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In the world where technology serves as a convenience store to the human race, is there little hope left for the printed word? What does the future hold for magazines, newspapers, and books in the middle of its gyrating competition with their electronic counterparts? Witness history as eleven students take the challenge to voice out their opinions on the status of the print industry. Read, listen, see and believe.
The Fine Print is an online publication owned by a group of Communication Arts students from De La Salle University Manila in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course subject Introduction to Print (INTPRIN). Any unauthorized distribution of content indicated in this site will be heavily penalized.
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The views expressed in this website are attributed to its respective authors and do not necessarily represent The Fine Print and De La Salle University - Manila. Special thanks to Afeeqah for the website layout. Copyright 2012-2013.
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The Sustenance of Newspapers Through Commodification
written on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 @ 3:16 PM ✈
Cruz, Rio
INTPRIN A51
Mr. Randy Torrecampo
The Sustenance of Newspapers Through Commodification
Across
history, the dissemination of information has been established in multiple
ways. Olden individuals would exchange news long before a proper form of
writing system was established. News would go around orally on crossroads,
campfires and most especially market places. Men dubbed as “criers” would roam
from village to village announcing events such as births, deaths and other
significant happenings within a particular setting. (Stephens, 1997) Upon the
establishment of literacy, the circulation of news has evolved into formality.
Early accounts of written news were found in ancient civilization such as in
Rome and in China. Fast forward to the invention of the printing press, where
it was heavily utilized in order to disseminate news in Europe, newsbooks were
established and gradually fathered the modern newspaper, as we know today.
(Stephens, 1997)
Today we
recognize newspapers as more than just an avenue by which we can absorb
information, it has penetrated our lives in such a way that it has encompassed
the ability to organize cultures all across the world, uniting us, and giving
us various perspectives towards people from all across the globe regarding a
particular event or issue. In an educational setting, the newspaper proves its
importance by building students’ learning and thinking capabilities, further
stimulation their interest in reading thus the more enhanced effectivity in
their venture for higher learning. (Gardner & Sullivan, 2004) In the world
of commerce and trade, the newspaper plays a significant role as corporate
magnates and classified advertisements and other forms of announcements have
graced its pages to keep transactions flowing and consumers informed. With fast
paced growth that the modern society is experiencing with regards to
technology, multiple sources of information has arisen. The emergence of the
internet has broken several barriers with regards to receiving information as
it is something cheaper and more accessible to people. Newspaper publishers are
experiencing bankruptcy in line with the recession as economic turmoil
propelled alongside a growing void in newsprint consumers. Revenue has been
minimal which have pushed these publishers to eventually close down, leaving a
series of newspapers to one by one close down. (Rogers, 2013) Undeniably, there
has been a marginal decline with print news publications because of the lesser
demand from people. One of the primary reasons for this decline is the
multi-platform availability of the newspapers’ most important commodity; the
news. Deriving from the survey my group mates and I conducted among our peers,
the internet proved to be the most favored primary news source where 73% of the
correspondents answered a 5 on a 1-5 scale of frequency. While other media
platforms such as radio and television garnered a significantly high number
regarding frequency of use while the newspaper deems to be the least frequented
source of information in our survey. However, it must be stressed that the
correspondents have indicated that among all the news sources, the newspaper
proves to be the most credible source for them. Our survey mirrors global
statistical analysis conducted by the University of California, Berkeley as more
people are consuming news online shown below:
With these results,
the trend becomes ever more clear. People, especially the younger age groups
are now more dependent on the Internet for their primary news sources
(Garbowicz, 2013). The trend remains at constant increase and has yet to witness
a decline, which leads us to questions regarding the financial viability and
survival of newspapers.
