When one or several companies of an industry are in the red financially, the losses may be attributed to the developments within the companies themselves.
However, when losses are evident on an industry scale, then the core dynamics of the industry may be in question.
This predicament currently applies to America's newspaper industry, whose survival seems threatened by the growing use of the internet for acquiring news.
Yet developments in the US could be an ominous sign for the world.
According to the Economist, ``MORE bad news for America's newspaper industry. In the six months to the end of September, daily circulation fell by 10.1% to 30.4m compared with the same period in 2008. All of the top 20 papers have seen their circulation plunge, with the exception of the Wall Street Journal. The Journal now has the biggest circulation in the country, surpassing USA Today, which suffered an enormous 17.5% drop in readership over the same period. Paying readers are now turning to the internet to get the news free." (bold highlights mine)
First, in terms of internet penetration level rates, North America appears to be the leader.
The chart above is from internetworldstats.com. In other words, perhaps the best measure for the evolving shift in the way news is being acquired would be from the world's most connected.
Next, the trend towards the internet as a source for information appears to be validated by survey.
The chart above courtesy of Pew Research.
According to a Pew report issued last December, ``Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers (35%). Television continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for national and international news, at 70%." (emphasis added)
So empirical evidence connects the cost- financial losses and the flagging usage trend of the of the news industry- to the beneficiary- the burgeoning use of the internet as a source of news.
Why this appears to be so?
Mr. Scott Bradner of Network world gives a clue, ``The three most important observations to me are that power is shifting from institutions (like newspapers) to individual journalists; that people increasingly want news "on demand" rather than scheduled, like the evening news; and that there has been a raise in importance of "minute-by-minute judgment in political journalism." These trends greatly benefit the Internet and Internet-based journalists. The latter two trends also benefit the full-time cable news channels, but only when the cable is available. And, in the office, cable is not generally available." (bold emphasis mine)
In other words, the conspicuous shift marks of a market based redistribution of power and wealth to the industry that satisfies the consumer most.
Bottom line: This seems to be a manifestation of Joseph Schumpeter's "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one" or in short, the process known as "creative destruction" at work. This phenomenon largely emanates from the competitive nature brought about by capitalism.
However, when losses are evident on an industry scale, then the core dynamics of the industry may be in question.
This predicament currently applies to America's newspaper industry, whose survival seems threatened by the growing use of the internet for acquiring news.
Yet developments in the US could be an ominous sign for the world.
According to the Economist, ``MORE bad news for America's newspaper industry. In the six months to the end of September, daily circulation fell by 10.1% to 30.4m compared with the same period in 2008. All of the top 20 papers have seen their circulation plunge, with the exception of the Wall Street Journal. The Journal now has the biggest circulation in the country, surpassing USA Today, which suffered an enormous 17.5% drop in readership over the same period. Paying readers are now turning to the internet to get the news free." (bold highlights mine)First, in terms of internet penetration level rates, North America appears to be the leader.
The chart above is from internetworldstats.com. In other words, perhaps the best measure for the evolving shift in the way news is being acquired would be from the world's most connected.Next, the trend towards the internet as a source for information appears to be validated by survey.
The chart above courtesy of Pew Research.
According to a Pew report issued last December, ``Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers (35%). Television continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for national and international news, at 70%." (emphasis added)
So empirical evidence connects the cost- financial losses and the flagging usage trend of the of the news industry- to the beneficiary- the burgeoning use of the internet as a source of news.
Why this appears to be so?
Mr. Scott Bradner of Network world gives a clue, ``The three most important observations to me are that power is shifting from institutions (like newspapers) to individual journalists; that people increasingly want news "on demand" rather than scheduled, like the evening news; and that there has been a raise in importance of "minute-by-minute judgment in political journalism." These trends greatly benefit the Internet and Internet-based journalists. The latter two trends also benefit the full-time cable news channels, but only when the cable is available. And, in the office, cable is not generally available." (bold emphasis mine)
In other words, the conspicuous shift marks of a market based redistribution of power and wealth to the industry that satisfies the consumer most.
Bottom line: This seems to be a manifestation of Joseph Schumpeter's "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one" or in short, the process known as "creative destruction" at work. This phenomenon largely emanates from the competitive nature brought about by capitalism.
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