Traditional Media Obsolete by 2030?

The findings of this study are based on the recent 24/7 Wall St. Harris Poll,  which surveyed 2095 online Americans aged 18 years old and older. Fifty-five percent of respondents made such prediction, with 50 percent admitting that they get their news mostly from media sites online.

One in four respondents admitted that the time spent reading newspapers and magazines has declined over the years. In contrast, 1 in 10 respondents admitted spending more time reading news online in the last 12 months.

For years, the traditional media industry has voiced concerns over shrinking readership as online media continue to hog the limelight. Some analysts even offered possible solutions to save traditional media from dying, such as tailoring their content and marketing strategies to match the times.

If you ask those who have known how convenient it is to search and read news online, there are no ifs and buts about it: Traditional media as we know them will be gone from the face of the planet in 10 years.

The 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll report did say that the age of respondents matter when it comes to media consumption (81 percent of 55 years old and older still preferred traditional print and broadcast media over online sources, while 57 percent of 18 years old and older felt the same way).

Why traditional media are dying

Web business development expert Bruce Marler offered some reasons why traditional media are dying:

-Online options are free.

-Online media offer real-time news. Printing and delivery of newspapers delay the availability of  information; whereas, digital media provide instant gratification.

-Traditional media model requires more money to manage. Bandwidth and servers are cheaper compared to printing newspapers and delivering them.

-Online media offer diverse sources. There are specific sites devoted to national newspapers like the New York Times or weekly news magazines as well as sites that aggregate news.

And then, there’s also the convenience offered by online media. With print media, one has to rummage through several newspapers to get information about a single topic. With online media, however, one can literally read or browse through numerous web pages in one sitting.

The 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll reported that network television fares better than print media (30 percent of the respondents watch shows mostly on network TV and only 29 percent watch shows primarily on cable). Still, 65 percent of the respondents think cable TV watchers will dominate network TV watchers in the future because of the superior quality that cable TV offers.

“Traditional media may need to reinvent themselves to give younger Americans a reason to buy local papers or turn on their local news, says Harris Interactive.

Web content should not be free

Of all the reasons cited above, the availability of free content on the web is arguably the most  powerful reason why traditional media are dying. Yet industry experts believe that even online news media should start charging for web content or else they won’t be around for long.

Veteran media executive Alan Mutter said that while it was sensible in the beginning for online news sources to give their content for free to encourage consumers to want more of it, it does not make sense to continue doing it.

“Because I have no faith in the blogosphere to replace the vital work of the professional (though admittedly flawed) press, I sincerely hope the traditional media will put a major effort into finding ways to get paid for at least a portion of their valuable content,” Mutter wrote on his blog.

Death of print media, death of journalism

If traditional media–or at least the print media–will indeed die, it will also spell the death of professional journalism. Instead, there will be citizen journalism, says SFGate.com columnist Mark Morford.  A newsroom full of trained journalists and editors will be replaced by just anyone with access to the Internet.

“Everyone’s a reporter! Everyone’s an expert (or, presumably, a critic), somehow! Media decentralized, journalism as everyone’s lopsided hellbeast, a grand delirious stew of story and life,” Morford wrote.