Internet To Attract More News Viewers, But Won’t Eliminate Print Media

The Internet is currently redrawing the media landscape and will for decades to come, but traditional media will not be left out of the picture, according to two University of Alabama journalism professors.

Dr. Ed Mullins, chairman of the UA journalism department, and Dr. Jim Stovall, founder of Dateline Alabama, the news Web site of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, both agree that the future of the Web is still a mystery. But in the near future, it will serve more as a helpmate to traditional media.

“Nobody knows where the Web is taking us, but when it comes to journalism, old media will be the dominant players in the new media game,” said Mullins. “Some ratings services report that most Americans go to sites operated by old-line media when looking for news on the Web.”

Just as national old media dominate the Web at that level, local old media run mostly by newspapers and, to a lesser degree, by TV stations dominate those markets. Is there a pattern here? Yes, say Mullins and Stovall. “At least in the first decade of the Web, newspaper companies dominate Web journalism,” explained Mullins.

“Why? They specialize in news and that gives them an advantage. Sure, they dabble in entertainment. Most so-called sports news, for example, is entertainment. And they run tons of advertising and want more. But what bears the freight is news and what most readers go to Web sites for is news and e-mail, a form of person-to-person news, especially in the form of ‘chatting.’ The Web is clearly where most college students get their news today.”

The reason for newspaper dominance in Web journalism, says Stovall, is that they have the biggest investment in news. “The Birmingham News, for example, with about 175 positions, has more journalists on its payroll than all of the state’s broadcast, cable and Web-only entities combined,” he said. “Newspapers are in their fourth decade of relative circulation and ad revenue decline. No, the newspaper industry does not sell fewer newspapers or fewer inches of advertising than it did in the ’60s. But proportionate to the population and to advertising carried in all media, newspapers’ numbers are down.”

Does the Web portend a further relative decline in these numbers? Yes, the educators say, but there will still be enough business for all mainline media to remain strong. But there is a difference in the era of the Web. It makes every company a potential point-of-purchase advertiser/seller and news disseminator, bypassing traditional media. However, since news and advertising are not the core businesses of these companies, old media are likely to remain the dominant force in new media journalism, according to Mullins and Stovall.