Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Newspapers and Magazines ch. 8&9


1.       There are multiple limitations to a press that serves only partisan interests. They were shaped largely by social, cultural, and political responses to British rule. Partisan press refers to political papers. They generally pushed the plan of the particular political group that subsidized the paper. They did not write much about the business. The educated and wealthy men controlled most of local politics and commerce, so they were the primary readers of the partisan press.

2.       Penny papers began to replace the average newspaper by relying on daily street sales on the individual copies. The industrial revolution made it possible to replace the expensive handmade paper with cheaper machine made paper, less than the original 6 cents a copy/ 11$ a year. During this time, the rise of the middle class started the growth of literacy. This allowed for more popular and inclusive press. Newspapers were even more permitted by the breakthrough of technology, especially the steam-powered press replacing the mechanical press.

3.       Yellow journalism has two main features. They emphasized profitable papers that carried exciting human-interest stories, crime news, large headlines, and more readable copy. The first major characteristic were the overly dramatic (or sensational) stories about crimes, celebrities, disasters, scandals, and intrigue. Second, are the legacy and roots that the yellow press provided for investigative journalism: news reports that hunt out and expose corruption, particularly in business and government. Reporting increasingly became a crusading force for common people, with the press assuming a watchdog told on their behalf.

4.       We are changing from a society in which the transmission of knowledge depended mainly on books, newspapers, and magazines to a society dominated by a mix of print, visual, and digital information. In 1992, the authority of modern newspapers suffered in the wake of a variety of “new news” forms that combined immediacy, information, entertainment, persuasion, and analysis. Even the most prominent daily papers are being challenged by “news” coming from the talk shows, television sitcoms, popular films and even rap songs. Online journalism is also completely changing the newspaper industry.

5.       Citizen journalism the phenomenon that combines the online news surge and traditional newsroom cutbacks. It refers to people – activist amateurs and concerned citizens, not professional journalists – who use the internet and blogs to disseminate news and information. The current state of citizen journalism is that they operate community-based websites. Even on occasions they may be replacing professionals. These sites provide an outlet for people to voice their stories and opinions, and new sites are emerging daily.

6.       Even new online news sites face challenges. While many of these sites do not yet have the resources to provide the kind of regional news coverage that local newspapers once provided, there is still a lot of hope for community journalism moving forward.

7.       The newspaper does play a role in democracy by sustaining it and championing freedom. Over the years, they have fought heroic battles in places that had little tolerance for differing viewpoints. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, from 1992-2012, 962 reporters from around the world were killed while doing their job. These tragedies ranged from murder, combat assignments, to even performing “dangerous assignments”. Our nation is dependent on journalists who are willing to do this very dangerous reporting in order to keep us informed about what is going on around the world.

8.       Magazine played a large role in the social reform at the turn of the twentieth century. With the rise in magazine circulation coincided with rapid social changes in America. Many newspaper reporters became dissatisfied with the simplistic and conventional style of newspaper journalism and turned to magazines, where they were able to write at greater lengths and in greater depth about broader issues. These issues included corruption in big business and government, urban problems faced by immigrants, labor conflicts, and race relations. The working class was gradually able to purchase these magazine publications due to the price dropping. As jobs and the population began shifting from farms to small towns to urban areas, magazines helped readers imagine themselves as part of a nation rather than as an individual with only local or regional identities. Also, as magazine circulation skyrocketed, advertisement revenue soared.

9.       Like newspapers, more magazines are increasingly moving to digital formats. Being on a website or an application, magazine companies save on the cost of paper, printing and postage. Unlike on paper, a website gives unlimited space, where they now can include blogs, original video and audio podcasts, social network, games, virtual fitting rooms, and other interactive components that could never work in print. Printable coupons are now being added!  

10.   A move toward magazine specialization was triggered, coincided with the radio, with a general trend away from mass market publications. Magazines traded their mass audience for smaller, discrete audiences that could be guaranteed to advertisers. Magazines are now divided into advertisement type: consumer magazines, which carry a host of general consumer product ads (ex: Cosmo); business or trade magazines, which included adds for products and services for various occupational groups (ex: Advertising Age);  and  farm magazines, which contain adds for agriculture products and farm lifestyle (ex: Dairy Herd Management). In addition to grouping magazines by advertisement style, we can categorize popular consumer magazine style by the demographic characteristics of their target audience – such as gender, age, or ethic group – or an audience interest area, such as entertainment, sports, literature, or tabloids. Some specific specialized groups include men and women’s magazines, sports, entertainment, and leisure magazines, magazines for all ages, elite magazines, minority-targeted magazines, and supermodel tabloids.   

11.   The editorial department of a magazine produces its content, excluding advertisements. Magazines are heavily reliant on advertisement revenue, the more successful, the more it can charge for advertisement space. The average magazine contains about 50% ad copy and 50% editorial material. Some advertisers and companies have concealed ads when a magazine featured an unflattering or critical article about a company or an industry. This affects what gets published, putting enormous pressure on editors not to offend advertisers. Magazines then began introducing different editions of their magazines to attract advertisers such as regional editions, split-run editions, and demographic editions. They can now more easily compete with each other.  

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