NEWS - LESSON 1: CONTEXT
WHY DO WE NEED THE PRESS? (REFERENCE USES + GRATS)
//Newspapers inform readers about events, providing them with facts and opinions which help them make their own judgement. However, the stories featured in different papers will reflect the opinion of the editor and, in turn, the owner of the paper.
//Along with information, papers have an entertainment function such as celebrity/pop culture, sports, TV, puzzles, and readers' letters (e.g dear Deidre)
//We need to be informed of opinions and views that aren't our own - news media provides a forum for this debate. If we just listened to our twitter feed for example, we would get a very one-sided perception of the world.
//The press are sometimes called the fourth estate - to reflect their important role in society (after the church, the state, the nobility and the commoners).
HOW MANY ADULTS DO NEWSBRANDS (UK NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR DIGITAL VERSIONS) REACH IN THE UK?
//Newsbrands reach 47.5 million adults in the UK.
//That's more than Google.
//The industry will still be worth an estimated £5 Billion in 2021.
LEVELS OF ATTENTION:
//Primary - focused on the media text.
//Secondary - doing something else at the same time.
//Tertiary - the media text is on in the background.
ECHO CHAMBERS:
Social media feeds inform us on the things we want to know and are interested in, but not always what we need to know as citizens. We modify our social media to follow and look at people who don't challenge our opinions and views which only reinforces personal ideologies. This puts us in an echo chamber, skewing our perception of reality and world view. mainstream media sets the news agenda - filtering the things we need to know about.
FAKE NEWS:
In a world of fake news, newsbrands become a reliable source of information. Journalists always cross-check and stand up stories, making sure their stories are reliable and the other side has been given the right of reply. If they print something false or misleading, the brand will suffer and they can be held to account. They will be reprimanded by IPSO, being made to announce a retraction for their news in a later paper.
THERE ARE THREE MAIN STEPS TO THE NEWS INDUSTRY:
//Production - sales of newspapers are decreasing because they are expensive commodities; Newspapers are expensive to produce because they require a large amount of material and they employ highly trained, educated staff in expensive, usually city-centre buildings. although stories can be submitted faster than ever before, once a newspaper is printed, it is already old news. Online news is cheaper and less cost consuming.
//Distribution - once produced, the papers have to be shipped across the country; another expensive process. In comparison, web-based news means there are no global boundaries, and markets can be international instead of local. Free newspapers are bucking the trend of declining circulation. The metro is free, and is attractive to advertisers who know their adverts will be seen by millions of professional commuters. This offsets the other costs of the paper.
//Marketing - newspapers need to promote their brand to encourage circulation and readership; advertising on TV (expensive), on social media (expensive, but less so), or using sister media channels. They will also do synergy deals with other companies offering products or services - such as giveaways in The Sun or Lego with The daily Mail.
//Circulation - The number of newspapers that have been distributed, NOT those sold. Circulation figures are important because they are used to set advertising rates.
OWNERSHIP:
Three Different types;
//Media Barons - Wealthy individuals who own the paper, or a group of papers.
//Trusts - A legal arrangement where finances form the owner are transferred to trustees to manage the control and running of the newspaper, without the direct influence of the owner.
//Cross-media conglomerates - Huge global institutions who own multiple media outlets. These may be owned by individuals or groups.
In the UK, the print news industry is run by just 7 COMPANIES. Nearly 60% of the market share is owned by two of these, News UK and DMG media. They are owned by two men, RUPERT MURDOCH and VISCOUNT ROTHERMERE.
MOST JOURNALISTS ARE FREELANCE:
//Most journalists send their work to press agencies such as Reuters or the Press association (PA)
//The PA are an unbiased group who provide objective information to their clients.
//This information is then sold to newspapers who can mould the information to their values.
//DMG media and News UK are both shareholders in PA.
//The information they receive is still free of bias, but is can be accessed at a free or reduced rate.
THE ROLE OF THE EDITOR:
//The information that is submitted to newspapers must be sifted, this is done by the editor.
//Editors not only select, but omit stories based on what will appeal to their audiences.
//Editors can practice 'protective coverage' which is the withholding of information on the grounds it would be harmful to powerful people or to the public, or impede a criminal investigation taking place.
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION IS IN LONG-TERM DECLINE:
//Since January 2001, the total circulation of the UK's 10 major newspapers has declines from 12 million copies sold on average each day to a daily average of 6 million in May 2014, 57% in a matter of 14 years.
