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AN EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ON THEIR PRINT VERSIONS’ READERSHIP AND REVENUE AMONGST POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

DIRI, CHRISTIAN TUOTAMUNO PG/Ph.D/07/43668

BEING A Ph.D DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) DEGREE IN MASS COMMUNICATION

JANUARY 2014 i

TITLE PAGE

AN EVALUATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ON THEIR PRINT VERSIONS’ READERSHIP AND REVENUE AMONGST POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

DIRI, CHRISTIAN TUOTAMUNO PG/Ph.D/07/43668

BEING A Ph.D THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) DEGREE IN MASS COMMUNICATION

SUPERVISOR: PROF. IKE S. NDOLO

JANUARY 2014

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DEDICATION To the Oppressed and Suppressed Mass of the Niger Delta, Dele Giwa and other dogged Nigerian journalists who have been cut down in their prime in course of gathering, processing and disseminating the TRUTH the journalistic way. iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first and foremost appreciate my supervisor, Prof. Ike S. Ndolo who willingly accepted to continue with this work when my initial supervisor, Dr. S.O. Idemili left as a result of the expiration of his contract appointment with the University. Prof. Ndolo showed keen interest in this work every step of the way and ensured its completion. I deeply appreciate his fatherly and intellectual disposition. I want to appreciate my lecturer, mentor and former Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Nnanyelugo Okoro who initiated the Ph.D in Mass Communication, UNN has shown steady interest in my academic progress all the way. I appreciate your intellectual insights in course of the seminars that preceded this work. I appreciate the First Ph.D in Mass communication, UNN, Dr Mike Ukonu who offered to provide necessary information whenever I called to make inquiries about the programme. I want to thank my Head of Department; Dr. Ray A. Udeajah for running around to ensure that Oral defense for the study took place as scheduled. Thank you to the discussants of my seminar papers in course of laying the ground work for this study. Beginning with Prof. F. I. Ugwuowo of the Department of Statistics, UNN; Prof. Charles Okigbo, Mass Communication Department, UNN, a thorough bred academic per excellence; Dr. C. S. Akpan, Mass Communication Department, Akwa Ibom State University, Dr. Greg Ezeah, Mass Communication Department, UNN. I would like to place on record my appreciation to my inestimable Jewel, my wife, and the mother of our wonderful children, Mrs. Afoma Linda Diri for continually demonstrating her commitment and support to the completion of this work. She had to bear my long absence in course of gathering data for this study. I appreciate my Son, Master Destiny David Tuotamuno Diri for ‘arriving’ when things started looking up for the better, but had to bear my long absence in course of completing this study. To my colleagues in the Mass Communication Department, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State for offering their supports; Lamidi, I.K, Abimbola, R.O. Chief Dayo Duyile, Dr. Oyinade, R.B, Dr. Oyewole John, Dr. Emmanuel Odozi, Dr. Ifedayo Daramola, Olubodede, E.O. Oginibo, E.O. and Nyam Isaac. I specially thank Dr. Sola Owonibi of the Department of English Studies, Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State who proofread this work at a very short notice. v

I also appreciate my Darling Mother, Madam Beatrice Eyinne Diri who laboured to see to my success in life and also my siblings Mrs. Blessing Uffot nee Diri, Engr. Solomon Tolofari Diri, Gift Idamina Diri, Ezekiel Ebere Diri and Beauty Ihuoma Diri, thanks for lending your supports. Thank you to all the Online Editors of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, ThisDay and Business Day newspapers for granting the in-depth interviews that enriched the data embodied in this work. Thank you to my Research Assistant, Taiwo Onayemi who ably assisted me in administering the questionnaire copies for this study. Not forgetting all the Postgraduate students at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Abia State University, Uturu, Anambra State University, Uli and Igbariam Campuses, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, and Imo State University, Owerri for dutifully filling out the copies of the questionnaire. Above all, I return all the glory to the Almighty God who has never left Himself without a witness. HE alone has been my zeal and energy.

