillips - the editor - that sales have declined because people have ' [not] fallen out of love with newspapers as a format, but because what is currently available on the newsstand is not meeting their needs'. As a result they believed they needed to create a paper that meet the standard of the readers they are trying to appeal to, (aged around 35 - 55 years) and being affordable.

3) List the key statistics on the first page: how many people buy newspapers in the UK? How has this declined in the last year?

O Today  lasted for 10 years, closing 17th November 1995
O The Independent launched in 1986 until 26 March 2016, but its sister publication i remains both print and online wise.
O The European lasted only 8 years, publishing once a week. ( 1990 - 1998)
O About six million people but a newspaper daily in Britain.
O Over a million people have stopped buying newspapers altogether in the past 2 years. 

4) What audience were the New Day trying to attract?

It was aimed at 35-50 year olds whom aren't particularly interested in the format or traditional media. The Paper was short, only 40 pages long and the edit could be described as magazine like.

5) Why do you think the New Day failed so spectacularly? There are several possible reasons listed in the article but do develop your own opinion here as well.

• They increased their price from 25p to 50p which reduced the audience, falling to 40,000. It was also around the same price as pre-existing papers.
• Their market research gave little variety in terms of answers and influenced a more positive result.
• No strong USP (unique selling point)

Even though these issues would have contributed to the failure I think that the people behind it were too optimistic, the failure to conduct proper unbiased market researched also resulted in a false sense of hope. Also the lack of a unique aspect to appeal to the hard to reach audiences was overestimated from the very beginning.

The Guardian

The Guardian is another British newspaper struggling with a steep decline in print sales. However, the Guardian's survival strategy has been built around a global online approach to digital content. Complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) Read the feature: 'Can The Guardian survive in a changing media landscape?' on page 9 of Media Magazine 57.

2) List the key statistics on page 10: How many unique digital browsers used the Guardian website in June 2016? What are The Guardian's latest print sales figures? How does this compare to the Telegraph? In terms of finances, how much did the Guardian lose in 2015? 

O 3rd most read newspaper (120 million a month)
O 9 million daily unique browsers.
O Only 161 000 in print circulation
O Loss of around £70 million in 2015.

3) What has been The Guardian's strategy for reversing this decline?
'In March 2016, MediaWeek reported Guardian Media Group’s ‘plans to

make the company more efficient, reduce costs, and attain new growth opportunities.’

The guardian has developed its ability to deliver 24 hour rolling coverage of Major news events. (The responsibility is shared between the US and Australia). They provide online content for free.

4) What global event did The Guardian's digital coverage win awards for?

'The Guardian’s reporting on the Paris attacks won praise not only from readers but from the Society of Editors. At their Press Awards for 2015, the Guardian was winner of the Website

of the Year.' 

5) In your opinion, will the global website strategy be enough to save The Guardian?

I do agree that the guardian will be in a suitable position to save itself, its online presence is only growing however they do have to make sure that they are maximising the profits. However the internet is always changing in many aspects so a new stratify may be needed within the next 5 years at least.

09/11/16 - Politics has gone wrong. Is digital technology to blame?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/31/politics-digital-technology-brexit-donald-trump

There is an argument to suggest that the extreme political confusion and wrongdoings is as a result of new technology. The echo chambers, ability to view others opinions and the lack of the government adapting fast enough have been brought in as an argument and there is the suggestion that some of the issues we are facing now may not have become a thing had the new technology played a factor.

O Online - Trump has more followers
O People were more in favour of remaining in the EU Online.
O Hilary Clinton's emails has been a major theme in Trumps speeches.
O There has been an overwhelming amount of coverage on Trumps Illegal activities, more than typical news sources.


I personally believe that technology has been a liberating factor rather than a detrimental one and it's politics and the politicians themselves who have caused the issues. New technology means that despite the regular echo chambers, people are able to view other people opinions that haven been adapted and changed by a gatekeeper or powerful person. Technology has also enabled information about political figures both good and bad to surface which arguably makes it a fairer democracy as the truth usual comes out and people follow less lies. However this is not always the case as some had in fact taken advantage of new media  to share falsified information in order to help their cause.

09/11/16 - Sky News boss: 'The only way to achieve longevity is to go through renewal'

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/06/sky-news-boss-john-ryley-the-only-way-to-achieve-longevity-is-to-go-through-renewal

The article highlights how difficult journalism has become and how even the BBC has suffered.
Jobs are continually being cut and there have been accusations made suggesting that certain companies are only making way for 'younger talent' or younger people who may have more of an appeal. He also acknowledges that there needs to be a change that includes social media and means the companies basis is not just on broadcast.

O He says that by the end of this year Sky will have achieved 1bn views on social media, and on mobile weekly viewing is 5.1m, up 18% year on year.
O UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster with 11 million customers as of 2015
O 50 Members of Staff for Sky News and Sports are to be made redundant and replaced with automated systems.

I think that Ryley is too optimistic in terms of the future of Broadcast news, yes many things can an most likely will be done to ensure some future. But it would only prolong the failing process. More people are going to be replaces by new technology. and the remaining may not being able to keep up. In saying that News itself will not be over. Companies will be able to have a role in the news industry as longs as they adapt to be a more internet centric brand. The move from Broadcast and Print doesn't necessarily mean that there is not future there are just better options available now and we cannot rely on traditional media as much.

