Chapter 6
New media
Online
Things are happening so fast that reportage of online developments has to be updated regularly. Just weeks before the publishing deadline (September 2006) News Limited relaunched its main newspaper websites, simultaneously announcing that its four major metropolitan tabloids Sydney's The Daily Telegraph, Melbourne's Herald Sun, Brisbane's The Courier-Mail, and the Adelaide Advertiser were becoming 24-hour news operations with journalists to file as stories came to hand.
This brought News into line with the two major Fairfax broadsheets— The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne, which had turned to 24-hour operations, with reporters filing for both online and the papers, around 18 months earlier.
As Table 14 shows online growth has been astonishing. Perhaps reflecting its earlier start, The Sydney Morning Herald 's website smh.com.au is the most popular newspaper website in Australia. While the table shows it averaging 2.01 million individual visitors per month in June 2006 the figures are Australian visitors for advertisers, the overall total from all sources being 5.3 million visitors. Those visitors are taking 135 million page impressions each month (each page impression generally represents a story read, a photo viewed or a video watched).
Blogs are now features of all major newspaper websites, bringing virtually instant feedback and reader connection but creating their own range of monitoring problems. Photo galleries, video and audio clips, invitations for readers to file story ideas, news tips, pictures and videos …all these now appear on major websites as newspapers and journalists embrace what many of them once feared.
Just ten years after the first Australian newspaper took its tentative technological steps onto the information superhighway, the online newspaper website has become a dazzling array of all the multimedia platform has to offer, bringing new dimensions to the newspaper/ reader relationship and supplementing the printed text and picture stalwarts of traditional newspaper delivery.
Through the twin benefits of having content on tap and established reputations, the traditional newspaper publishers dominate the online news field.
Yet, behind the sophistication of the major online papers, regional, country and suburban newspapers are still finding their "web feet'. Their online sites range from non-existent to basic.
Table 15. Internet usage by site 2005-2006
Source; John Fairfax Holdings Statement of NNR Market Intelligence
Who's reading what
In 2005 the number of Australians with internet connections was 11 million, an increase of 11 per cent on 2004. By June 2005 broadband penetration had gone past the half-way mark with 59.5 per cent of homes having broadband connection, compared to 30.8 per cent in June, 2004. By October 2005, broadband reach was at 64 per cent. The rapid increase demonstrated that online users not only wanted access to the Internet but they wanted it fast.
The most visited newspaper site, Fairfax Digital's smh.com.au , recorded an average of 2.4 million visitors a month. Rural Press, which operates associated websites to its regional publications, saw an increase of 300 per cent in web traffic from 2001 to 2005 to around 1.8 million user sessions per month.
The two main players in the market, Fairfax Digital and News Interactive, publisher of news.com.au, estimated their main online audiences were in younger demographics. About 44 per cent of the News Interactive audience is aged between 18 and 39 while about 40 per cent of the smh.com.au and theage.com.au audience is aged between 25 and 39.
To publishers the unique advantage of online news over other media forms is its instantaneous revelation of what people want to read and the online audience is revealing a distinct taste in its reading habits. The smh.com.au most visited stories for 2005 revealed a preference for violence and celebrities. Among the top stories were several of the major world events of the year including the tsunami, the London bombings, Hurricane Katrina and the death of Pope John Paul II.
Also well read were reports on Bali drug offenders, Schappelle Corby, Michele Leslie, while the hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van was the second most read story of the year. However, the most read story was one that did not receive widespread media coverage: a triple murder in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi in which three schoolgirls were beheaded. The report was read 192,202 times.
Insight into reader preferences prompted major revamps throughout the year by News Interactive and Fairfax Digital. Jointly, the revamps show a trend towards news and infotainment on newspaper sites, rather than news alone. Both companies redesigned home pages in a way that enables easier navigation by readers.
Despite increased diversity both companies stressed they had not neglected news and promised round the clock coverage of events. Mid-year News Interactive partnered with Aegis Equities and introduced financial information, including share prices and Australian Stock Exchange announcements through its news.com.au sites.
During the year Rural Press also revised its yourguide sites, through which its regional news is accessed and updated its propertyguide sites.
The West Australian went a step further with its revamp, introducing a subscription for the full edition of the online newspaper. Some free editorial from the paper was still available through the main web site.
The business of online publishing
As more Australians turned to the internet for news and information, advertisers followed. In 2005 advertising dollars on the web grew four times faster than the average for other media, increasing from $388 million in 2004 by almost 60 per cent per cent to $620 million, accounting for a 6 per cent share of the $10 billion all media Australian market. Advertisers spent more online than on pay TV, cinema and outdoor advertising.