Diri, Christian Tuotamuno, Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, February 2014 vi

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Sex of the Respondents ------122 Table 2: Age Brackets of the Respondents ------123 Table 3: Age Brackets of the Respondents According to their Gender across the Eight (8) Universities studied ------124 Table 4: Institution of the Respondents ------126 Table 5: Respondents’ Exposure Patterns and Patronage - - - - 127 Table 6: Frequency with which Respondents that Buy Nigerian Newspapers Do So 127 Table 7: Respondents who Read Nigerian Newspapers Online - - - 128 Table 8: Where Respondents Read Online Newspapers - - - - 129 Table 9: How Often Respondents Read Newspapers Online - - - - 130 Table 10: The Manner with which Respondents Read Online Newspapers - - 131 Table 11: The Reasons that Motivate Respondents’ Online Newspaper Reading Behaviour ------132 Table 12: Respondents’ Motivation for Patronizing Either Online or Offline Newspapers. ------134 Table 13: Ranking of The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, ThisDay and Business Day Newspapers According to Respondents’ Perceptions of the Newspapers with Respect to Timely, Authoritative, Popular and Currency Ratings of their Usage - - - - 135 Table 14: Difficulty in Accessing Online Newspapers in Nigeria - - - 135 Table 15: Difficulty in Accessing Offline Newspapers in Nigeria - - - 136 Table 16: Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions in Nigeria. - 137 Table 17: Positive or Negative Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions 139 Table 18: Negative Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions - 139 Table 19: Positive Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions in Nigeria 140 Table 20: Respondent’s Conservation of Money when they Read Online Newspapers 140 Table 21: Paired Samples Test for Motivations for Patronizing Online newspapers and that of their Print Versions ------158 Table 22: Summary sheet of the results for the Chi-square test for the second hypothesis on the perceptions of The Punch, The Guardian, The Sun, The Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard online newspapers and their print versions with Respect to timely, authoritative, popular and currency ratings of their usage - 161

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Age Brackets of Respondents in Percentages - - - - 124

Figure 2: Names of Institutions in Percentages - - - - - 126

Figure 3: Where Respondents Read Online Newspapers- - - - 129

Figure 4: Motivations for Patronizing Online Newspapers - - - - 131

Figure 5: Reasons that Motivate Respondents’ Online Newspaper Reading Behaviour 132

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page ------i Certification ------ii Dedication ------iii Acknowledgements ------iv List of Tables ------vi List of Figures ------vii Table of Contents ------viii Abstract ------xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study ------1 1.2. Statement of the Problem ------4 1.3 Broad of Objective of the Study------5 1.4 Objectives of the Study ------6 1.5 Research Questions ------6 1.6 Research Hypotheses ------7 1.7 Significance of the Study ------7 1.8 Scope of the Study ------8 1.9. Profiles of the Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, Business Day and ThisDay Newspapers - - - - - 9

1.10 Operational Definition of Terms ------13 References ------15

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW Conceptual Review------16 2.1 General Theoretical Issues on the Power of the Electronic Media - - 16 2.2 Theoretical Views on the Nature, Relevance and Vibrancy of Newspapers - 21 2.3 New Media and Their Awesomeness - - - - - 29 2.4 An Overview of the Concept of Online News and Moving Audience Online 33 ix

2.5 Features of Online News Sites ------43 Empirical Review------46 2.6 Medium-centred Perspectives: The Displacement and Replacement Effect of New Media ------46 2.7 Users-centred Perspectives: The Complementary Effect of New Media - 51 2.8 An Examination of the ‘Paywall’ Billing System and Online Newspapers’ Survival ------59 2.9 A Theoretically-Based Examination of Audience Motivation - - 71 2.10 Related Empirical Studies ------77 2.11 Theoretical Framework ------89 2.11.1 The Uses and Gratifications Theory ------90 2.11.2 Media System Dependency Theory ------92 References ------96

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research Design ------113 3.2. Population of the Study ------114 3.3. Sample of the Study ------115 3.4. Sampling Technique ------115 3.5. Instrument for Data Collection ------116 3.6. Validation and Reliability of the Measuring Instruments - - - 116 3.7. Method of Data Analysis ------117 References ------119

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Data Presentation ------120 4.1.1 Data Presentation from the Questionnaire - - - - - 122 4.2 Data Analysis ------141 4.2.1 Research Question One ------141 4.2.2 Research Question Two ------145 4.2.3 Research Question Three ------147 x

4.2.4 Research Question Four ------148 4.2.5 Research Question Five ------152 4. 2.6 Test of Research Hypothesis 1 ------158 4. 2.7 Test of Research Hypothesis 2 ------161 References ------164

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Summary ------165 5.2 Conclusion ------166 5.3 Recommendations ------168 5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies ------171 References ------173

