Death of Buenos Aires Herald: Newspapers’ “Do or Die “ battle Vs Online Journalism

 

 

 

The Buenos Aires Herald is not a familiar name for many of us in Sri Lanka, despite it being a widely known newspaper across Latin America.

This newspaper drew international attention this month when it became the latest victim of  the fast growing digital media.

The Buenos Aires Herald _  a storied English-language newspaper lauded for its coverage of Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship_  closed on Aug. 1 after more than 140 years of publication, blaming mainly to the a broad shift among readers to digital media and also to the tough economic conditions.

The closure came a year after the paper, which once called itself the only English-language daily in Latin America, switched to a weekly print edition.

This is not a particular problem confined only to Argentina or Latin America. Across the globe, newspapers are fighting in a digitalized world.

America’s Pew Research Center said in 2016 that the average weekday newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, fell by 7% in 2015, the greatest decline since 2010. (http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/06/30143308/state-of-the-news-media-report-2016-final.pdf).

 This is not the first time, the newspaper industry faced tough battles. When television arrived in 1950s, newspaper sales dropped, but it survived. But the explosion of Internet since 1990s has drastically changed the battle, battle ground and rules for the newspaper industry.

Internet offers a range of media choices while reducing the newspapers’ dominance as the source of news. Both TV and Internet bring faster and more visual than the newspapers.

 In order to face this calamity, many newspapers have turned into publish an online edition and adopting open publishing features to their own online versions. Many newspapers publish an online edition which posts readers photos, and other sites solicit and use reader/contributed content.

(Last print issue of Newsweek magazine)

 

The mainstream newspapers are also increasingly scanning blogs and other online sources for leads on news items, and some are hiring journalists from the blogging ranks. Journalists are blogging live from courtrooms and elsewhere, allowing them to post frequent updates in near real/time.

 

 

In Sri Lanka too, newspapers are facing the same global scenario. Although, specific data have not been made public, it is not a secret that most newspapers are struggling to survive.

About two years back, the Nation newspaper has been reduced from broadsheet to tabloid in an apparent cost-cutting bid.

Almost all the English newspapers and many Sinhala newspapers publish an online edition _ in a bid to face the increasing challenges.

 But compared to other news organizations,  it seems Wijaya Newspapers  company which publishes Daily Mirror and Sunday Times has been able to successfully face the challenges by offering multi-formats through their newspapers. For example, The Daily Mirror newspaper publishes online site which is updated regularly with text, pics and videos.

 

(This shows how Daily Mirror publishes readers’ comments and posts on Facebook in it's front page in an apparent bid to woo the online readers)

 

Other newspaper outlets are also making efforts to enhance their online edition and to work  in collaboration with social media to promote the newspapers and enhance the circulation and advertising revenue.

Only the time will testify the success of Sri Lankan newspapers’ battle against online journalism.

But the battle is tough and deadly for newspapers.

Just imagine a world without newspapers.

What will happen to other media who often quote newspapers as their source................Just watch this....

 

 

 

 

 

Student Name: M.A. Bharatha Pathmendra

                             SC/PG/MAMM/2016/201716