The Development Status of Traditional Media

The entry of online media into the field of communication will inevitably form a powerful shock wave to traditional media. According to the editor &; Publisher's latest research: about13 users who read online electronic news lose interest in traditional media, the TV viewing rate drops by 35%, the radio listening rate drops by 25%, and the newspaper purchase rate drops by 18%. According to a survey by Paragon Research, 13% of American families drop out of school because of surfing the Internet. The rapid development of network communication has brought great influence and pressure to traditional media.

1. Disadvantages of traditional media itself

Among the three traditional media, newspaper news is mainly spread through words. Journalists can only adopt a single and linear reporting method when reporting complex news events, and there is inevitably a gap between objective news practice and objective truth. Limited by the layout, the capacity of news information is limited, and only the most newsworthy information that caters to most people's reading orientation can be intercepted, which lacks personalization and cannot fully meet the reading needs of the audience; Limited by the publication time, the update speed of newspaper news can only be "days". Although important news information can be supplemented by "extra", in this information age, the timeliness and news content of newspapers lag far behind the network. The circulation is limited by quantity and region, which leads to limited news sources and limited coverage of communication effects; The storage of printed newspapers is cumbersome, and retrieval and query are more laborious.

Radio news is mainly spread by sound, which is fleeting and difficult to remember and preserve; Visual lack of intuitive and vivid image; Broadcasting is a linear mode of communication, and listeners can only listen to it in the order of broadcasting and cannot repeat it; The frequency of radio waves emitted by radio stations is interfered by the weather, the receiving direction and the frequencies of other radio stations, which affects the listening effect of listeners.

Although television has the characteristics of combining sound with pictures, its forms of expression are not rich enough. The network makes it possible to combine the spread of words, charts, pictures, sounds, videos, animations and other forms. TV news is strictly limited by the program time, and can only spread the information of the corresponding content within the specified program time. For example, CCTV's "News Network" is 30 minutes, so there is only 30 minutes to spread news information. When broadcasting other forms of TV programs, instant news information can only appear at the bottom of the screen in the form of subtitles, which affects the communication effect, and the news information appearing in this way often cannot meet the audience's more specific and comprehensive requirements for this kind of news. Television is limited by the region and its own news tentacles, so viewers can't choose the TV station they want to receive; And television, like radio, is a linear mode of transmission and cannot be watched repeatedly.

In addition, the three major media are all one-way communication in the process of information dissemination, that is, news organizations spread to the audience, without information feedback from the audience, the audience can only passively accept information, and there is no way to publicly express their opinions on information.

2. The influence of Internet on traditional media

Because of its own communication advantages, online media inevitably has a huge impact on traditional media. The network connects the world into a whole and truly becomes a global village. Facing the screen, the whole world seems to have moved into your home. No sense of distance, breaking through the time and space restrictions. You can get information from any corner of the world from the global website. If you want to know an American website news now, it only takes a few seconds to get it. Online media let you know what you want to know and when you want to know; And traditional media, let you know what you know, let you know when you know. This difference is obvious, which will greatly weaken people's dependence on traditional media and let the audience into the embrace of the network.

The immediacy of the network makes people no longer have leisure to wait for mail by post. People want to get information at any time and pay attention to the development process of major events. Traditional media can no longer satisfy the audience's thirst for knowledge. Traditional media have to go through the process of writing, editing, proofreading and printing for news production and release, and then spread it through intermediaries, which makes news a thing of the past. However, the strong timeliness of the characteristics of online media makes the transmission of information not limited by any time and space. Often one thing can go online in less than two minutes, and online media can spread in real time, synchronously and continuously. For example, at 5: 45 am Beijing time on May 8, 1999, NATO led by the United States brazenly bombed our embassy in Yugoslavia. Sina. Com released an online newsletter at 6: 24 am that day, and made a detailed report at 6: 40 am. The People's Daily released the news through the online version at 9: 44 am on the 8th. Not only that, online media also has all-weather capabilities and can be seen online 24 hours a day. The People's Daily website released the latest news from time to time during the attack on our embassy in the United States. In the first few days, enthusiastic readers visited this website many times every day, and every time there was something new, the Internet became the source of new news, and netizens became' well-informed people'. From 2: 00 to 23: 50 on May 9, this website released news for 23 times, which was far behind the traditional media.