In 2005 the online advertisement spending was marginally behind magazine advertisement spending at $727 million. Industry analysts tip online will overtake magazines as the third largest sector of the media market, behind radio, television and newspapers.
Of the $620 million, classified revenue rose 56.1 per cent to $206 million and general advertising revenue recorded $194 million, up 51 per cent. While the spoils of the internet ad boom went to all online media, the main newspaper publishers did not miss out. Fairfax Digital recorded a 66 per cent hike in online related revenue to $42.6 million. Smaller operators with a well developed web presence, shared in the boom too. For example, West Australian Newspaper Holdings, publisher of The West Australian and its associated online site, recorded $0.5 million in online publishing revenue, an increase of 25 per cent on the 2003/ 2004 financial year.
Regional Australian and New Zealand publisher APN attracted $6 million in online advertisement revenue in 2005, expecting to top $10 million in 2006.
The realisation that advertising dollars, in particular for classifieds, were shifting from newsprint to cyberspace led to vigorous activity throughout the year by publishers trying to shore up their online positions. Throughout 2005 both Fairfax and News sought to increase advertising market share with Fairfax acquiring a 12 per cent stake in the leading car classified site, carsales.com.au and purchasing the online dating site rsvp.com.au. News Limited made an unsuccessful bid to take control of the leading realestate.com.au, in which it already had a 43.7 per cent stake.
The online revenue potential prompted a new, assertive approach by regional publishers. Up until then their web presence had been cursory, rather than enthusiastic. Rural Press created a new online management position in the latter part of the year, while Australia's other major regional publisher, Australian Provincial News (APN), demonstrated its new online focus with the creation of an online division, also towards the end of the year.
APN was already seeing strong online growth through its New Zealand operations and, in Australia, its worksearch site, affiliated with its regional newspapers. The aims of the new division include taking such online revenue generating opportunities further through directories, auctions, dating and entertainment services.
News online
The presentation of online news is as varied as the layout and design of the printed newspapers they are aligned with. An analysis of online newspapers reveals a mix of editorial on offer, differing policies on charging for material and various ways of accessing content.
In 2005 there were at least 412 online newspaper sites in Australia representing metropolitan dailies, regional and country, suburban and community and ethnic newspapers. An analysis of randomly selected newspaper sites of metropolitan, regional, country, community and suburban publications was undertaken.
The study
We studied a randomly chosen 25 per cent of the 412 sites. Of these 103 sites, 12 were inaccessible at the time of data collection and analysis was performed on data generated by 91 sites. Of these six were affiliated with metropolitan dailies, 22 with suburban/ community newspapers, 13 with regional dailies and 40 with other regional publications.
There is only rare variation in content and layout styles between sites owned by the same publisher, for example Fairfax's theage.com.au and smh.com.au . However, across all online newspaper sites, where numerous publisher groups are represented, there is a great diversity in content presentation and availability. The variations illustrate that online newspaper sites are still in a development stage. In many areas the extent of development appears to be dictated by the corporate size of the publisher with the most developed sites belonging to Fairfax and News Limited, followed by major regional publishers such as APN and Rural Press and then niche publishers such as Quest, a division of New Ltd (Queensland suburbans), and McPherson.
Home page
The vast majority of sites have a home page from which editorial content can be accessed. Four of the sites had a website only which promoted the print title but had no further links from which to access editorial or information. As seen in the earlier discussion of advertising and online news, publishers are still to capitalise on online advertising. Just over half, or 52 per cent of sites included bought, rather than publisher sponsored, advertisements on the home page.
The most common homepage layout was three-column, with 41 per cent of sites opting for the style. A quarter of sites used a four column layout with another quarter using a two column layout. A remaining nine per cent spread content across the home page in one column.
The homepage delivery of news content varies from hot-linked headings to full stories, with 15 per cent not offering search facilities instead of content. The most popular way of introducing news in just over half of the sites is through the first paragraph of the article. Viewers can than click on a hotlink to bring up the story. Three of the 91 sites featured a whole article on the home page, while two sites contained the majority of an article.
Editorial availability
One in ten sites offers editorial through PDF downloads of page replicas from the printed edition. These sites tend to be owned by smaller publishers. Six sites required users to register before they could access editorial content from the current edition; however the vast majority, 77 per cent, provided all content, available through links. More than a half of all sites, 58 per cent, offered access to archival editorial, while a quarter of these required payment for story access.
Multimedia and interactivity
While the greatest potential of online newspapers is their capability for multimedia and interactivity, some publishers are yet to capitalise on these features. For some smaller publishers the use of photos on the web is still to be developed with 15 per cent of sites containing text content only. When data was collected just four per cent of sites offered accompanying video to a story, while only one site had an audio link. Likewise, interactivity with readers remains at a basic level. While 67 per cent of sites offered email links for comments only three sites included reader polls and no site offered direct communication with journalists.
