New media – repetition of traditional news?
By Desi Tzoneva
Let’s have a brief audit of the media. The traditional channels of print; radio; and TV are now being booted out of the way by the growth and development of social media through Twitter feeds and Facebook updates as well as the advent of blogs and citizen journalism.
The fast pace of technological developments doesn’t only mean our lives are spinning towards, what seems like an unknown point, but that we also have to keep up. Media is keeping up today by following the online bandwagon and all its associated gadgets; glitters; and paraphernalia. One such example is Twitter. As useful as it is to find out about Martha Stewart’s terrible presentation at
Design Indaba, I can’t really consider this as something relevant to my life, unless I really ran out of conversation and desperately needed to fill an awkward silence. Ok, Martha sucked. So what? That’s not really hard news. And neither is the fact that a multitude of interested parties can join the bandwagon and complain about her performance. Or is it? This is merely one example. Many abound.
While I don’t want to regurgitate the debate around traditional versus new media, I think there’s something that needs to be examined. Yes, we all know by now that online is threatening print; that journalism is including much more voice from grassroots level; and that social media has a capacity to spread information with an explosive effect. But isn’t it perhaps important to ‘go two steps forward and one step back’ and just look at how we define news? I’ve put together a small explanation, and what I find is that what is considered news today hasn’t really changed.
Here are the
qualities of news: at its most basic, news is pretty much anything ‘new’, but what makes it newsworthy is the timeliness of an event; its impact on a wider society; proximity to a certain group; the capacity of an event to create controversy; the prominence of the people involved; the current nature of an event; and its ‘oddity’.
Another aspect I’d like to re-explore is the traditional journalistic principles of objectivity and fairness. Hasn’t it been said that
“journalism's first obligation is to the truth; its first loyalty is to citizens; its essence is a discipline of verification; that practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover; that it must serve as an independent monitor of power; provide a forum for public criticism and compromise; strive to make the significant interesting and relevant; and finally, to keep the news comprehensive and proportional?”These values separate journalism from other forms of communication. If we’re still together on this one, let’s continue. If this is journalism, what about social media and Twitter feeds and such? How can that be said to create news? A Twitter feed can be really useful, as there are cases where you end up finding out about breaking news before it becomes breaking news. The immediacy of the information is profound, but at the end of the day, the account belongs to an individual or a corporation, representing its identity, and is not an independent source of news. Brands can respond to complaints or queries and allay a crisis; individuals can post their opinions; and in some cases, we can actually get news worthy information. But it’s not really news, and the medium itself has been argued to be
unsustainable.
I’d like to end off my rant by leaving you with insight from the January 2010 research report by the
Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. Although the research was collected from findings in Baltimore, US, I think these echo what I would like to say.
Here are the findings:
- Traditional media still generates the bulk of information that reaches the public;
- New media platforms and services like Twitter mainly repeat information generated elsewhere;
- While the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media;
- Much of the ‘news’ people receive contains no original reporting; and
- Most new information comes from traditional media, and these stories tend to set the narrative agenda for most other media outlets.
What do you think? Ponder and post your comments on our
blog.
View allABC releases latest print circulation figures
By Desi Tzoneva
On 4 March, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) released the latest print circulation figures for the period October to December 2009.
Daily Newspapers
In the ‘daily newspapers’ category, six out of 28 daily newspapers reported an increase in total circulation figures. Among these, the largest increases were recorded for
Bukedde, with a circulation jump of 40%;
The Namibian, with a jump of 20%; and
Son (Daily), recording an increase of 18%. Smaller gains were made by the
Daily Nation and
Isolezwe, which jumped 6.3% and 5% respectively. The total percentage decline for this category from the previous corresponding period, however, represents a total drop of 0.7%.
Weekly Newspapers
The ‘weekly newspaper’ category saw a number of movements, with the inclusion of new entrant,
Soccer Week, as well as the discontinuation of
Son (Weekly). Six weekly newspapers recorded a decline, with
Soccer Laduma seeing a decline of 13%. Publications in this category which fared better than the previous corresponding period include:
The Mmegi Reporter; Botswana Gazette; Botswana Guardian; The Midweek Sun; and the
Mmegi Monitor, up by 16%; 13.3%; 10.5%; 9%; and 6% respectively.