The theory of
commodification originates in Marx’s Grundrisse, in which he
noted that objects are commodified by acquiring an exchange value, instead of
having merely an intrinsic value in the same way, cultural products in the form
of images, ideas and symbols are produced and sold in media markets as
commodities (MqQuail, 2009). To break it down simply, commodification occurs
when anything is exchanged for a particular value much like how women are
commodified through prostitution because they capitalize on their bodies in
order to achieve the exchange value that is money. Reliable news or
simply reliable information is a newspaper’s most important commodity to offer,
this is primarily their main source of cash flow but with the changing world
that we are in right now, most are forced go multi platform in order to save
their brand. According to The Economist, top ranking news publications have capitalized
on their established credibility and commodified their news to be able to
sustain financial income. A few examples of newspapers joining the online
transition and gaining wild success would be the Huffington Post, New
York Times and Guardian. One might blatantly ask; don’t
they offer news for free? How do they then earn money? Publications owe their
online financial success to online advertisements, these are other companies
and corporations as well that are willing to pay the website in order to
showcase a particular ad to the online viewer audiences. In line with the
technological advancements that brought about the internet, a new niche market
has also been created with the emergence of handheld devices like smartphones
and tablets that are run on application softwares or simply ‘apps’. Newspapers
have further found salvation within these ‘apps’ because through this, news has
again undergone commodification by going back to the same old system of
subscription models. Like door to door delivery, news brands have successfully
converted free readers into paying subscribers which perks them of premium
news. This has been founded on the idea that people would rather going straight
into an app instead of searching for news and that that market is willing to
pay for that advantage (Suciu, 2012). But what of the sustenance of print
news or newspapers? Well with the thriving e-commerce that news brands have
participated in, we should still keep in mind that there still exists a digital
divide and only a significant fraction of the world population has access to
the Internet. The access to technology is not enough to eradicate the digital
divide (Meyer, 2013). This directly indicates that there is still are
still audiences that newspapers can cater to which completely obliterates
theories of the death of newspapers. In sustaining print news, news brands may
very well utilize their online income to fund print circulation because so long
as there is reliable news to commodify, the viability and sustainability of
newspapers will remain possible. Trends may come and go but it is paramount to
keep in mind that newspapers will remain in circulation today and also in the
distant future because of the varying audiences it has yet to cater to.
SOURCES
- McQuail, Denis. “McQuail's Mass Communication Theory.” 6.1. London: Sage Publications, 2005. Google Books. Web. 5 July 2013.
- Stephens, Mitchell. “History of Newspapers” Collier’s Encylopedia (1997). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier's%20page.htm>
- Garner, John and Sullivan, Betty. “ The Newspaper as a Tool for Educational Empowerment: Origins and Rationale”. The New York Times (2004). Web 10 Dec.2013.
- < http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/faculty/coll_mono_gard.html>
- Rogers, Tony. “Why Are Newspapers Dying?” About (2013). Web 10 Dec.2013.
- < http://journalism.about.com/od/trends/a/dyingpapers.htm>
- Garbowicz, Paul. “The Transition To Digital Journalism” Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. (2013). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/digital-transform/print-and-broadcast-news-vs-internet/>
- N.p. “To Survive Online, Newspapers Are Seeking A Worldwide Audience”. News of the World (2012). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.economist.com/node/21550262>
- Suciu, Peter. “Newspapers May Find Salvation In Mobile Apps”. E-commerce Times (2012). Web. 10 Dec 2013. < http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74669.html>
- Meyer, Leila. “Digital Divide: Access Is Not Enough” Tech Literacy (2013). Web. 10 Dec 2013. <http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/07/10/digital-divide-access-is-not-enough.aspx>
Labels: newspapers, rio
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The Sustenance of Newspapers Through Commodification
written on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 @ 3:16 PM ✈
Cruz, Rio
INTPRIN A51
Mr. Randy Torrecampo
The Sustenance of Newspapers Through Commodification
Across
history, the dissemination of information has been established in multiple
ways. Olden individuals would exchange news long before a proper form of
writing system was established. News would go around orally on crossroads,
campfires and most especially market places. Men dubbed as “criers” would roam
from village to village announcing events such as births, deaths and other
significant happenings within a particular setting. (Stephens, 1997) Upon the
establishment of literacy, the circulation of news has evolved into formality.