Blogging
What is it?
Blogging is one of the most recent phenomena in the multimedia world. At the time this report went to print, Australian newspapers were setting up interfaces online to embrace the blogosphere in a clear bid to increase content and sources of news. They are a form of personal publishing, a modern equivalent to talkback radio. Some newspapers, including The Guardian, have suggested they represent a fully-fledged alternative wing of the opinion industry.
In Australia there is insufficient data on the numbers of bloggers, although one source suggests there are around 8,500 blogs. Technorati tracks 37.3 million blogs world wide and estimates the international blogosphere is now more than 60 times bigger than it was three months ago. Most of the major newspapers: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Courier-Mail and The Age have their own interfaces encouraging readers to share news either via video, sound or text. Typically justification for this innovation is like the example on the online site for News Limited which states: "We realise readers are often in the right place at the right time. News Limited also provides a phone number online for readers to SMS to the newspaper images or audio." The Courier Mail recently re-launched its site and was adding new blogs "…allowing you (the reader) to make your voice heard at full strength."
The Sydney Morning Herald offers a variety of blogs with a "blog central" link on its homepage. News blogs includes slide-shows from photographers, illustrations from artists, contributions to news blogs. The newspaper also offers life and leisure blogs; entertainment blogs; sports blogs; technology blogs; business and marketing blogs; health and science blogs and FOI blogs
Particular news stories on the online version of the newspaper are used to solicit news inputs from readers, particularly photos and video and eye-witness accounts.
Who and what are the bloggers?
While most bloggers are not widely known outside of their community of regular readers and posters to particular sites, an A-list commands large readerships. Noam Chomsky now has a blog titled Turning the Tide (blogs.zmag.org/ttt/).
Commentary on blogs ranges from the fully-formed to the random blurt, and tends to freely mix the public and the personal according to Rebecca Blood, author of The Weblog Handbook . What is new says Blood, is that this is a form of participatory media which differs markedly from the news delivery offered by the mainstream media. For example, many blogging reports are first person rather than third, their raison d'etre is often subjectivity rather than objectivity. Australian blogs in particular seem more often to be about opinion than news. Bloggers do not necessarily use traditional journalistic formats such as inverted pyramid news reporting. The blogger's imperative, unlike with the mainstream media, is not necessarily to pursue profit although through online advertising it is sometimes possible to earn money.
Bloggers have reinstated local and community news as well as providing a greater coverage and variety of sources for big news events, particularly in coverage of stories like Hurricane Katrina, the London bombings, the Tsunami and the Cronulla riots.
There are a growing number of blogs authored by specialists such as academics, professional service providers and amateur enthusiasts. Even NASA astronauts have blogged as have soldiers on the front of some of the contemporary wars such as those posted to Iraq and more recently in the Lebanon/ Israeli conflict. Likewise there are blogs from Iraqi, Lebanese and Israeli soldiers.
Journalists too are using the new medium. In Australia Margo Kingston was one of the first bloggers with her Web Diary in The Sydney Morning Herald, which began in 2000, before she left to attempt an independent blog. Her column, now apparently in suspension, was used to produce full transcripts of interviews and speeches and readers' reports on self-chosen topics.
More recently, other Australian journalists with blogs include the News Limited columnists Andrew Bolt ( Herald Sun ), Matt Price & Paul Kelly ( The Australian ) and Piers Akerman ( The Daily Telegraph ).
Veracity
In general, one of the biggest hurdles for bloggers is their lack of credibility, even though an increasing number attract a loyal and growing "readership'. Overseas blogs, particularly those that have been around for several years receive up to 15,000 hits a day.
Martin Chulov's on-the-spot, first-hand reporting rebuttal ( The Australian of 31.8.06) of a speech by Foreign Minister Downer heavily criticising newspapers for untrue, anti-Israel reporting (in a speech to PANPA earlier that week), illustrates the on-going hazards of the blog world. Downer had used a partisan Florida based blog as the source of what he claimed to be accurate information.
To combat the difficulty around accuracy, publishers are tending to set up in-house "terms and conditions of use'. Moreover, the fact that one US newspaper had to temporarily close its blog because it was too difficult to police in terms of legal issues relating to content, gives others cause to consider how best to proceed. The Sydney Morning Herald recently found to its concern that while it monitored original content, responses could be defamatory unless monitored 24/ 7. The 24 hour cycle is also a staffing cost and worry.