Weekend Newspapers
The ‘weekend newspapers’ category recorded a total decline of 3.4% compared to the previous corresponding period. This category saw the introduction of one new member, the
Sondag Son, and the discontinuation of
The Weekender. Overall, only six of the 30 publications in this category recorded an increase in circulation figures, including
Isolezwe ngeSonto, which jumped 25%. Others making gains include
Rapport; Saturday Dispatch; Sunday Nation; Sunday Sun; and
Taifa Jumapili. Weekend newspapers recording a decline include
Sondag;
The Saturday Star; Sunday World; Press; and
Sunday Times, dropping 29%; 13%; 12%; 10%; and 8.1% respectively.
Community Press Newspapers
This category recorded an overall increase of 3.4% from the corresponding previous period. Overall, it saw increased circulation among 26 publications, and a decrease in 34 publications. It also saw four new members, with the additions of
Die Pos; Polokwane Observer; Tembisan; and
The Courier. Meanwhile,
Northern Review Midweek was discontinued, and the
Breedrivier Gazette changed sectors.
Hybrid Newspapers
The ‘hybrid newspapers’ category saw a decline of 2.8%, with the largest influencing factor being the 5% circulation drop in
The Times newspaper, from the previous corresponding period.
Excelsior News/ Nuus became a new member to this category during the period.
Free Newspapers
The ‘free newspapers’ category recorded a very slight change in total circulation from the previous corresponding period, at 0.7%. A total of 83 publications recorded an increase in circulation; while 43 recorded a decrease; and 47 remained unchanged. In this category, too, the
Breedrivier Gazette changed sector classification; the
Helderpos submitted no audit report;
Play on (Bloemfontein) and
The South African Art Times were classified as resigned; and
Lentswe – The Voice was suspended. The following publications were discontinued:
KwaZulu-Natal Agri; Limpopo Agri; Mpumalanga Agri; North West Agri; Northern Cape Agri; Eastern Cape Agri; Free State Agri; Gauteng Agri; Cape Chat; and
City Vision (Johannesburg).
Consumer Magazines
The ‘arts, culture and heritage’ category picked up 92%, influenced by the circulation figures of new members, including
WordsEtc; Tempo; Bravo; and
A Look Away. Business and news consumer magazines jumped 27%, influenced mainly by the 88% increase by
Entrepreneur. Celebrity categories showed an overall slight decrease of 9%, with the biggest decline (10%) seen by
People magazine. Conservation and wildlife publications showed a slight overall change of 0.4%. Entertainment magazines indicated an overall decline of 11.2%, with larger decreases seen in
Eat Out magazine (97%) and
TV Plus, which fell by 18%.
Family interest publications increased by 2.9%, with
Bona and
Drum showing increases of 13% and 7.4% respectively. Overall farming publications in this category fell slightly by 3.8%, with
Farming SA rising by 10.7%. The health category publications showed overall growth of 8.6%, with ‘home’ category publications increasing 15%.
Leisure also increased by 3.4% overall, with all publications in this category – apart from
Avocado/ Avokado, which increased – remaining relatively stable. Male magazines showed a significant decline of 11%; motoring and parenting remained almost unchanged with a slight decrease of 0.6% and 0.8% respectively.
Publications related to pets fell 5% while science/technology publications increased by 160%, influenced greatly by the first figures of new entrant,
TechSmart Magazine. Sport and hobby magazines increased by 8.8%; travel showed an overall decrease of 13.5%; woman’s general decreased slightly by 5%; woman’s special also decreased by 6%; and youth declined by 16%.
Business-to-Business Magazines
In this category, publications in the following sectors saw an increase in total circulation figures on the corresponding previous period: agricultural (10.7%); automotive (12.5%); electrical engineering (13%); health and wellbeing (6%); hospitality, catering and tourism (3.8%); industry (25%); management (53%); and transport and logistics (8.5%).
Publications which experienced a decrease in circulation figures include those in: architecture (2.5%); civil construction (8.8%); communication (0.8%); engineering (other) (3%); information and computer technology (29%); mining and quarrying (0.7%); property (with a 97% decrease as a result of movement of four of the five publications in this category changing sectors); and retail (10%).
Custom Magazines
In custom magazine publishing, industry specific magazines increased by 6%; medical increased by 5.4%; professional by 3.5%; and retail by 0.1%.
This category showed an overall 8.3% decrease as a result of entertainment decreasing by 22%; health and wellbeing by 14%; industry falling by 9%; in flight publications declining by 195%; leisure decreasing by 16%; and tourism and hospitality publications indicating a significant decline of 60%.
Free Magazines
Overall circulation figures for this category indicate a decrease of 10% from the corresponding previous period.
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