We say that the ideal media function is to provide a place to communicate with the public, but because the traditional media is technically limited by time and space, it does not have the interactive function (the hotline in broadcasting is limited, so it cannot be called the media function), the information flow is one-way, and the audience generally only passively accepts information, and the audience's response must be collected, and the feedback has a certain time interval. The interactive function of online media makes netizens not only the recipients of news information, but also the disseminators and publishers of information. People can provide information to anyone with network transmission facilities anytime and anywhere, and netizens can communicate with the media with the click of a mouse. For example, CHAT and BBS are places where netizens provide information and express their opinions; Internet e-mail has become a close partner of modern people, which makes online communication extremely convenient. As long as you like, you can always tell your beloved relatives and friends thousands of miles away. "Heaven is still our neighbor" is no longer a poet's romance. As long as they are willing, an ordinary citizen of China can tell the world the grief and indignation caused by the unprovoked attack of NATO military group missiles on our embassy in Yugoslavia. The People's Daily opened a BBS forum to strongly protest against NATO atrocities, which attracted the extensive participation of netizens. Netizens not only commented on the bombing itself and vented their dissatisfaction, but also launched a broader discussion on new issues such as Sino-US relations and the world pattern, which far exceeded the traditional media. It can be seen that the communication between online media and the audience is more convenient, timely and close, and it is superior to traditional media in listening to readers' voices and receiving feedback, which provides great convenience for people to communicate with each other, make and use various information resources and open up new businesses. As a result, the challenge of online media to traditional media has taken a step further.

Network media has broken through the concept of time and space and media restrictions, showing great openness. Every member of the network can enjoy online information equally. Anywhere in the world, as long as you have a computer and connect to the Internet, you can get information happening anywhere in the world. The network devolves the space of information freedom to every ordinary person, and every ordinary person can get the opportunity to develop synchronously with the world. As long as you like, you can participate in the discussion of the most cutting-edge topics in physics with Yang Zhenning. Learn about the latest trends in the software industry with Bill Gates. Online media makes the audience feel unprecedented equality and democracy, which is the enjoyment and strength that traditional media can't provide. It is precisely because online media can spread information in time and widely, and has many advantages such as interactivity and openness that online media can develop by leaps and bounds. It took 30 years for broadcasting to have 50 million listeners, 13 years for television to have the same number of viewers, and only 4 years for the Internet. It is an indisputable fact that the development of online media has had a great impact on traditional media. According to statistics, after the emergence of the Internet, the number of TV viewers in the United States decreased by 30%, the business of renting cameras decreased by 13%, and the circulation of newspapers decreased by 7%. On the other hand, the circulation of computer network publishing has increased by 7%, and the number of network users has also soared: at the end of February199965438+250 million, it has exceeded 500 million at the beginning of the century; The advertising revenue of online publishing industry has also increased significantly. In the United States, online advertising 1998 was $2 billion, 1999 was $6,543.8+4.4 billion, and in 2003 it reached $6,543.8+0,654.38+0 billion, exceeding the income of magazines and radio advertisements.

3. Three major challenges faced by traditional media

In the new era, traditional media faces at least three challenges: First, traditional readers, viewers and other audiences are changing from passively receiving information provided by traditional media to producing and publishing news information by themselves;

Secondly, how to effectively protect their hard-won news information products from being stolen and infringed;

Finally, what puzzles the leaders of media organizations most is how to get more income from the marketing of news information services.

There are three new opportunities in the challenge.

The new media represented by the Internet is bringing great development opportunities to the traditional media with its powerful technical and media advantages.

An opportunity to integrate news interview skills. In the past, journalists who reported in a single text can also become cameramen of TV stations and websites, and can send back written manuscripts, still pictures and even audio and video at the same time, forming a competitive means of "one content and multiple expressions".

Opportunities for digital product innovation. Through the application of new technology, new media constantly transforms the product form of traditional media. Huang Bin, editor-in-chief of Yangcheng Evening News Newspaper Group, said that the new technology has brought different experiences to users through the second interpretation of traditional print media content.

Opportunities for business model innovation. "The future media should be in various forms," said Hans Marr, a senior consultant of RTL TV in Germany, pointing out the future development direction of the media.