Cyber News

Dan Tapscott, Chair, Alliance of Converging Technologies (Riley et al., 1998)
This “net,” or Internet, started more than 28 years ago.  However, on-line newspapers did not emerge on the scene until 1993, and were not prominent until the late 1990’s.  In 1996 only 154 online newspapers could be found, but by fall of 1997 an average of 3,000 had emerged (Riley et al., 1998).  This new presence in computer-mediated communication has had positive impacts on society.  Newspapers from around the globe have found an ideal medium for online publishing in the Internet.  First, I will discuss how online newspapers have created an enhanced product by grasping onto the Internets’ technical potential.  Second, I will show how newspapers have moved their original sense of community to an idea of an online community through online newspapers.  And finally, I will address the issue from a journalists’ perspective and demonstrate how online journalism enhances print newspapers rather than inhibiting them.

The newspapers of yesterday have found a new medium, the Internet, through which to relay their message.  However, the online product does not duplicate that of the original print product.  The Internet creates a new and exciting venue for newspapers to not only publish, but to enhance it as well.  The online newspaper taps into the web’s vast technical potential and produces an original and exciting product.  These online newspapers also expand to provide new services for their readers.  Newspapers on the web are enhanced version of their original print versions, but the Internet allows the publishers to create a web site that is technically superior to a printed newspaper.  First, web pages have great eye appealing digital graphics and backgrounds that create a better overall experience for the reader.  Also, more photographs are woven into the stories to enhance the print online.  And finally, sound and video are two of the numerous multimedia tools that are implemented to tell a story with more emphasis.  These many technical tools turn a news story into a news event.

Not only does the Internet create an enhanced look, but the vastness of the world-wide-web also creates a cost effective way of relaying great amounts of news with the high speed of your modem.  This information can be linked with hyperlinks so the information can be found quickly and easily.  Internal links can also be used to divide up massive amounts of information in a story so that the reader may easily digest the information (Neuberger et al., 1998).  Links also allow the user to jump to other related sites, advertisers sites, and any number of other online newspapers.  Online newspapers expand the amount of knowledge that can be accessed due to its vastness and it’s ease of navigation.  According to Singer (1999) know-bots are also a great tool for online newspapers.  These are pieces of software designed to search this vast information pool (the Internet) to find what you are looking for much easier.  You cannot find this in a print newspaper.  The technological aspects of the internet clearly shows that online newspapers make it faster and easier to access information via the web.

In addition to this easier search for information, an online reader can get regular updates as often as twice a day and therefore, stay more informed.  According to a survey of 63 newspapers, 50% of the online papers updated once a day, but the other 50% updated two times a day (Peng et al., 1999).  Many things happen from one edition of the print paper to the next.  However, the Internet, as a new medium, allows the newspaper to keep up-to-the minute information if necessary to keep the reader informed.

 Online newspapers do not only keep their readers more informed of current events, but they provide special services not offered by the printed-paper.  Due to the versatility of the Internet, new services including interactivity, personalization, and archival allow the online version of the newspaper to do much more than the hard copy ever could do (Peng et al., 1999).  With individualization, one can personalize their experience by expressing their opinion through email or forms, or they can create an information gallery specified to their interests (Singer, 1999).
  Perhaps your interests lie in trying to find an old issue of the paper.  This was previously only possible by going to the library.  Today, all one has to do is type in the issue number and date, and you can retrieve previous issues and/or historical information on the Internet.  Newspapers are discovering that people find this archival tool invaluable.  Therefore, many more web sites are implementing it onto their sites.  According to Peng et al. (1999), two-thirds of online papers have access to on-line archives.  By being able to find back issues, even if you are not up-to-date, you are only a few clicks away.

This idea of being informed, one may notice, does not always seem to be for one’s own interest.  Today, being informed is to be included in the community.  This is one of the purposes of the print newspaper, to act as a vehicle for the creation of a community in our society.  Online newspapers are taking this idea to the Internet by creating a virtual community.  These cyber newspapers are becoming highly visible on the net and are still associated with society and democracy.  Moreover though, these newspapers are tools to keep in touch with other people and to keep informed about the world around us (Riley et al., 1998).  Chat rooms, forums, and email services have been key features on on-line newspaper web sites.  Chat rooms and forums are tools that allow us to communicate with the people around us whether they are people of like minds, or people with differing views.  Either way we either find someone to relate to, or we are opening our minds to others views.  Email can also be a way for us to bring feedback to the paper (or the editor) so that we feel that we have some control over our “community.”

Whether some people realize it or not, our community extends beyond our city boundaries.  Many times we are not as informed about our nation or our world as we are about our local community.  Through online national and world newspapers, anyone can stay informed about the happenings in many parts of the globe.  Without having to purchase five different newspapers you can surf the web and find out about five different places, all of which are apart of our community as a whole.  This new technology of an online newspaper not only keeps us in the technological age, but also in the online community.

This technological age has come upon us whether we are ready or not.  “The newspapers seem to be losing the readers of tomorrow” (Neuberger et al., 1998). According to Neuberger et al. (1998), in East Germany the sale of newspapers dropped from 9 million to 5 ½ million in one year.  That is almost a fifty percent drop in subscriptions (Neuberger et al., 1998).  These journalists have to do something to keep their current customers and obtain new readers.  This is where the online newspaper takes over.  The Internet has provided journalists with a new medium with which to send their message.  Chyi & Lasorsa (1992) found that in a 1997 Nielsen poll, 30% of the US population aged 16 and older were online.  This new wave of people on the Internet is an untapped audience, and newspapers have formed strategic aims not to hinder their print versions but to complement, or help them thrive.  With a new wave of cyber kids growing up on the Internet, fewer of the print papers are being sold.  These online newspapers are accessible and “in the language” of this new generation.

 This new generation and the loss of many print readers have led the newspapers to create new goals for their online counterparts.  With lack of space for news, high production cost, and low profits in print, the newspapers must do something to keep society informed.  First they are improving their image.  They are also increasing their range of services and incorporating more advertising. The online newspaper is keeping more news up to the minute to increase information, but they are also using PR to gain more readers for their print product.  Finally, they are increasing the number of readers at a low cost.  In the end, the online newspaper is not a threat to the original print product.  However, it is a way to enhance journalism and spread information through technology that complements the original print.

Online newspapers have become a positive new presence in computer-mediated communication.  This ideal medium for newspapers online has led to much success.  First, I discussed how online newspapers have created an enhanced product by grasping onto the Internets technical potential.  Second, I demonstrated how newspapers have moved their original sense of community to an idea of an online community through online newspapers.  And finally, I addressed the issue from a journalists’ perspective and demonstrated how online journalism enhances rather than inhibits print newspapers.  Yes, there is a convergence of computer and the press.  However, your paperboy will not lose his job.  Online newspapers are only a necessary extension of journalism in the technological Era of the new millennium.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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