Do you remember waking up in the morning and reading the paper with breakfast? Or maybe tuning into the same broadcast every night for your nightly news? You still might be doing these things, but chances are you’re doing it less, if at all. Very few industries have been left untouched by the internet and media is no different. Our media routines have changed but I think this is for the better as we have multiple views available to us and our earth is saving resources. Lets look at the top 5 ways the internet has changed our media and in turn, changed our lives.

Decline of newsprint

People have been saying it for years but newsprint really is on its way out. In the year 2000 the Washington Post’s newspaper division had revenue of $918 million and a 15 percent operating profit margin. Last year those numbers were $582 million and negative 9 percent. Newsprint simply isn’t profitable now and each year it is getting worse as people turn to the internet for quick and convenient news, instead of lugging around an unwieldily newspaper. This also becomes cheaper for media outlets as they don’t need to pay for the machinery, materials, and transport of papers which also helps the environment.

The Rise of Artists

This may seem strange in an article about internet media, but it actually makes perfect sense. The “Starving Artist” has been a saying that virtually everyone knows because for years very few had an opportunity to make any substantial money. However, now media has given them a chance. Media outlets can no longer just rely on broadcast and print alone. They have to focus a large portion of their budget on the internet. The internet allows and needs diverse mediums to display media. This allows many artists to create graphic art, web design, produce videos, create podcasts, and make info-graphics. The vast amount of information consumed by readers and viewers keeps artists busy and employed.

News Aggregation

In the good old days, we usually had to decide between 3 newspapers to read and then probably one television broadcast. That was where we got our news. But now there are so many options, too many options actually. Not only can we go onto a news website, but news actually gets sent to us on social media sites such as our Facebook newsfeed. This allows us to get much more news stories than we ever could have gotten before but also creates the problem of too much news. This brought about RSS feeds to bring us news that we subscribed to and apps such as LikeHack were created to combine and rank all of your news from Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds and put them into one place on your smartphone.



Decline of foreign correspondents-

Foreign correspondents were posted all over the world and often times in risky areas to bring us international news. But with the ability for us to read stories online, we can get our news from local papers in the area of interest. Many foreign language online media outlets have an english option or at least there is google translate. Local news papers also have the ability to report deeper into issues because of their connections, which translates into more in depth articles that anyone can read with an internet connection. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of foreign-based newspaper correspondents shrank from 188 to 141 (excluding the Wall Street Journal, which publishes Asian and European editions). Newsday, which once had half a dozen foreign bureaus, is about to shut down its last one, in Pakistan. It just doesn’t make fiscal sense anymore for most media outlets.

World Centric Points of View-

Before, our news was heavily filtered, not just through editors to ensure interesting content, but also through the prejudices and preferences of our own society. Every story we read had a western-centric point of view that skewed our view of how the world really was. We simply didn’t have access to anything else. The internet has changed this by allows us to read not just foreign papers, but also blogs and personal sites from around the world. This creates a much more educated public and increases the understanding we have for each other as well as helps us plan for the future much more accurately.

What’s next?

Who knows what’s next, but we can say one thing. The world of media has become a much more interesting and colorful place. I don’t see this trend slowing down any time soon, and I am excited to see whats next. What do you think it will be?