02/11/16 - Why Gary Lineker, Lily Allen and you shouldn't comment

http://www.joe.co.uk/news/why-gary-lineker-lily-allen-and-you-shouldnt-comment/93236

The article uses excuses used particularly on social media to prevent people from sharing they views. When you get to the end, it resulted in no one actually having the 'right to comment'

O In 2013 the article with the most shares on The Guardian had 3.9m page views.

O The people who vote on online polls don't always vote in real life.

O 34 of the top 100 are pieces related to world news

I think this is an incredibly clever way to reflect on the excuses people use particularly when someone comments on something that they don't agree with. It brings forth the idea of censorship that is not only limited formally on social media but is carried out by the consumers. When specifically regarding the US election and The refugee crisis, many are criticised for commenting because it 'doesn't concern them', others are told not to comment because they are either too educated or not educated enough. The Internet is a controversial ground where sharing you're opinion can and will be ridiculed in any and every way which raises the questions as to whether everyone is in fact a gatekeeper and are there too many people attempting to censor people? In some cases they are successful especially when regarding 'trolls' whom repetitively bully people until their views have changed, comments have been deleted or they have removed themselves from the site altogether.

02/11/16 - How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News

https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo?bffbmain&ref=bffbmain&utm_term=.hlqEv9RNx4#.yy7nwbxGAr

The article is surrounding the rise in fake US politics sites particularly in Macedonia. there are hundreds of sites, many created and managed by teenagers whom make money from baseless stories, particularly based on true as stories on him are currently more appealing to people right  now. It brings the reliability of the internet into question as people are believing almost all of the content, which some sites have admitted to falsifying.

O 140 000 interactions with a baseless story
O  over 100 active US politics websites being run from Veles.
O a story had 480 000 interactions on a macedonian site whereas a similar story on The Times only had 175 000 Interactions.

I think that not only does this expose the lack of reliability on the internet and really shows that people can and will make up content solely for the purpose of gaining views and revenue but it shows the rise in importance new and digital media has on politics. People are/have using/used the internet to find out more about what they are going to potentially vote for. More people globally are gaining and interest in foreign politics and realising the importance and effect some elections will have on other countries. On one hand it can be a good thing, more people are becoming involved, since the rise of the internet more young people have been voting. there is a greater understanding of what is going on and how it effects us and there is also an exposure to all views regardless of whether they are good or bad.

26/10/16 - Channel 4 presenter says hijab ruling means it's 'open season' on Muslims

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/20/channel-4-hijab-ruling-muslims-open-season-press-regulator-fatima-manji-kelvin-mackenzie

The article is based on Kelvin Mackenzie's criticism on letting a woman wearing a hijab report on the Nice attacks. It was not considered hate speech. Fatima Manji suggests that it 'legitimised discrimination' because she was singled out and associated with terrorism due to her religion. She also said that ipso has given the '“green light for newspapers to attack minorities and Muslims in particular" which suggests that larger organisations are not doing enough to tackle Islamophobia and hate crime in general towards minorities.

O Islamophobia was up by 70% in 2015.
O 60% of victims were women.
O women who wear Niqab, the face veil, suffered more aggressive incidents (BBC)
O The British media is also responsible. (http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-the-british-media-is-responsible-for-the-rise-in-islamophobia-in-britain-a6967546.html)

I believe that this is one aspect in an ever-growing issue. There have been many issues of islamophobia which are often overlooked/ignored. In fact there are any large institutions that are partially responsible for this but they're never held accountable. I think that because people are able to share their views on social media and also have interaction with others issues like islamophobia are finally being brought to the attention of the public. Even though the institutions and powerful people are still able to ignore many issues, due to social media more awareness is being created and in some cases people are being held accountable and punished just not to the extent which reciprocates the scale of the issue.

26/10/16 - ‘If I can do it, anyone can’: The 25-year-old who’s been travelling non-stop for four years

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/travellers-stories/if-i-can-do-it-anyone-can-the-25yearold-whos-been-travelling-nonstop-for-four-years/news-story/c608180403bb17c1d3f2a6d1186b1f56

The story is about a woman named Brooke Saward who has been travelling for the past 4 years and documenting it on social media. It highlights both the issues and opportunities that has been created for her such as the stereotypical dream lifestyle and the impact it has on an audience, It also shows what advertisements have done particularly in terms of Saward constantly being funded by them.

O Instagram has an average 500 million monthly users.

“We live in the age of the internet. Anything can happen to anyone, it’s just about not being afraid of what’s going to come back at you.”

I think this article highlights the impact social media has had on peoples lifestyles and the definitions of a career. While the internet has allowed for people to travel for a living simply from ad revenue, sponsors and creative blogging e.t.c. It has also created a 'dream lifestyle' on one hand it may not be a complete issue as anyone can in fact do it if they work hard enough and gain and audience whilst also appealing to brands, the audience is not always aware of the process and what goes on behind the scenes. Online we only see the edited good parts in photos or videos. there's almost no insight into the parts where you're meeting with brand and dealing with the more admin parts thus creating an unrealistic idea of their life.