BIBLIOGRAPHY ------174

APPENDICES ------192 Appendix 1: Questionnaire ------192 Appendix II: Interview Questions For Online Editors Of The Guardian, The Punch And Vanguard, Thisday, The Sun, The Nation And Business Day Newspapers------199 Appendix III: A Directory of Online Newspapers in Nigeria- - - - 201 Appendix IV: A Directory of Offline Newspapers in Nigeria- - - - 203 Appendix V: Transcripts of In-depth Interview with the Online Editors of the Guardian, Vanguard, the Punch, the Sun, the Nation, Business Day, and ThisDay Newspapers on the Online Newspaper phenomenon as it affects their newspaper operations in terms of readership and revenue in Nigeria - - 206

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ABSTRACT This study investigated the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue amongst Postgraduate students in South-East Nigeria The qualitative and quantitative methods employed focused on the research questions. Tables, figures and simple percentage counts were employed in making the research data easily understandable. The in- depth interview was employed in gathering data from Online Editors of The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard, The Sun, The Nation, ThisDay and Business Day newspapers. Findings revealed that 542 (60%) of the online newspaper readers were motivated by the use of pictures, ease of reading. The t-test result for the first hypothesis on readership motivation showed that of the entire paired sample tests, the only one that was accepted was the one on ‘cheapness’ of either the online or offline newspapers as represented by (.882) significance against others as represented by (.000) significance. The Chi-square tests revealed that the perception of The Sun, The Punch, The Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard newspapers with respect to timely, authoritative, popular and currency ratings of their usage did not depend on their online or print attributes because the test values are greater than the table values. The Punch’s online and offline (print) newspaper readers agreed that there were difficulties in accessing both online and offline newspapers as represented by 489 (55%), and 321 (36%) respectively. Online newspapers have both positive, 255(29%) and negative, 381 (43%) influences on their print versions’ readership and revenue. Online Editors are aware of the Paywall billing system but said they have not employed it in running their online services. The study recommends that; offline newspapers should package attractive and contemporary editorial content; offline newspaper operators should build relationship with their readers through events sponsorship, marketing promotions, public relations, and advertising; newspaper organizations should train and retrain journalists on computer – assisted reporting and online journalism; newspaper organizations should reorganize their operations in the areas of data base infrastructure and web-focused sales to remain relevant. 1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Newspaper, which came after the introduction of book as a medium of communication in

1580-135BC essentially represents one of the earliest attempts at mass communication. Since

Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th Century, the journalism profession has, no doubt, witnessed and experienced tremendous progress mostly powered by incredible advances in communication technologies (Agba, 2002,: p. iv). “The newspaper remained the prominent medium for many Centuries before the advent of the electronic media (radio) in the early 20th Century. And it was not until the 1950s that we began to rely increasingly on television and radio for news, even though they provide little more than the headlines”

(Agba, 2002,:p. 120).

Okunna (1993: 56) thinks that “the press has developed through the acutely practical manoeuvres of the early journalists…to a press, which has embraced the full effects and vitality of both the print and electronic media”. It is no surprise therefore that the nagging problems that have dogged every step of the print media industry have been seen as challenges that trail any concern known for great strides.

Reflecting on the coming of the electronic media, their challenge to the print media in focus, Ohaja (2005) notes inter alia:

When the electronic media were introduced, they had an edge over newspapers because they were presenting the same condensed reports as the latter but at a faster pace and in form that clearly matched reality. Television, especially moving and talking pictures of scenes featuring almost simultaneously with the event itself. Feature writing became the print media’s lifeline to prevent them from becoming obsolete and irrelevant to the public….(p. 16)

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In view of the above challenges, Wilson (1997: p. 152) argues that “it is not true that the new technologies replace the old ones. They may replace some of their functions or create new functions or supplement the old one, but cannot replace them”.

But the late Canadian Professor of English, Marshal McLuhan, with the benefit of hindsight in 1980 quoted in (Griffin, 1991:p. 295) submitted that “… we live in a unique revolutionary communication age, a balance point in history where the power of the printed word is over…. The age of print had its obituary tapped out by the telegraph”. The thinking of the late Professor is among a handful of revelations that is the kernel of the current mind- blowing advances in information communication technologies that Ukonu (2004) referred to as the fourth revolution to be known by mankind.

Since the predictions of McLuhan there has been an unequalled surge in the introduction of new and better information tools, which, are increasingly complementing and replacing older traditional tools of mass information. New media delivery systems, new information processing, storage and retrieval systems have become the vogue.

