Supported by new technologies, new media forms are changing the way people get access to information
Watching IPTV on her computer, shopping online and maintaining a column on sina.com, one of China"s largest Internet portals, Cheng Chan, 24, a freelance magazine columnist, represents the community of people who are using new technologies to access information and lead their lives.
Cheng has only her name, telephone number and e-mail address printed on her business cards, and said she prefers online browsing to watching traditional television or reading a newspaper.
“The new media are more diversified, inexpensive and human-oriented than the traditional media,” said Cheng, adding, “I can choose whatever information I want to know and can add comment to it, while the traditional media only want you to follow them.”
New media, as Zhang Dazhong, Deputy General Manager of the Shanghai Media Group, has defined them, are “interactive platforms built on dozens of media forms like computers, mobile phones and digital televisions via channels such as the Internet, wireless networks and satellites.”
He Huixian, Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, cited a practical case in point. “When a football match is aired in the Olympic Games, nine cameras shoot it from different angles. Viewers can select any camera position they want. They can also check out the profile of every player, read the media reviews and discuss the game with others online.”
New media, He said, have achieved a dream of many consumers: to be able to watch their favorite television programs at any time on TV sets, the Internet or mobile communication tools.
“The interactive platforms can’t be realized by just one medium,” said He. Therefore, cooperation among the Internet, electronics and mobile phone industries is needed. It brings these companies more profits while offering consumers more options.
The new media have also sharply boosted advertising revenues. China’s ad sales in 2005 stood at $16 billion, making up 1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and ranking second in Asia next to Japan, according to a recent report by Morgan Stanley.
Thanks to the new media boom and the approaching 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China’s ad sales are expected to maintain a 17-18 percent growth rate from 2006-08. To date, new media ad sales have accounted for 18 percent of China’s total ad sales.
The rise of the new media
Hundreds of publishers and chief editors of China’s newspaper groups convened in Beijing in August for the 2006 Annual Conference on the Competitive Edge of China’s Press Industry. What bothered them more than the stifling hot weather was the difficulties facing the traditional press.
The rise of websites, short message services and ads on video screens in office buildings have caused a great shock to the global newspaper industry, resulting in declining circulation and advertising revenue. Since the first half of 2005, the advertising revenue of several Chinese newspaper giants has dropped by 10-30 percent, with an average decline of 15 percent. In 2005, the overall advertising revenue of China’s newspaper industry showed no growth.
In contrast, the new media are doing far better.省略, sohu.省略--showed that they all reported sustained growth in advertising revenue.省略’s advertising revenue stood at $29.省略 reached $7.省略 totaled $22.8 million, a year-on-year gain of 35 percent.
New media have carved up the advertising market that used to be dominated by traditional media, and the popularity of the new media, represented by the Internet, attracts a large number of youth, as well as a high-quality audience with a high consumption capacity, which is a heavy blow to the traditional media, said Wu Haimin, President of the Beijing Times newspaper.
According to Yu Guoming, professor and Director of the Public Opinion Research Center at Renmin University of China, the new media have split both the audience and the advertising market. Young people have become increasingly dependent on new media for information, while the traditional media are holding on to an aging audience. As time goes by, today’s new media audience will become the mainstream.
The China Internet Network Information Center released its 18th China Internet Development Statistics in July. By the end of June, China had registered 123 million Internet users, up 19.4 percent from the same period last year. Young people still dominate the online kingdom, with the groups aged 18-24 and 25-30 accounting for 35.1 percent and 19.3 percent of all Internet users, respectively.
“We might someday put the traditional media into museums,” said Dong Changhong, Chief Operating Officer of the China Business Post. “Consumers’ diversified needs are propelling the media world to undergo a deeper transformation. In the near future, our life and work styles will be greatly changed thanks to the combined network of Internet, traditional media, broadcast, TV and mobile phone.”
Content rules
“The most valuable thing the new media bring us is freedom,” said Cheng Chan. Given people’s hectic schedules nowadays, little time is left for entertainment, so it’s important for people to be able to choose their favorite programs according to their own schedules, she added.
“If I like some TV show, but the time conflicts with my working hours, then I choose to watch the show online when I’m free,” said Cheng. “The Internet is so popular these days that people can see what they want without the limitations of time and venue.”
The rise of the new media doesn’t mean an end to traditional media, said Zhang of the Shanghai Media Group. “Traditional media are good at their content. A newspaper can stand out as long as it provides authoritative analysis and profound information. The Wall Street Journal is a case in point, withstanding the impact of new media thanks to its high-quality articles.”
“Fundamentally, the new media change nothing but the way people consume information. A good medium depends on the content it provides. ‘Content rules’ is the unchanged law for the success of not only the traditional but also the new media,” noted Zhang.
Dong of the China Business Post agreed with Zhang on this point. “Traditional media still have their vitality if they can take advantage of the new technologies. On the other hand, if the ‘new media’ are all about form but without valuable and interesting material, they will certainly not survive,” he said.
In China, some powerful traditional media have already embarked on the road to blend the old and new.
The Jiefang Daily newspaper group launched the electronic version of its newspaper worldwide in April. Meanwhile, the prestigious Nanfang Daily Group changed its name to Nanfang Media Group in July. Addressing the name change, Fan Yijin, Secretary General of the Party Committee of the Nanfang Media Group, said, “In the face of the new media challenge, we have to merge our newspaper traditions with new media forms.”
“We have realized the transformation from just running a newspaper to becoming a media combination. Our next plan is to turn it into a culture-media group and then into an international media group,” said Fan.
The General Administration of Press and Publication launched a “Digital Newspaper Project” on August 5 to encourage newspaper publishing groups to explore various kinds of digital publishing and operating forms.
“With the digitalization of the media business by 2010 throughout China, a situation will emerge in which the traditional and new media blend with each other,” said Richard Ji, Chinese Internet analyst at Morgan Stanley.