The new online communication has had a considerable impact on the activities of the newspaper industry. As a result, analysis of the duality of journalism has aroused increasing interest. This chapter analyses the readers’ behavior in relation to digital and traditional media. We identify the main reading motivations and the behavior patterns in each medium. Besides, we examine the possible relationship between readers’ objectives for reading and the choice of each channel. The results confirm that the electronic and traditional channels are compatible, but suggest that it is necessary to take the process of differentiation in order to enhance this complementarity, meeting readers’ needs in different circumstances and combining effects to raise loyalty to a newspaper.
TopNewspaper Business On The Internet
The majority of print newspapers are developing their digital versions with the use of the online communication and the new medium. These processes involve relevant changes in the press business. We could note a transformation at the organizational level, the creation of a specific language, and a new multimedia environment. Also, the Internet has involved changes in access, production, and circulation of the information. All these imply the arrival of new challenges and opportunities that they will have to face very soon (Dans, 2000; Flavián & Gurrea, 2006). Indeed, editorial offices are working in a different way and with a quicker pace compared to the traditional medium (Greer & Mensing, 2003).
The speed with which news reaches the reader, the low cost of distributing information, the opportunity to establish more direct contact and interact with users, and the possibilities to personalize the journalistic offer are noticeable trends. Besides, the electronic channel allows for updating the news immediately and showing links to other information sources. Moreover, we must note that the Internet combines the three basic advantages of the radio, the press, and the television. In fact, this new medium presents the immediacy of the radio, the wide and deep information offered by the press, and the impact of the images in television. All these aspects allow configuring a complete journalistic offer.