Currently, newspapers make use of the World Wide Web (www) among other services of the net. They create and maintain web servers in which they publish contents of their papers for users of the Net to access. Newspapers using the web are connected to the internet via Local Area Network (LAN) that is directly connected to the Net via an Internet

Service Provider’s (ISP) facilities. In this way the electronic pages of newspapers are brought to the doorsteps of people in Nigeria and foreign countries as long as these people are connected to the Net.

The flooding of newspapers online may not be unconnected with some possible secondary reasons- including enthusiasm for new technology and the general sense that one 3 wishes to be part of the new wave at the moment. The fundamental reasons may be economic. The people who own newspapers have, by and large decided that the internet provides opportunities and challenges to which they need to respond.

Some of the opportunities as a matter of fact may be obvious. The offline newspapers

(the hard copies) are in part a process of manipulating symbols and in part a straightforward industrial production process. May be once the journalists and the advertising people have delivered the made-up, final copy, the newspaper undergoes a series of transformations that constitute the physical production and distribution of the commodity.

As usual printers and printing presses produce thousands and millions of copies of more or less identical copies of the newspaper. Dispatchers load the newspaper on trucks and drivers distribute them to wholesalers and then retailers as the case may be. They in turn either deliver it to the user, or put it on display next to the sweets and the cigarettes. All of these cost money for wages and equipment.

Online newspaper on the other hand does not incur any of these costs so to speak.

True, it requires some space on the server, but this is not a comparable expense to the printing processes and trucks needed for the physical product. The consumers themselves pay costs of distribution, buying the PCs and paying the telecommunications charges. The online newspapers, according to Sparks (1996) offer the proprietors the prospect of substantial cost reductions.

Online newspapers also confer what some journalists have come to perceive as an important competitive feature in newsgathering as compared with working offline. Physical newspaper, Sparks (2000: p. 272), says may produce several editions, but in general they only have one or at most two main publication points in any 24-hour period. The need to 4 print and transport a physical product usually may impose strict time deadlines in the news day. This means that there is a risk that an important news development will occur too late to be put into the newspaper on the day of its occurrence. Some journalists think that covering these breaking stories is a very important part of their work. Printed newspapers may have long been thought of to be at a disadvantage to radio and television, both of which offer the opportunity continuously to update news throughout the day, although observation suggests that this facility is used, at best, for minority of items.

The online newspaper, essentially, is no longer distinguished by the fact that it appears every morning as opposed to the continuous flow of the broadcasters or the weekly and monthly periodicity of the magazines (Featherly, 1998). What’s more, all of these different media now exist in exactly the same space. The geographic distances that previously segmented the market so powerfully have now more or less, been abolished. The online reader can have access to any form of news from anywhere in the world at any time he/she wants. Conversely, the advertiser can gain access to the most dispersed readership through new media and in new ways.

The upshot of all these is that for the first time in years, newspaper faces serious challenge and competition in their core business. They no longer or hardly have the privileged relationship with readers and thus with advertisers, that were to a large extent the foundation of their success in the offline world.

1.2. Statement of the Problem The internet medium has engaged the power of the fast-paced Information

Communication Technologies (ICTs) in diverse ways and leaving its awesome influence in all spheres of human activities. One of such influences could be readily noticed in the online 5 newspaper phenomenon that has greatly increased the accessibility of people to all kinds of information services. No wonder since the late Canadian Professor of English, Marshal

McLuhan predicted that we live in a unique revolutionary communication age, there has been an unprecedented surge of new and better information tools, new media delivery systems, new information processing, storage and retrieval systems and people are turning to the web for news that is rich and instantaneous compared to the analogue media where, according to

Karlsson (2007), interactivity, convergence of pictures, moving images, fusion of text and sound into one medium of distribution are lacking.

Currently, newspapers create and maintain web servers in which they publish contents of their newspapers for readers online. The flooding of these newspapers online,

Grump and Carbore (1998) believe may not be unconnected with some possible secondary reasons including-enthusiasm for a new technology and the need to respond to opportunities provided by this new technology; even though these media organizations may not have actually weighed the economic consequences and implications therein. Also, Vivian (1998) reported that San Jose, a newspaper in the USA, Mercury News in the early 1990s got as many as 325,000 visits to its online site in a day against only 270,000 copies of the newspaper’s newsprint product that were circulated. What then is the implication of online editions of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, Business Day and

ThisDay newspapers for readership and revenue of their print versions amongst Postgraduate students in South-East Nigeria?

