Final Exam-James Randazzo
By James Randazzo
For the most of America’s history, newspapers were the dominant mass medium. By the early eighteenth century, newspapers appeared in the American colonies. These early newspapers were usually no longer than four pages long. (pg 318) Newspapers started gaining readers when Americans started debating separation from England. Technological advances in the 19th century helped drastically change newspapers forever. With the help of the steam engine it was possible for newspapers to circulate further. In addition, the telegraph helped introduce out of town news stories within days or hours instead of weeks. The introduction of the Linotype machine in 1886 greatly affected the newspaper industry. (pg 319) This machine improved the ability of newspapers to quickly create entire pages of type. Newspapers often had an early edition, and then later editions as the day went on. This helped bring much more immediacy to their stories.
The growth of newspapers chains gave great power to publishers and influenced people over political and social issues. For example William Hearst’s chain expanded to over 30 papers nationwide, giving him enormous influence over public opinion. In addition, Gannett has 84 daily newspapers, nearly 850 magazines, and operates 23 television stations in the United States. (pg 320) This gives chains the ability to publish newspapers with the same viewpoint in key U.S. markets.
By the second half of the 20th century, newspapers started to see a decline in readership. The revolutionary mediums of sound, radio, television and especially the Internet hurt the newspaper industry, and many companies were forced to close. The Internet allows news to be decentralized. Also, blogs give journalists less sway over public opinion. Printed once a day, physical newspapers cannot keep up with news any longer.
One thing in common amongst all newspapers is that they all advertise their online version on the print. This promotes convergence because it helps bring an interactive experience to their audience. Another issue that the newspapers face with convergence is revenue. Newspapers sales are down a great amount from the 1990s and therefore advertising brings less revenue. Now they must sell their print online in order to succeed and make a profit.
The Baltimore Sun website uses multimedia and user participation constantly. They not only use text but also include video on their site. In addition blogs are included on the site showing that print is becoming outdated. The site even allows people to upload their own photos. If they do not use these multimedia technologies they are hurting themselves because all the other newspaper companies are converging.
