The print media and digital media are the predominant modes of communication and information sharing in this era of technological disruption. The internet and smartphone penetration has boosted digital media. Whereas the print media thrives on authenticity, tangibility and harnessing emotional connection to the readers. The article delves deeper into the above-mentioned media and their roles in our lives.
With the clock ticking 7.30 am, we used to get the milk packets and daily newspapers delivered at our doorsteps. Such was the scenario until the technological disruptions, internet and smartphone penetrations. The print media is walking rather gingerly in recent times with readers shifting towards the digital media. Ebooks, epapers, online news platforms, Kindle etc are gaining momentum without a shadow of a doubt. But can they replace the traditional print media? The answer is NO. The international book fairs and literary meets organized annually in various parts of the country will hint at the aforementioned answer.
The outbreak of the pandemic has made the digital media the defacto winner. The print media is suffering massively due to the closure of the offices and businesses. The printing of daily newspapers is hampered, with people depending more on online platforms. The fast widespread of digitization and social media has triggered the hot topic of the debate, i.e. print versus digital media. Some have tried to dig deeper and came up with the question “Is print media dead?” Several businesses of the modern world have focussed on advertising solely on digital platforms. They have started with an aim to capitalize on the extensive reach, convenience and cost-efficiency of the internet. Having said this, it is necessary to consider the pros of print media and that it cannot be replaced so easily.
IPSOS conducted a survey with over 45,000 customers, and the reports reveal that “surprisingly, 80% of people prefer reading on paper than on digital media. Out of this, the digital natives (18-24-year-olds) mirrored the same results, with 83% feeling that it was nicer to read off paper. From the same group, 78% had also extended the opinion that print and paper are more pleasant to the touch. Theorising from these findings, it appears that the physicality of the medium is a significant part of the reader’s experience.”
Time for Experimentation
Several incumbent players and traditional organizations who are mostly hailing from the print media have experimented with improving their online presence. The reputed Times Group ventured into the digital space by launching Times Internet. It experimented with Augmented Reality (AR) content, interactive videos, podcasts etc. This was once predominantly an offline publishing business, but now with the changing times, the scenario has shifted. With a sharp decline in newspaper readership and circulation, an increasing number of layoffs of non-essential staff, like that of in typesetting and press is observed.
Many businesses and print media companies started launching digital subsidiaries and subscription-based content models. The field of digital media is largely dominated by online publication organizations like The Economic Times, News18, NDTV, Moneycontrol etc. They have introduced webinars, live sessions, podcasts for attracting a wider range of users.
As reported by Comscore, “compared with the week of March 9-15, 2020, visits to websites and mobile apps in the “General News” category went up by 50% during the week of March 16-22, 2020. There has been an increase of over 453% in news app usage in the past month, according to InMobi Insights.” More than 40 local dailies have made their online presence in digital media. The pandemic has caused the revenue of the print media to be lower than the rock bottom. Virtual engagements and interactions are remaining the only option of the traditional players. The time calls for some experimentation on the side of the print media, with rising internet penetration and digital dependency.
Brand Engagement and Tangibility of Print Media
Newspapers and magazines are believed to have higher reader engagements. The print media is tangible and works on brand engagement. The readers can hold the paper or the magazine or the book in his hand and then concentrate more. In digital media, constant pop-ups and ads can be highly distracting. The glossy shiny papers of the magazines and leaflets can attract the attention of the readers by allowing experiencing the sense of touch.
Forbes says that “Glossy magazines and major publications hold a certain cachet that online doesn’t achieve. There is literal weight to your presence. This tangible platform resonates well with luxury consumers and clients — the trick is to find a complementary balance between digital and print within any given campaign for a multidimensional approach.”
Print media is more psychologically appealing than the digital media, as observed the researched agency, Millward Brown. It opines that “tangible media evoked an increase in the processing of emotionally powerful stimuli and memory. When the material on cards was shown to participants, they registered higher activity in the area of the brain that integrates visual and spatial information. This means that physical material is more ‘real’ to the brain. Therefore, it would better stimulate memory because it engages with spatial memory networks.”
The print media has a greater social license than digital media. The chance of spam, viruses, and fake news is much higher in digital media in comparison to print media.
Ever-Expanding Digital Media
The major growth drivers behind the ever-expanding digital media are
- accessibility and affordability of the internet,
- penetration of reader-friendly devices like smartphone, tablets, Kindle etc,
- the convenience of the readers, in the sense that the readers can read it anywhere anytime,
- and the rising gadget obsession to some extent.
A study by Ericsson revealed that “almost one in three Singaporeans own a tablet. Singapore is the worldwide runner-up for the greatest proportion of internet users who own a tablet. The study also revealed that the tablet ownership rate is anticipated to grow nearly 60% by the end of this year. The popularity of tablets may prove to be the game-changer for the print industry.”
Digital media can have different layouts. It can integrate content layouts, audio and video files, downloading and sharing options, copy and paste transfer options etc. All these features improvise the value addition, given the reader a chance to “read more than just a piece of paper”. The colourful and lively images elevate the reader experience to a great deal. The digital media has the chance to go viral, which means expanding the reach a million times more than print media. The readers of various age groups can get the information within a fraction of second. Many young people nowadays are reluctant to read the daily newspapers. But they can get the information by just scrolling social media sites. Thus the population nowadays remains well informed and well connected to the outer world. Anyone can access any information anytime via digital media, which is certainly not the case with the traditional print media.
Separate roles for Print and Digital Media
The print and digital media are separate domains, even though they function on connectivity and information sharing. Kindle can never match the scent of a new book, the sensation to touch the fresh pages and collecting myriad themed bookmarks. Bookmarking in digital media and inserting Harry Potter-themed bookmarks in the latest editions of J.K.Rowling sparks very different feelings and emotions. The print media cannot match the speed at which the information can be shared by the digital media. The live sessions, podcasts and webinars enable the readers to get a firsthand experience, which is not possible for the print media. Both of them are crucial in the modern world. This domain is also not out of the grip of technological disruptions. The changing customer demands and the notion of convenience have boosted the growth of the younger media.
Conclusion
Print and digital media triumph in areas of communication and information sharing. Both the sectors are thriving in recent times, though may believe that the former is facing touch challenges from the younger digital media. The digital media is aggressively expanding its reach with seamless connectivity and cost-efficient business models. The expenses of print media are much higher than digital media. The outbreak of pandemic has given a chance to the digital media to win the race, with the print media trying hard to catch up with its competitors.