1.3 Broad Objective of the Study This study sought to evaluate the extent to which Online newspapers influence their print versions’ readership and revenue within the context of a ‘Paywall’ billing system- a 6 situation whereby readers of online newspapers are expected to pay certain fees to access online newspapers.

1.4. Objectives of the Study The specific objectives of this study include the following:

1. To verify readers’ motivation for patronizing online editions of the newspapers

against their print versions and vice versa.

2. To find out readers’ perception of Online and print newspapers in Nigeria

3. To investigate the extent to which readers are convenient in accessing online

newspapers in comparison with their prints versions.

4. To investigate the extent to which Online newspapers influence their print versions’

readership and revenue in Nigeria.

5. To investigate newspaper organizations’ awareness of the ‘Paywall’ billing system as

it affects revenue of online newspapers.

1.5. Research Questions The following research questions were formulated to guide the study 1. What is readers’ motivation for patronizing online newspapers against their print versions and vice versa? 2. What is readers’ perception of Online and print newspapers in Nigeria? 3. How convenient is accessing online newspapers in comparison with their print versions? 4. To what extent do Online newspapers influence their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria? 5. To what extent are Nigerian newspaper organizations aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system as it affects revenue of online newspapers?

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1.6 Research Hypotheses

H0: There is no difference in the motivations for patronizing online newspapers and

that of their print versions.

H0: The perception of the newspapers with respect to timely, authoritative, popular

and currency ratings of their usage does not depend on their online or print

attributes.

1.7. Significance of the Study Speculations regarding the impact of the online newspapers on their print versions’ revenue in Nigeria have become overarching thus necessitating this investigation. Mass communication practitioners, proprietors of newspaper organizations, editors, and reporters would want to know the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria.

This study is also especially significant because what motivates to read or patronize online newspapers more than their offline counterparts and vice versa would be revealed.

This study would also suggest the means through which newspapers would survive the current online newspaper and internet medium challenge.

Students of mass communication, sociology and social psychology would know how old and new media sociology and psychology affect readership and revenue streams of the same medium as is currently being investigated.

This study is relevant because it will discover the general perception readers of online and offline newspapers have about the online newspaper phenomenon.

For the newspaper organizations, it would help them to discover their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the market place and provide possible means of surviving the challenge especially in the area of new revenue streams on the web. 8

The study would afford proprietors and media workers an opportunity to device tangible means of remaining relevant in the newspaper business in spite of the seemingly drowning posture of the internet medium in all its ramifications and manifestations.

Above all, the investigation would stimulate further research on this topic and other aspects of the internet and its awesome influences.

1.8. Scope of the Study Online journalism popularly called online newspapers is a relatively new phenomenon, one of the fallouts of the current waves of the internet influences blowing across the world. As interesting as the investigation appears to be, it would have been a delight to study every aspect of the internet as a phenomenon but the study was focused on online and offline newspapers leaving out all other internet –based platforms- the influence of the online newspapers on their offline newspaper patronage and revenue in South-east

Nigeria.

The study was focused on Postgraduate students purposively drawn from across the three (3) federal universities in the Eastern part of Nigeria: University of Nigeria, Nsukka,

(Enugu state); Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, (Anambra State); and Federal University of Technology, Owerri (Imo State) and the five (5) state universities in each of the five (5)

Eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states; ( Abia State University,

Uturu; Anambra State University, Uli; Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki; Enugu State

University of Science and Technology, Enugu; and Imo State University, Owerri).

Theprivate universities were excluded because as at the time of this study none of them had started Postgraduate programmes. The choice of the Postgraduate students is based on the 9 pilot study that revealed that the Postgraduate students use the internet often and as well read newspapers online.

Online Editors of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun,

Business Day and ThisDay newspapers were the focus of the In-depth interview since they have their print newspapers online unlike some other online newspapers that do not have their print versions. They were also chosen because they were capable of providing information on their newspapers’ online activities as they affect their print newspapers’ revenue in South –east Nigeria.