PRINT ADVERTISING REVENUES:
//From 2000 to 2015, newspaper revenue fell by 11% to 1.2 Billion, a loss of 155 million in ad spend.
//It is estimated that digital revenue plugged 25% of the shortfall.
//Meanwhile, over the same period, internet advertising grew by 17% to 8.6 Billion.
QUESTIONS:
1)How much revenue do newspapers contribute to the UK economy?
5.3 Billion
2)What is Dinsmore's biggest complaint about the way content is being monetized? Other people - mostly Google and Facebook - are monetizing their content.
3)How much revenue do papers get per year per print customer compared to per digital customer? £125 VS £15
4)What percentage of new content is being generated by newsbrands in the UK? 58%, however they aren't getting anywhere near 58% of the revenue.
5)Newspapers used to own a story for 24 hours, now they own it for 24 seconds, what does this mean? As soon as headlines appear, they start appearing on other sources.
6)What percentage of worldwide digital advertising revenue do Google and Facebook get? 2/3
7)How many users does Google send to other sites per month? 10 Billion.
CHANGING NEWS INSTITUTIONS:
//Production - How the product is made. The big change here is that 'news' content is multi-media, online and constantly updated. The way news is produced is substantially different too - on the plus side, thew internet makes reporters more efficient.
//Distribution/Exchange - How institutions get their products to audiences. Today, news is multi-platform: smartphones, tablets etc as well as in print. On the plus side, printing papers reduces costs of printing presses, delivery vans, paper etc - on the minus side, fewer barriers to production means more competition.
//Marketing - The way institutions tell audiences about their product and encourage them to buy it. A big change is the level of integration with social networks, advertising and sponsorship. Facebook is a massive distribution driver with most newsbrands seeing it as one of the most important ways to market their product.
SO WHAT IS BEING DONE TO STOP THE DECLINE?
CIRCULATION SALES:
//14.3 Billion people read the paper every day.
//81% of newspaper revenue comes from circulation sales.
//The cost of a newspaper can range form 30p (Daily Star) to £2.70 (Financial Times)
ADVERTISING:
//Advertisers pay for a space in the newspaper, prices depend on circulation.
//The cot of a full-page advert in the Daily Mail is around £30,000.
//Newspapers make money from both adverts in print and online.
//Readers of print newspapers are 75% more likely to read an advert than online readers.
SOLUTION 1 - PAYWALLS:
//Make audiences pay a subscription to access digital content.
//Audiences can no longer access your content for free - they have to pay directly for your product.
//Who does it? - The Times, The Financial Times, The Sun, The Telegraph (partially)
//Has it worked? - It has been successful for The Financial Times and The Times to some extent.
//The Sun scrapped it's paywall in 2015 after it proved unsuccessful.
//It seems to work well where the content is premium and readers cannot get it anywhere else, usually with an ABC1 target audience.
SOLUTION 2 - DONATIONS:
//Improve your digital offer to drive as much traffic as possible to your sites to maximize your audience and therefore your options for digital advertising.
//One key component of this will be embedded video - a TV ad at the start of a 30 second clip is an attractive prospect to advertisers and potentially lucrative.
//Who is doing it? - Most non-Murdoch papers. The Guardian are vocal proponents of open journalism and have invested heavily in their digital operation. The Mirror is focusing it's efforts on maximizing .traffic.
//Is it working? Yes and no. Most papers find that digital revenues make up only around 25% of the revenue lost from sales and print advertising.
SOLUTION 3 - EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES
//Accessing the news online reduces environmental costs of producing newspapers.
//Audiences can access news continuously, and easily, and spread news through devices. It is easy to monitor what is popular with a paper's audience.
//Use technological convergence to make stories more personal to audiences.
//Audiences produce the content, upload it, then share it, thus increasing audiences. (prosumerism)
//Audiences produce their own news as citizen journalists - think the bloggers in Tunisia. You may want to look at the Diamond Reynolds video (POTENTIALLY UPSETTING)
//As a result, owners are no longer in control of the circulation and distribution of news - just look at what's popular in news at the moment.
MOBILE PHONES - TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE
//Convergence - When one device brings together a range of technologies. Audiences expect news to be multi-media.
NEWS STORIES NOW INCORPORATE:
//Text
//Pictures
//Feedback opportunities to comment and respond
//Video
//Audio
//Links to other related content
//Audiences expect - and get - a different and improved experience of news
//Newsbrands have to invest heavily in technology to provide this improved service.
