What Is Meaning of Print Media?
Print media is the catch-all term covering news delivery systems that are on paper--magazines, books and newspapers. Until radio and TV became popular in the 20th century, print media had a monopoly on news, but by the time the century closed, a new medium--the Internet--loomed as a new threat.
Other People Are Reading
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Newspapers
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Johann Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press in the early 1400s, and by 1609, the first newspaper appeared in Germany. By colonial times in the New World, newspapers became the favorite way to get news to the masses quickly and cheaply. In the mid-1970s, as the Washington Post reported news that brought down the Nixon Administration, journalism enjoyed a renaissance as new college students thought of the possibilities of a journalistic career.
Magazines and Books
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Magazines and books moved toward a more specialized audience, offering more in-depth coverage of an issue for those who wanted it. Magazines targeted their audiences, from the literary Atlantic and New Yorker to special-interest trade publications. Books enjoyed even more specialized markets, ranging from commercial fiction to history, biographies and philosophy.
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What Electronic Media Used To Mean
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During the 20th century, when newspapermen spoke of the threat of electronic media, they meant radio and TV. Both were able to get news out much faster than newspapers. Many print journalists dismissed TV and radio reporters as more interested in presenting flash than actual journalism, and this tension continued until the late 1990s, when print journalists had something bigger to worry about.
Internet Does What TV Can't
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By the late 1990s, the Internet gained enough attention that newspapers were starting to offer their content on Web pages, but sharing information on the Web was still in its infancy. In the first few years of the new century, print media started going digital, but non-newspaper-affiliated news websites also popped up, preventing newspapers from monopolizing the Web the way they did through paper deliveries.
Are Print Media Dying?
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In the 1950s, the Kansas City Star went into 90 percent of area homes; 50 years later, it's in less than 40 percent. Meanwhile, two-newspaper cities such as Denver and Seattle are becoming one-newspaper cities. Conde Nast has been closing down several well-known magazines. But while the Web is capturing most of newspapers' business, the practice of journalism is alive and well online. A number of print journalists found new tools and a new audience in blogging and other online media. Readers are finding digital versions of their favorite books online, and ebook readers are enjoying considerable growth among bibliophiles.
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References
- Photo Credit newspaper image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