1.9. Profiles of the Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, Business Day and ThisDay Newspapers

The Guardian The Guardian is a private limited liability company of Chief Alex Ibru and others. It is an independent as well as liberal newspaper committed to the ideals of republican democracy. It was established in March 1983, with the aim of presenting a balanced coverage of issues and events in addition to projecting and promoting the best interest of Nigeria. It owes no allegiance to any political party, ethnic group, religious or other interest groups. It is primarily committed to the integrity and sovereignty of the federal republic of Nigeria. As expressed in its editorial policy, The Guardian believes that “it is the responsibility of the state not only to protect and defend the citizen, but also to create the conditions, political, social, economical and cultural, in which all citizens may achieve their highest potentials as human beings.” The Guardian is the policy-makers’ paper (Doghudje: 2008). The Guardian went online in 1999 and the site was redesigned in 2002 in order to allow more people access. 10

The Punch The Punch is a very popular and independent newspaper geared towards the emancipation of the Nigerian citizenry from the shackles of ignorance. It was founded by two friends, James Aboderin, an Accountant and Sam Amuka, a columnist and editor at the Daily

Times in November 1976. The Daily Punch was added to the stable in November 1976. It has as its major pillar, the promotion of national interest and the fostering of peace and unity within the Nigerian nation. The Punch is, however, regarded as the undisputed voice of the

Yoruba cultural zone in south western Nigeria. It espouses the ideals of democracy and human freedom with a deep sense of cultural focus in an environment of social responsibility.

Sam Amuka became the first editor of the Sunday Punch. In November 1976, a few years after the first print of its Sunday edition, the duo started printing its trademark daily newspaper. Both editions were designed to favour a friendlier apolitical approach to news reporting, combining footages of social events with everyday political news. The paper sustains itself by into broad issues that interest a myriad of people.

However, during the twilight of the Second Republic, political experiences had introduced conflicts to its original intentions, Aboderin and Amuka parted ways due partly to political conflicts. Aboderin later secured the support of his former foe, MKO Abiola, after the latter left the NPN. The paper began to take on a political stance, mostly against the

Shagari regime.

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Vanguard

Nigerian Vanguard newspaper was established in 1983, but began paper production in

1984. It was initially a Sunday newspaper, but commenced daily production shortly afterwards. Immediately after the inception, it gained popularity as a reputable newspaper and it now has distribution centres in practically all the state capitals. It brings a refreshingly different style to news coverage and also strives to maintain excellent service by utilizing the best media technologies. The newspaper is one of the newspapers that have their online versions.

The Nation The Nation is a daily newspaper was founded on July 31, 2006 and published by

Vintage Press Limited in Lagos, Nigeria. According to the 2009 survey by ADVAN, AAPN,

MIPAN (Major players in the advertising industry in Nigeria), it was the second most read newspaper in Nigeria. The paper’s website says it stands for freedom, justice and market economy. Its target audience is the business and political elite, the affluent, the educated and the upwardly mobile. The Nation has printing plants in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The newspaper covers business and economy, public policies, the democratic process and institutions of democracy, sports, arts and culture.

The Sun The Daily Sun is a Nigerian daily print newspaper founded and published in Ikeja,

Lagos Nigeria. As of 2011 The Sun had a daily print run of 130,000 copies, and 135,000 for weekend titles, with an average of 80% sales. This made The Sun the highest selling newspaper in Nigeria. 12

The Daily Sun was incorporated on March 29, 2001. It started production as a weekly on January 18, 2003, and as a daily on June 16, 2003. The target audience is young adults in the 18-45 years age bracket and in the B and C social economic. The paper attempts to offer quality information. It is similar in format to the popular Sun of the United Kingdom.

The chairman of the publishing house is Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of

Abia State. The first Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief was Mike Awoyinfa. In January

2010 there was a shake-up in which Tony Onyima succeeded Awoyinfa, and the original deputy editor, Dimgba Igwe, was replaced by Femi Adesina. Awoyinfa and Igwe remained as directors on the company’s board.

Business Day The newspaper was established in 2005, is a daily business newspaper based in

Lagos, Nigeria. It is the only Nigerian newspaper with a bureau in Accra, Ghana. It publishes daily, Monday to Friday and circulates in Nigeria and Ghana.

The publisher is Frank Aigbogun, a former editor of Vanguard newspaper. As at May

2011, the Editor-in-Chief was Jemie Onwuchekwa and the editor was Philip Isakpa. The newspaper has produced many award-winning journalists.

The newspaper worked with Price Water In-house Coopers on the ‘Most Respected

Company and CEOs. The Awards based on the survey were presented in a company in

Lagos. In February 2011, Business Day organized it Annual Capital Market conference. In

March 2011, the newspaper organized the Business Day SME forum 2011 in Lagos. The forum was attended by entrepreneurs, consultants, financiers, and representatives from various industries.

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ThisDay The newspaper is a Nigerian national newspaper. It is speculated to be the flagship newspaper in Nigeria. Leaders and Company Ltd the publishers of ThsiDay newspapers was first published on January 22, 1995. It has its headquarters in Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria.