Early accounts of written news were found in ancient civilization such as in
Rome and in China. Fast forward to the invention of the printing press, where
it was heavily utilized in order to disseminate news in Europe, newsbooks were
established and gradually fathered the modern newspaper, as we know today.
(Stephens, 1997)
Today we
recognize newspapers as more than just an avenue by which we can absorb
information, it has penetrated our lives in such a way that it has encompassed
the ability to organize cultures all across the world, uniting us, and giving
us various perspectives towards people from all across the globe regarding a
particular event or issue. In an educational setting, the newspaper proves its
importance by building students’ learning and thinking capabilities, further
stimulation their interest in reading thus the more enhanced effectivity in
their venture for higher learning. (Gardner & Sullivan, 2004) In the world
of commerce and trade, the newspaper plays a significant role as corporate
magnates and classified advertisements and other forms of announcements have
graced its pages to keep transactions flowing and consumers informed. With fast
paced growth that the modern society is experiencing with regards to
technology, multiple sources of information has arisen. The emergence of the
internet has broken several barriers with regards to receiving information as
it is something cheaper and more accessible to people. Newspaper publishers are
experiencing bankruptcy in line with the recession as economic turmoil
propelled alongside a growing void in newsprint consumers. Revenue has been
minimal which have pushed these publishers to eventually close down, leaving a
series of newspapers to one by one close down. (Rogers, 2013) Undeniably, there
has been a marginal decline with print news publications because of the lesser
demand from people. One of the primary reasons for this decline is the
multi-platform availability of the newspapers’ most important commodity; the
news. Deriving from the survey my group mates and I conducted among our peers,
the internet proved to be the most favored primary news source where 73% of the
correspondents answered a 5 on a 1-5 scale of frequency. While other media
platforms such as radio and television garnered a significantly high number
regarding frequency of use while the newspaper deems to be the least frequented
source of information in our survey. However, it must be stressed that the
correspondents have indicated that among all the news sources, the newspaper
proves to be the most credible source for them. Our survey mirrors global
statistical analysis conducted by the University of California, Berkeley as more
people are consuming news online shown below:
With these results,
the trend becomes ever more clear. People, especially the younger age groups
are now more dependent on the Internet for their primary news sources
(Garbowicz, 2013). The trend remains at constant increase and has yet to witness
a decline, which leads us to questions regarding the financial viability and
survival of newspapers.
The theory of
commodification originates in Marx’s Grundrisse, in which he
noted that objects are commodified by acquiring an exchange value, instead of
having merely an intrinsic value in the same way, cultural products in the form
of images, ideas and symbols are produced and sold in media markets as
commodities (MqQuail, 2009). To break it down simply, commodification occurs
when anything is exchanged for a particular value much like how women are
commodified through prostitution because they capitalize on their bodies in
order to achieve the exchange value that is money. Reliable news or
simply reliable information is a newspaper’s most important commodity to offer,
this is primarily their main source of cash flow but with the changing world
that we are in right now, most are forced go multi platform in order to save
their brand. According to The Economist, top ranking news publications have capitalized
on their established credibility and commodified their news to be able to
sustain financial income. A few examples of newspapers joining the online
transition and gaining wild success would be the Huffington Post, New
York Times and Guardian. One might blatantly ask; don’t
they offer news for free? How do they then earn money? Publications owe their
online financial success to online advertisements, these are other companies
and corporations as well that are willing to pay the website in order to
showcase a particular ad to the online viewer audiences. In line with the
technological advancements that brought about the internet, a new niche market
has also been created with the emergence of handheld devices like smartphones
and tablets that are run on application softwares or simply ‘apps’. Newspapers
have further found salvation within these ‘apps’ because through this, news has
again undergone commodification by going back to the same old system of
subscription models. Like door to door delivery, news brands have successfully
converted free readers into paying subscribers which perks them of premium
news. This has been founded on the idea that people would rather going straight
into an app instead of searching for news and that that market is willing to
pay for that advantage (Suciu, 2012). But what of the sustenance of print
news or newspapers? Well with the thriving e-commerce that news brands have
participated in, we should still keep in mind that there still exists a digital
divide and only a significant fraction of the world population has access to
the Internet. The access to technology is not enough to eradicate the digital
divide (Meyer, 2013). This directly indicates that there is still are
still audiences that newspapers can cater to which completely obliterates
theories of the death of newspapers. In sustaining print news, news brands may
very well utilize their online income to fund print circulation because so long
as there is reliable news to commodify, the viability and sustainability of
newspapers will remain possible. Trends may come and go but it is paramount to
keep in mind that newspapers will remain in circulation today and also in the
distant future because of the varying audiences it has yet to cater to.