Many newspapers struggle with this issue of how to screen content, given the impetus of the daily deadline and the often unknown source providing information. Both the SMH and News Limited reserve the right to reject or remove content. The Sydney Morning Herald invites readers to write to them online if they object to comments. News Limited requires bloggers to sign over intellectual property rights for comments posted to them. Increasingly similar requirements are becoming standard for bloggers contributing to mainstream newspapers.
Readership of blogs
Blogs are still in the minority as a choice for readers looking for news. Only about a quarter of the US population has ever read one. In February 2005, only 26 per cent of Internet users said they were "very familiar" or "somewhat familiar" with blogs, according to a Gallup/ CNN/ USA Today poll.
While last year, the US State of the News Media Report reported that the US audience for news provided by bloggers grew by 58 per cent in six months to 32 million people, its 2006 report said that regular blog readership, as distinct from occasional or one-time, has not grown much.
According to the Pew Internet Project, the proportion of Internet users who were regularly reading blogs year to year remained at 7 per cent.
Recent initiatives however, including the move by Technorati http://www.technorati.com/weblog/ to connect bloggers to more than 440 Associated Press member newspapers in the US may help overcome some resourcing issues of individual bloggers.
Australia's embrace of the blogosphere is still behind the US. Nielsen/ Netratings research released in July 2005 found that two-thirds of people visiting a blog did not realise they were visiting a blog – they thought it was just another website.
Impact
Throughout history, access to news and information has been largely a commercial proposition controlled by media institutions who dominated distribution. Prior to blogging, the access the audience had to providing information were through contacting a journalist or letters to the editor. New technologies have put news and information in the hands of the audience. Undoubtedly blogging puts mainstream media under additional challenge.
The elements introduced through the blogosphere, what blogs contribute to or say about a news story, become part of a more complete story, lending diverse perspectives and often expert commentary.
Blogging may have been given impetus from discontent with the homogenisation of news that contributed to the birth of new Journalism in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, due to increasing distrust of official "facts" as presented by the military and the media.
The US SOM project examined seven blogs to examine how bloggers got their news, the level of reporting that exists, and the relationship with readers and with the mainstream media. It found that readers of those blogs were exposed to the same stories that were in the traditional media, but often from a different angle or different source. Blogging consumers also read about items not found in the other media, such as thoughts from a group of Iranian bloggers who met with one of their presidential candidates.
It concluded that bloggers are adding not just opinion to the media mix, but also new items to the agenda. Those new items can vary widely. "Unlike a news organisation where a group of minds is behind the selection of stories and the editing process, blogs are truly one-person shows, as is apparent in the topics that sometimes receive focus'.
Examples of content in blogs
Apart from the many examples of blogging in covering big news event stories, blogs can also expose frauds. For example, Andrew Bolt ran a photograph on his blog from an Iran-based website run by the Hezbollah (http://www.moqavemat.com) which claimed the image was an Israeli ship hit with a missile in July.
Bolt also ran exactly the same image which he said was from the Royal Australian Navy of its sinking of the decommissioned Australian destroyer-escort HMAS Torrens off the coast of Western Australia in 1998 pointing to the fact that it was the Iran website's image that was a fake.
In mid-December 2005 there were nearly 900 posts mentioning "Cronulla" in a single day after the Cronulla riots.
In the US, iBrattleboro.com, a blog was used by residents who posted their own photos and stories and then used the blog to help the town of 12,000 people locate missing people.
Bloggers were also responsible for unseating Dan Rather, CBS News and anchor-managing editor, for a report he presented on President Bush's service in the National Guard that was based on a fabricated memo. Bloggers' investigations included a former typewriter mechanic discovering that the font used in the memo was not even invented at the time it was purportedly written.
Conclusion
Blogging is still in its infancy as a source of news. There are not enough quantitative studies on the blogosphere other than the SOM study cited above to predict the future of blogging.
It is also hard to forecast whether blogging will ever fulfil the function of regularly setting the news agenda given bloggers' lack of resources and the fact that its impetus is not commercial, nor are bloggers typically expected to work in a team. While one of the great attractions to bloggers is the anonymity offered, credibility suffers; those who do identify themselves could gain credit by making themselves and their standing known at the beginning of their blogs.
It is clear that the blogosphere has its powerful supporters who can clearly see its commercial potential for the future of newspapers. In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2005, Rupert Murdoch called on traditional editors to have a more "digital mindset" when he enlisted their help in using bloggers to supplement the coverage of news.
There is no reason why both bloggers and the mainstream media cannot co-exist. The examples from Australian and overseas newspapers have shown that both can support each other as a medium. While the credibility of blog sites remains at issue, however, the mainstream media will remain the preferred source of news especially as blogs are still an unfamiliar interface. They will, however, to borrow a phrase from the late Don Chipp, founder of the Australian Democrats, help to "keep the bastards (mainstream media) honest."