As at 2005, unconfirmed reports says the paper has a circulation of 100, 000 copies and an annual turnover of some 35 million dollars (US). It has two printing plants in Lagos and Abuja. The publisher was noted for his early investment in colour printing, giving the paper a distinctive edge among the few durable national newspapers in Nigeria.

1.10. Operational Definition of Terms A mark of good scientific reporting is the explicitness with which operational definitions are presented. Clearly, we cannot gauge the full meaning of research findings unless we know explicitly what they represent. On the basis of the foregoing, the following terms have been defined in the context of this study.

Online Newspapers—these are electronic copies of the newspapers posted on the newspapers’ websites for readers to access.

News—a written piece of information in the print media carried in the online or offline (print) copies.

Newspaper—this means any paper containing public news, intelligence or occurrences or any remarks, observation or comments printed therein for sale and published periodically or in parts or numbers.

Print News—this refers to news in the print media, i.e. newspaper news.

Patronage—this refers to actual purchase of the newspaper.

Print Version—these are the hard copies of the newspapers physically circulated. 14

Revenue— this is money which accrues to a newspaper organization as a result of actual sale of the offline (print) copies of the paper.

Readers---those who read online and the print versions of newspapers in Nigeria.

Readership---the group or number of people who read newspapers in South-East Nigeria

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Agba, P. C. (2002). “Perspectives in newspaper broadcasting: towards revitalizing the newspaper industry in the south east, Nigeria” in Nsukka journal of the humanities. Nsukka: Faculty of Arts.

Feartherly, K. (1998). Theories of mass communication: An introductory text. Farrar Staws Ginuk.

Grump, E. and Carbore, P. (1998). Writing Online: A Students’ Guide to the Internet and World Wide Web.(2nd ). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Ohaja, E. U. (2005). Feature writing simplified. Enugu: EL DEMARK Publishers.

Okunna, C.S. (1993). Theory and practice of mass communication. Enugu: ABIC Publishers.

Sparks, C. (2004). “From Dead Trees to Live Wires: The Internets Challenge to the Traditional Newspaper” in Curran J. and GM. (Ed.) Media and Society. New York: Arnold Publishers.

Vivian, J. (1997). The media of mass communication. (4th Ed.) Boston, London: Allynon Bacon.

Wilson, D. (1997). Communication and social action. Harcourt: Footsteps Publications.

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CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW Conceptual Review 2.1 General Theoretical Issues on the Power of the Electronic Media In the ‘beginning’ the hypodermic needle was used to represent an early but highly influential mass media version of the effect process. Media content was then viewed as injected in the veins of the audience that was then supposed to react in foreseeable and predetermined way.

Griffin (1999) clearly captures the scenario thus:

Early mass communication theorists assumed that print and electronic media have an enormous power to mould opinion, arouse feelings, and sway behaviour. They viewed the mass audience as defenseless and relatively passive – a herd of sheep that is easy for manipulative advertising or clever propaganda. The ‘powerful effects’ model is likened media messages to bullets fired from a machine gun into a crowd. (p. 288)

Consequently, the very first empirical findings of mass media effect research scientifically disproved the simple stimulus reaction model. Individual differences in people’s personality organization – different motivation, capability to learn, attentiveness, awareness etc. were now taken into account. The effects of mass communication were no longer stringently regarded as deterministic since the personality structure of the individual recipient was perceived as an effect – modifying filter.

Behind the conception of the all powerful media effect perspective, McQuail and

Windahl (1981: p. 42) say “an image of a modern society as consisting of an aggregate of relatively ‘atomized’ individuals acting according to their personal interests and little constrained by social ties and constraints”. A dominant view of the mass media as engaged 17 on campaigns to mobilize behaviour according to intentions of powerful institutions, whether public or private (advertisers, government bureaucracies, political parties, etc).

The main features of this “mass society” stimulus – response model according to them are:

(a) The assumption that messages are prepared and distributed in systematic ways

and on a large scale. At the same time they are ‘made available’ for attention by

many individuals, not directed to particular persons.

(b) The technology of reproduction and neutral distribution is expected to maximize

aggregate reception and response.

(c) Little or no account is taken of an intervening social or group structure and a

direct contact is made between media campaigner and individual.

(d) All recipients of the message are ‘equal’ in weighting or value – only aggregate

numbers account (as voters, consumers, supporters, etc).