SOURCES
- McQuail, Denis. “McQuail's Mass Communication Theory.” 6.1. London: Sage Publications, 2005. Google Books. Web. 5 July 2013.
- Stephens, Mitchell. “History of Newspapers” Collier’s Encylopedia (1997). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier's%20page.htm>
- Garner, John and Sullivan, Betty. “ The Newspaper as a Tool for Educational Empowerment: Origins and Rationale”. The New York Times (2004). Web 10 Dec.2013.
- < http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/faculty/coll_mono_gard.html>
- Rogers, Tony. “Why Are Newspapers Dying?” About (2013). Web 10 Dec.2013.
- < http://journalism.about.com/od/trends/a/dyingpapers.htm>
- Garbowicz, Paul. “The Transition To Digital Journalism” Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. (2013). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/digital-transform/print-and-broadcast-news-vs-internet/>
- N.p. “To Survive Online, Newspapers Are Seeking A Worldwide Audience”. News of the World (2012). Web. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.economist.com/node/21550262>
- Suciu, Peter. “Newspapers May Find Salvation In Mobile Apps”. E-commerce Times (2012). Web. 10 Dec 2013. < http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74669.html>
- Meyer, Leila. “Digital Divide: Access Is Not Enough” Tech Literacy (2013). Web. 10 Dec 2013. <http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/07/10/digital-divide-access-is-not-enough.aspx>
Labels: newspapers, rio
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How It All Began
The realization of a goal began one chilly September night of 2013 in Mr. Randy Torrecampo's Introduction to Print (INTPRIN) held at M206 of De La Salle University - Manila. The multi-talented and energetic Student Media Office director instructed the class to produce a final output as a showcase of their learnings on the status of the print industry. Since then, this group of eleven of DLSU's finest in the field of Communication Arts have taken their talents online by expressing various viewpoints on newspapers, books, advertisements, magazines, and digital media. And this is how The Fine Print came to be, aiming to explore the word one step at a time.
Who's Who
Sir Randy is the senior editor of The Fine Print and probably one of the few singing professors in the face of this spherical Earth. The moment he belts out the Aladdin theme song, his enchanting voice makes the world stop for a while because for they "don't want to miss a thing" (Aerosmith, 1998).
Bryan is the sole male staffer in this online publication. He is very passionate with the mass media industry and a renowned speaker.
Candice is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is currently the web manager and also a major contributor to this fine publication. She enjoys writing and eating at the same time.
Czar is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor in this fine publication. She likes to travel, create videos, and go on adventures.
Mona is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She has a really enchanting singing voice that makes everyone's hearts beat faster in addition to taking breathtaking photographs.
Erika is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She loves to draw anything that tickles her fancy.
Issa is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She is a dancer with a renowned Philippine dance group who has also appeared in several short films and music videos.
Madi is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She is passionate about fashion and indie music.
Rio is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She is an aspiring graphic artist and filmmaker.
Maisie is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She enjoys entertaining audiences with her killer dance moves.
Marielle is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She is a wonder whose size does not hinder her from being a charm to the people around her.
Sammie is a female staffer of The Fine Print who is a major contributor to this fine publication. She is an aspiring filmmaker and considers Samantha Jones of HBO's Sex and The City as her queen.
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my sunshine
links exchanged opened! just tag me but link me first
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link
coming soon....
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