THE PROBLEM WITH TECH:
//The proliferation of technology has led to a huge reduction in printing press.
//The guardian has lost 200,000 print readers in 10 years.
//The Independent is now an online-only paper.
//The lack of print publishers means that the control of the press is in the hands of the very few; the owner of the Star and the Express had to sell his shares to reach PLC in 2018 after circulation fell by 50% in 2017.
THE COMPETITION:
//Citizen Journalists - people reporting news by themselves via social media - blogs, twitter, etc.
//Aggregators - Curators - NewsNow, Huffington Post (partially), Buzzfeed, Upworthy.
//Aggregators don't produce the news themselves, they just repackage and sell on news that others have reported. As such, the barriers to enter the market are lower, they have lower overheads.
//Apps which have a personalized news feed using algorithms to work out what you're interested in.
//The convergence represented by mobile phones means anyone can research, record, and publish news.
//Newsbrand websites.
//BBC website (licence fee funded).
//The BBC is seen by many as the definitive source of reliable news.
SO, THERE ARE 3 MAIN PROBLEMS:
1)Who will pay for a newspaper when so many are giving away the news for free?
2)It makes the competition for digital advertising more intense.
3)Competition for audience attention is also intense - newsbrands have to ensure that their offer is at least as good as the competition. It must be up to the minute and must be multi-media.
ECONOMIC CONTEXT:
//Falling circulation.
//Falling newspaper sales.
//Falling revenues for print advertising.
//Digital advertising riding slowly but not filling the gap.
//Digital advertising revenue dominated by Facebook and Google - struggle to monetize content.
//Increased competition form internet news providers and social media - the challenge of making people pay for news where they can get it freely elsewhere.
SOCIAL CONTEXT:
//Even the digitally native millennials still trust newsbrands to give them the facts, they check out the stories they see on social media on newsbrand sites (97% use newsbrands)
//Newsbrands provide a FILTER service selecting the important and relevant news agenda.
//While aggregators provide a personal news feed, people also want to know what the main agenda is.
//Newsbrands are still seen as objective and reliable journalism
//Fears over fake news could strengthen their position. Publishers hope their high quality, reliable news will be more needed than ever in a world washed with misinformation.
//Newspapers inform readers about events, providing them with facts and opinions which help them make their own judgement. However, the stories featured in different papers will reflect the opinion of the editor and, in turn, the owner of the paper.
//Along with information, papers have an entertainment function such as celebrity/pop culture, sports, TV, puzzles, and readers' letters (e.g dear Deidre)
//We need to be informed of opinions and views that aren't our own - news media provides a forum for this debate. If we just listened to our twitter feed for example, we would get a very one-sided perception of the world.
//The press are sometimes called the fourth estate - to reflect their important role in society (after the church, the state, the nobility and the commoners).
HOW MANY ADULTS DO NEWSBRANDS (UK NEWSPAPERS AND THEIR DIGITAL VERSIONS) REACH IN THE UK?
//Newsbrands reach 47.5 million adults in the UK.
//That's more than Google.
//The industry will still be worth an estimated £5 Billion in 2021.
LEVELS OF ATTENTION:
//Primary - focused on the media text.
//Secondary - doing something else at the same time.
//Tertiary - the media text is on in the background.
ECHO CHAMBERS:
Social media feeds inform us on the things we want to know and are interested in, but not always what we need to know as citizens. We modify our social media to follow and look at people who don't challenge our opinions and views which only reinforces personal ideologies. This puts us in an echo chamber, skewing our perception of reality and world view. mainstream media sets the news agenda - filtering the things we need to know about.
FAKE NEWS:
In a world of fake news, newsbrands become a reliable source of information. Journalists always cross-check and stand up stories, making sure their stories are reliable and the other side has been given the right of reply. If they print something false or misleading, the brand will suffer and they can be held to account. They will be reprimanded by IPSO, being made to announce a retraction for their news in a later paper.
THERE ARE THREE MAIN STEPS TO THE NEWS INDUSTRY:
//Production - sales of newspapers are decreasing because they are expensive commodities; Newspapers are expensive to produce because they require a large amount of material and they employ highly trained, educated staff in expensive, usually city-centre buildings. although stories can be submitted faster than ever before, once a newspaper is printed, it is already old news. Online news is cheaper and less cost consuming.
