Print media is losing ground to electronic media because of its lack of ability to be as fresh/relevant in various elements including but not limited to; the content it provides as well as how they deliver that content to their readers. Electronic media’s major advantage over print media is the breaking down of the boundaries and limitations that exist within print media. The articles in this week’s reading: Libraries “Have Had Their Day” and The End of Books speak on the issue and highlight different aspects of both types of media. While print media does have some benefits, they are overshadowed by the disadvantages it presents when compared to electronic media. Electronic media’s superiority over printed media is clearly evident and is continuing to grow, especially in this fast tracked technological era that our society is currently living in.
A media’s most important value is their content; the information and news that they are providing to their readers. This is arguably what makes or breaks the reputation of a media outlet; with that being said printed media is at a huge disadvantage because of its limited content distribution. A printed media outlet can only give you access to a limited amount of information at a given time as opposed to electronic media where the information is constantly flowing and being updated by the second. In addition, electronic media outlets allow for interactions and the manipulation of information/news to be possible between the public’s. In the article The End of Books, the author speak on the content that is available on electronic media outlets; specifically “Hypertext”. The content on Hypertext as well as other electronic media outlets break the typical mold that printed narratives follow and allow for a much looser, unstructured expectations of what literature should be. Electronic media opens the door for content of all types to have a platform of their own, along with allowing readers and writers to have a broader range of topics to choose from when it comes to their literature.
How media outlets present their pieces of information is arguably just as important as the content they’re displaying. Printed media is traditional when it comes to their delivery system; publishing physical copies of their work and placing them on newsstands. This method has been around for some time now, but it is obviously coming second to the delivery strategies of electronic media. While this method does give consumers the satisfaction of physically owning a piece of literature as well as benefit publishers, book stores, and authors financially it doesn’t do much justice in promoting their work in today’s society. For example, in the article Libraries “Have Had Their Day” libraries are considered irrelevant by the author. In an era where any single piece of information can be accessed online easily through your computer or mobile device; the relevancy of libraries is at an all time low, arguably. In the other hand, electronic media outlets are pros at delivering their news whether it is by search engines, promotion on social media sites, personalized new sources, etc. The delivery system of electronic media is to make their new sources easily accessible and as relevant as possible to their prospective readers.
Printed media is fighting an inevitable defeat when competing with electronic media. The limitations that exist within printed media are the very thing that is causing its irrelevancy when compared to electronic media. Electronic media is a limitless concept that allows individuals to freely access, manipulate information and interact with one another, including the publisher themselves.
1 comments
I agree, with your ideas. New forms of media platforms are more innovative because they are more convenient and allow consumers to interact with producers of content and authors.