Another casualty has been recorded on the global media scene. The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom is going all digital, burying its print edition forever.
At its peak, The Independent churned out half a million daily prints and then went down to 50,000.
‘‘There are not enough people,’’ Independent Editor, Amol Rajan wrote, ‘‘who are prepared to pay for printed news, especially during the week.’’
“More newspapers will disappear. I’m worried about the future of journalism,” warned former Independent Editor, Simon Kelner
Press Gazette research estimates that about 300 local newspapers in the UK have been closed in the past 10 years.
It is amazing how digital is torpedoeing print right, left, and centre. The iconic Newsweek went all digital a few years ago.
Here in Nigeria, PM News and The News have vanished from the newsstands into the digital space.
It is indeed a tough and rough time for print around the world.
Should media professionals be worried? I don’t think so!
Change is constant. Media professionals should get on the digital train. No need to fight it, just embrace it.
Media professionals must wake up to the reality that their audience has migrated online. There is opportunity in this migration. Put on your thinking caps, dive into digital space, mine the treasures.
Media professionals stand to make more money from digital space than they made in the golden era of print.
But what makes a newspaper the most read in Nigeria may not necessarily apply online. Newspapers that provide engaging, shorter, sharable, and interesting content online will amass massive audiences and win big.
Print may be distressed and on life-support. Junk may have taken up digital space. But only quality will matter in the end.
Newspapers that will have the ace are those that focus not on merely reporting events and breaking news, but breaking down those complex figures to the understanding of the layman.
That is why data and development journalism will flourish in this digital age.
The future of the media is bright. Be encouraged, fellow journalists!
• Samuel Adeyemi
Journalist and media strategist, Lagos.
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