//Distribution - once produced, the papers have to be shipped across the country; another expensive process. In comparison, web-based news means there are no global boundaries, and markets can be international instead of local. Free newspapers are bucking the trend of declining circulation. The metro is free, and is attractive to advertisers who know their adverts will be seen by millions of professional commuters. This offsets the other costs of the paper.
//Marketing - newspapers need to promote their brand to encourage circulation and readership; advertising on TV (expensive), on social media (expensive, but less so), or using sister media channels. They will also do synergy deals with other companies offering products or services - such as giveaways in The Sun or Lego with The daily Mail.
//Circulation - The number of newspapers that have been distributed, NOT those sold. Circulation figures are important because they are used to set advertising rates.
OWNERSHIP:
Three Different types;
//Media Barons - Wealthy individuals who own the paper, or a group of papers.
//Trusts - A legal arrangement where finances form the owner are transferred to trustees to manage the control and running of the newspaper, without the direct influence of the owner.
//Cross-media conglomerates - Huge global institutions who own multiple media outlets. These may be owned by individuals or groups.
In the UK, the print news industry is run by just 7 COMPANIES. Nearly 60% of the market share is owned by two of these, News UK and DMG media. They are owned by two men, RUPERT MURDOCH and VISCOUNT ROTHERMERE.
MOST JOURNALISTS ARE FREELANCE:
//Most journalists send their work to press agencies such as Reuters or the Press association (PA)
//The PA are an unbiased group who provide objective information to their clients.
//This information is then sold to newspapers who can mould the information to their values.
//DMG media and News UK are both shareholders in PA.
//The information they receive is still free of bias, but is can be accessed at a free or reduced rate.
THE ROLE OF THE EDITOR:
//The information that is submitted to newspapers must be sifted, this is done by the editor.
//Editors not only select, but omit stories based on what will appeal to their audiences.
//Editors can practice 'protective coverage' which is the withholding of information on the grounds it would be harmful to powerful people or to the public, or impede a criminal investigation taking place.
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION IS IN LONG-TERM DECLINE:
//Since January 2001, the total circulation of the UK's 10 major newspapers has declines from 12 million copies sold on average each day to a daily average of 6 million in May 2014, 57% in a matter of 14 years.
PRINT ADVERTISING REVENUES:
//From 2000 to 2015, newspaper revenue fell by 11% to 1.2 Billion, a loss of 155 million in ad spend.
//It is estimated that digital revenue plugged 25% of the shortfall.
//Meanwhile, over the same period, internet advertising grew by 17% to 8.6 Billion.
QUESTIONS:
1)How much revenue do newspapers contribute to the UK economy?
5.3 Billion
2)What is Dinsmore's biggest complaint about the way content is being monetized? Other people - mostly Google and Facebook - are monetizing their content.
3)How much revenue do papers get per year per print customer compared to per digital customer? £125 VS £15
4)What percentage of new content is being generated by newsbrands in the UK? 58%, however they aren't getting anywhere near 58% of the revenue.
5)Newspapers used to own a story for 24 hours, now they own it for 24 seconds, what does this mean? As soon as headlines appear, they start appearing on other sources.
6)What percentage of worldwide digital advertising revenue do Google and Facebook get? 2/3
7)How many users does Google send to other sites per month? 10 Billion.
CHANGING NEWS INSTITUTIONS:
//Production - How the product is made. The big change here is that 'news' content is multi-media, online and constantly updated. The way news is produced is substantially different too - on the plus side, thew internet makes reporters more efficient.
//Distribution/Exchange - How institutions get their products to audiences. Today, news is multi-platform: smartphones, tablets etc as well as in print. On the plus side, printing papers reduces costs of printing presses, delivery vans, paper etc - on the minus side, fewer barriers to production means more competition.
//Marketing - The way institutions tell audiences about their product and encourage them to buy it. A big change is the level of integration with social networks, advertising and sponsorship. Facebook is a massive distribution driver with most newsbrands seeing it as one of the most important ways to market their product.
SO WHAT IS BEING DONE TO STOP THE DECLINE?
CIRCULATION SALES:
//14.3 Billion people read the paper every day.
//81% of newspaper revenue comes from circulation sales.
//The cost of a newspaper can range form 30p (Daily Star) to £2.70 (Financial Times)
ADVERTISING:
//Advertisers pay for a space in the newspaper, prices depend on circulation.
//The cot of a full-page advert in the Daily Mail is around £30,000.
//Newspapers make money from both adverts in print and online.
//Readers of print newspapers are 75% more likely to read an advert than online readers.
SOLUTION 1 - PAYWALLS:
//Make audiences pay a subscription to access digital content.
//Audiences can no longer access your content for free - they have to pay directly for your product.
//Who does it? - The Times, The Financial Times, The Sun, The Telegraph (partially)
//Has it worked? - It has been successful for The Financial Times and The Times to some extent.
//The Sun scrapped it's paywall in 2015 after it proved unsuccessful.
//It seems to work well where the content is premium and readers cannot get it anywhere else, usually with an ABC1 target audience.
SOLUTION 2 - DONATIONS:
//Improve your digital offer to drive as much traffic as possible to your sites to maximize your audience and therefore your options for digital advertising.
//One key component of this will be embedded video - a TV ad at the start of a 30 second clip is an attractive prospect to advertisers and potentially lucrative.
//Who is doing it? - Most non-Murdoch papers. The Guardian are vocal proponents of open journalism and have invested heavily in their digital operation. The Mirror is focusing it's efforts on maximizing .traffic.
//Is it working? Yes and no. Most papers find that digital revenues make up only around 25% of the revenue lost from sales and print advertising.
SOLUTION 3 - EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES
//Accessing the news online reduces environmental costs of producing newspapers.
//Audiences can access news continuously, and easily, and spread news through devices. It is easy to monitor what is popular with a paper's audience.
//Use technological convergence to make stories more personal to audiences.
//Audiences produce the content, upload it, then share it, thus increasing audiences. (prosumerism)
//Audiences produce their own news as citizen journalists - think the bloggers in Tunisia. You may want to look at the Diamond Reynolds video (POTENTIALLY UPSETTING)
//As a result, owners are no longer in control of the circulation and distribution of news - just look at what's popular in news at the moment.
MOBILE PHONES - TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE
//Convergence - When one device brings together a range of technologies. Audiences expect news to be multi-media.NEWS STORIES NOW INCORPORATE:
//Text
//Pictures
//Feedback opportunities to comment and respond
//Video
//Audio
//Links to other related content
//Audiences expect - and get - a different and improved experience of news
//Newsbrands have to invest heavily in technology to provide this improved service.
THE PROBLEM WITH TECH:
//The proliferation of technology has led to a huge reduction in printing press.
//The guardian has lost 200,000 print readers in 10 years.
//The Independent is now an online-only paper.
//The lack of print publishers means that the control of the press is in the hands of the very few; the owner of the Star and the Express had to sell his shares to reach PLC in 2018 after circulation fell by 50% in 2017.
THE COMPETITION:
//Citizen Journalists - people reporting news by themselves via social media - blogs, twitter, etc.
//Aggregators - Curators - NewsNow, Huffington Post (partially), Buzzfeed, Upworthy.
//Aggregators don't produce the news themselves, they just repackage and sell on news that others have reported. As such, the barriers to enter the market are lower, they have lower overheads.
//Apps which have a personalized news feed using algorithms to work out what you're interested in.
//The convergence represented by mobile phones means anyone can research, record, and publish news.
//Newsbrand websites.
//BBC website (licence fee funded).
//The BBC is seen by many as the definitive source of reliable news.
SO, THERE ARE 3 MAIN PROBLEMS:
1)Who will pay for a newspaper when so many are giving away the news for free?
2)It makes the competition for digital advertising more intense.
3)Competition for audience attention is also intense - newsbrands have to ensure that their offer is at least as good as the competition. It must be up to the minute and must be multi-media.
ECONOMIC CONTEXT:
//Falling circulation.
//Falling newspaper sales.
//Falling revenues for print advertising.
//Digital advertising riding slowly but not filling the gap.
//Digital advertising revenue dominated by Facebook and Google - struggle to monetize content.
//Increased competition form internet news providers and social media - the challenge of making people pay for news where they can get it freely elsewhere.
SOCIAL CONTEXT:
//Even the digitally native millennials still trust newsbrands to give them the facts, they check out the stories they see on social media on newsbrand sites (97% use newsbrands)
//Newsbrands provide a FILTER service selecting the important and relevant news agenda.
//While aggregators provide a personal news feed, people also want to know what the main agenda is.
//Newsbrands are still seen as objective and reliable journalism
//Fears over fake news could strengthen their position. Publishers hope their high quality, reliable news will be more needed than ever in a world washed with misinformation.
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