(e) There is an assumption that contact from the message will be related at some

given level of probability to an effect. This contact with the media tends to be

equated with some degree of influence from the media, and those not reached are

assumed to be unaffected.

Halloran (1969) however notes that the ‘mechanistic stimuli – response model’ is important because “even in its crudest form it has not entirely disappeared and because it has provided a base from which so much of our thinking about mass communication stemmed.

This seems to hold true even today, and many researchers blame the stimulus – response principle for having given rise to the notion of the mass communication process merely as a process of persuasion. 18

Klapper (1960) reasons that there is a shift from the tendency to regard mass communication as necessary and sufficient causes of audience effects to a view of the media as influences working in others in a total situation. This he called ‘phenomeniotic approach’.

Klapper went further to make the following generalizations:

(i) Mass communication ordinarily does not serve as a necessary and sufficient cause

of audience effects but rather functions among and through a nexus of mediating

factors and influences.

(ii) These mediating factors are such that they typically render mass communication a

contributory agent, but not the sole cause in a process of reinforcing the existing

conditions.

(iii) On such occasions as mass communication does function in the service of change,

either of the two conditions is likely to exist.

(a) The mediating factors will be found to be imperative and the effect of the

media will be found to be direct or

(b) The mediating factors, which normally favour reinforcement, will be

found to be themselves impelling toward change.

From the above it could be synthesized that the mass media can only structure events for audience, which does not necessarily produce a conversion in the audience. Also, the newness of the issue can remove any impediments to conversion and the degree of newness can keep the extra-communication mediating forces inactive.

A piece of research by Bauer and Zimmerman, published in 1956 under the title “The

Effects of an Audience on what is Remembered” did as much as any single study to, according to Bauer (1971:p. 326) bring to an end the concept of the audience as inactive. 19

This study demonstrated not only that people remember communication in a highly selective way, but also that they process and select new information with an eye on their perceived relationship to the future audiences. Specifically, they are less likely to remember information that would conflict with the audience’s views than they are to remember information to which they are to believe the audience would be hospitable.

Noelle Neumann (1973: pp. 9, 67-112), a German researcher, calls for a return to a belief in the concept of a powerful mass media. She argues, “The decisive factors of mass media are brought to bear in the traditional laboratory experiment”.

In their agenda setting studies Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972: pp.176-

187), view that the informational learning role of the media was its most important effect.

This goes further to show that the media would tell the people not what to think but what to think about (Cohen 1963: p. 13).

Also, the ‘minimal media effects’ of Lazarsfeld was frowned at by Todd Griffin

(1978:.pp. 205-253) when he says “behind the idea of the relative unimportance of the mass media lies a skewed, faulty concept of importance, similar to the faulty concept of power”.

This to a large extent had the effect of justifying the existing system of media ownership, control and purpose.

Curan, Gurevitch and Worllacott (1977: p. 10) reconceptualize media effects in terms not merely of audience response, but in terms of its effects on institutions.

Still talking about minimally powerful media theories, Folarin (1998: p. 63) sees the selectivity principle as guiding antidotes to media effects. Such ‘selectivities’ are selective exposure, selective attention, selective perceptions and selective retention. According to him, people tend to attach different meanings to similar or identical messages, on the basis of past 20 experiences, current dispositions, and the linguistic resources at their disposal. To that extent people selectively expose, attend to, perceive and retain messages that align with their dispositions, attitudes and beliefs.

Merrill (1984:.p. 80) admonishes researchers to admit immediately that some media, under some conditions, with some people, have some effects or impact. He further argues that media, however do not work in a vacuum. This therefore lends credence to the position of Lazarsfeld and his colleagues that the mass media in conjunction with many social forces bring about certain effects. The implication of much of these ‘effects’ research is that mass communication is influential but not central or dominant on the model of personal influence.

On a concluding note Merrill postulates:

(1) Media are most powerful in furnishing information and seeking agenda for

members of a public.

(2) Media are next most powerful in impinging on the thoughts, opinion, and attitudes

of members of a public.

(3) Media are least powerful in affecting actions of members of a public.

Gauging the effects of the media McLuhan (1964: p. 75) speaks in parables thus:

The new media and technologies by which we amplify and extend ourselves constitute huge collective surgery carried out on the social body with complete disregard for antiseptics. If the operations are needed, the inevitability infecting the whole system during the operation has to be considered.

The above statement is a call for caution by media operators in their use of the media in order not to experience a boomeranging effect on themselves and society.

Following from the above, