Question 1 -. ‘It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves—the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public—has stopped being a problem.’ (Clay Shirky, ‘Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable’, http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-unthinkable/). How much do digital and networked media dismantle the “publishing industry”? Is it being replaced? If so, what is replacing it? If not, what is surviving of the older publishing industry, and how is it doing so?
The Influence of New Form of Media towards Publishing Industry
The history of publishing industry started in the year 1450 in Europe when Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press, a movable printing machine inspired from the wine presses device (Briggs A & Burke P 2002, p.15). In other part of the world, such as in China and Japan, block printing has been employed to print ideograms since eighth century (Briggs A & Burke P 2002, p.15). Since then, block printing and printing press has served as the base to the development of contemporary publishing system of the 21st century.
The birth of the World Wide Web in 1990 has had a significant impact on the publishing industry. The Internet has intensified the employment of digital publications and assembles various sources of information under one accessible platform. Modern publication systems such as e-books, online newspapers, texters, smartphones and interactive multimedia are currently transforming the traditional publishing methods at a rapid pace across the globe (O’shaughnessy M. & Stadler J. 2008, p.3). On top of that, multi-functional tablet pc such as Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy tab and the recently launched Acer Iconia makes it more pleasing for consumers to shift towards the digital and networked publications.
Besides that, globalisation is another factor that promotes the transition towards the new digital and networked media. In relation to publishing, the key elements of this worldwide occurrence are global interdependence, increase in digital interactivity, hybridisation of various media forms, interconnectedness and virtual exchange of information (O’shaughnessy M. & Stadler J. 2008 ,p.463). This new forms of media enables us to overcome several problems associated with traditional publishing system, whereas in general improving the features of publishing industry. This essay will analyze the effect and influence of the new digital media towards the publishing industry.
Generally, the digital media is more pleasing and attractive. Mitchell (2004) describes that this new form of publishing is hard to ignore due to several good reasons; digital files can be stored in light data storage devices, it is accessible in almost any place that have internet connection, it is always available, never run out of physical copy, can be printed out as hard copy, as well as connected with other virtual database (Thornburn D. & Jenkins H. 2004, p.203). These are some of the factors that influence the shift and transition in media.
Besides,as has been mentioned earlier, digital interactivity is another appealing feature of the modern media (Thornburn D. & Jenkins H. 2004, p. 218).In this context, Thornburn (2004) defined the concept as an active relationship between participants and medium. Nowadays, almost all book publishers have their own website as a medium to interact with general public, suppliers and possible buyers. Web pages for well known publishers such as Cmbridge University Press, Sage and MIT Press provide a lot of information rather than just being an online catalogue. Oxford University Press website, for example, offers information about current news of the company, publisher’s contact and employment opportunities. On top of that, as publishers found that digital publications are more profitable, they began to gradually change several aspect of the traditional publishing industry.
Furthermore, as some traditional publishers found out that their sales have drop and demand for their publications is fluctuating, they began to counter the problem by adapting the concept of printing on demand (POD). In most cases, digital printing has greatly affected the demand for customary practices of offset printing. According to Kleper (2000), the idea of printing on demand was discovered after the existence of digital printing. This system has replaced the practice of printing books in a large quantity without knowing the real amount of order.
The other area that experienced significant transition is advertising. Over recent years, digital media consumers are witnessing a gradual growth in the quantity of online advertisement, especially the one which employs the Internet and World Wide Web. According to Interactive Advertising Bureau (2011), revenue gained from online advertising in the first quarter of 2011 is $7.3 billion, which is the highest figure ever recorded since 1999. This proves that more producers are advertising their product online. In this context, online commercial have several advantages compared to advertisement in printed publications. The most superior feature is there are a lot of forms of online commercial, which ranges from text, display, pop-up, streaming sidebar, pull down banner, motion graphics, interstitial, video, e-mail and on-site sponsorship (Types of Online Advertising 2011). Almost all of them are designed to be attractive and eye-catching to grasp the attention of internet users.
Other than that, online advertising enable corporations to track the number of internet users that access the commercial, having wider spatial scale and to some extent cheaper compared to its traditional predecessor. In my opinion, it is quite difficult to comprehend the degree of effectiveness of advertisement in printed publications since advertisers could not really monitor its progress.With the shift of advertisers towards the new digital and interconnected media, players of customary publishing industry which rely heavily on revenue from commercial have to develop a new business plan to retain their company’s position in the market.
In certain cases, printed publications have been fully replaced by its digital successor. Fisher (2010) claims that printed encyclopaedias, certain scholarly books and loose –leaf publications have been totally transformed into digital form such as PDF (Portable Document Folder) and Microsoft word documents. These PDF files can be viewed either by computer, tablet pc, or e-books. A good example of online encyclopaedia which was formerly published in printed form is Australian Dictionary of National Biography (Fisher J. 2010, p. 119). Fisher (2010) also argues that digital database can be easily updated and altered, as well as facilitate the process of addition of new information. Furthermore, he also adds that funds allocated for printing of inventory could be directed towards investing in more research and improving the features of online database.In this context, it is quite clear why some publishers have brought to an end the production of printed encyclopaedia. First of all, this hardback is usually bulky, heavy and inconvenient to be carried around. Next, online encyclopaedia and search engines offer faster access to a particular subject compared to the hardback version. In addition, user can explore more information about the topic such as related images and videos through the World Wide Web.
Despite various seductive features of the new digital publishing system, printed text still exist in the market and does not become obsolete. Greco (2010) argues that older publishing industry which produces printed materials will continue to survive in the foreseeable future. He also adds that Americans regards book as special in a way that it allows the reader to engage with complex educational, intellectual, and cultural topic (Greco A. N., 2005, p.3). In addition, they did not treat book as common goods that can be easily traded away. Furthermore, Briggs (2002) claims that the birth of internet in 1990 could not results in a situation of completely ‘paperless publishing’. He also adds that the society’s adaptation and engagement with digital media would not put an end to the customary process of writing, reading, and publishing.
This draws our attention towards the intrinsic value of the printed materials. Some people are more likely to engage with hard copy books, newspaper and magazines compared to its digital version. In most cases, it depends on individual’s personal preferences. Usually, from the perspective of senior citizens, they resist to change since they find it hard to change the lifestyle of reading newspapers early in the morning while having their breakfast. In addition, for the current generation of students, some of them find it irritating to read notes from the screen for a long period of time compared to books or notes printed on paper. This is closely related to the issue of eye fatigue and discomfort. In the case of magazines, usually the printed edition is more preferred compare to the digital version due to the facts that user can make remarks on the margins, cut out interesting articles, and some people regard their magazines collection as something valuable that is different to assemblages of invisible digital files in the storage devices.
Moreover, the Internet, digital files, and other new form of media can only be viewed through computer, tablet pc, smartphone or e-reader. In this case, not all people have access to these devices due to economic and financial constraint, whether at household or government level. This situation may sound irrelevant in developed western countries such as European nations, the United States and Australia. However, poor and less developed countries such as Republic of Congo, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Nigeria and Ethiopia have not develop their capacity and invest in information technology due to severe economic constraint. A large share of the country’s income is being spent to address problems such as starvation, malnutrition, and terminate the spread of harmful diseases like HIV and AIDS (Annan. A. K. 2000).Since less attention is given towards the progress of information technology, printed books and hard copy publications will still be used by a large proportion of the population.
Other than that, a report from Productivity Commission (2009) reveals that Australian book market has gained annual revenue of approximately $2.5 billion. This indicates that the traditional publishing industry is still making money despite mounted competition and challenges from digital publications. In addition, the report also shows that a large percentage of the book sales go to general title , whereas academic titles only account for 40% of the total revenue in 2009. This indicates that the demand for printed books does not only come from students in universities across the nation, but from the general public as well.
However, despite the fact that newspapers and magazines still survive until today, statistics shows that their sales are dropping. In this context, the figure for sales of national, metropolitan and regional newspaper in Australia has been decreasing by 2.7 % from September to December 2010(Jackson S., 2011). The titles that experience reduction in sales are The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and Australian Financial Review. Therefore, it can be deduced that the newspaper readership have experience a slight decline. The director of Newspaper Works, Tony Hale describe the dip in sale is the results of drastic media fragmentation in the digital age (Malik S., 2010).
Furthermore, Mr. Hale’s claim is further supported by data from Australia Bureau of Statistics which illustrates that in April 2011 the number of internet subscribers has reached 10.4 million (Australia's internet subscribers exceed 10 million ,2011). In other words, approximately 47 % of the total population have internet connection at home. This would pose threat to the older publishing industry in a way that the senior generation who regard printed newspaper as their best friend would change towards the more interactive online news and other engaging forms of media.
In conclusion, the new interconnected digital media have transformed some aspect of the publishing industry. We have witnessed the growth in online advertising, more publisher have engage with the idea of printing on demand, and some books have been made fully converted from physical to digital form. Despite technological advancement and innovations made in this area, publishers of printed newspaper and books are still gaining revenue from the sales of physical publications. Additionally, right until now, the general public are still reading tabloid newspaper, magazines and hardback books although the more appealing digital copy is available around them.
References:-
Annan A. K. 2000, Making Globalisation Work for the Poor, The Independent, accessed 7 June 2011, <http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/articleFull.asp?TID=27&Type=Article>
Australia's internet subscribers exceed 10 million, Internet Activity 2011, Australia Bureau of Statistics , accessed 6 June 2011, <http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/8153.0Media%20Release1Dec%202010?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=8153.0&issue=Dec%202010&num=&view= >
Briggs A & Burke P 2002, A Social History of The Media, From Gutenberg to the Internet, Polity Press, United Kingdom
Fisher J. 2010, E-books and the Australian Publishing Industry, Meanjin, Vol. 69, No. 3, Sep 2010,pp. 117-124.
Greco A. N. 2005, The Book Publishing Industry, Second Edition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Publishers, pp. 3-42
Internet Advertising Revenues Hit $7.3 Billion in Q1 ’11 2011, Interactive Advertising Bureau Press Release, accessed 5 June 2011, <http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-052611>
Jackson S. 2011, Newspaper and magazine sales dip but there are bright spots, The Australian, 11th February , accessed 3 June 2011, < http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/newspaper-and-magazine-sales-dip-but-there-are-bright-spots/story-e6frg8zx-1226003980691 >
Kleper, Michael L. 2000, ”The Handbook of Digital Publishing”. Vol. II., Rochester Institute of Technology, Prentice Hall
Malik S. 2010, Australian newspapers post drop in sales, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14th May, accessed 3 June 2011, < http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/australian-newspapers-post-drop-in-sales-20100514-v2dc.html >
O’shaughnessy M. & Stadler J. 2008, Media and Society, Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press, Victoria
Productivity Commission, Restrictions on the Parallel Importation of Books, Research report, Canberra, 2009, p.21
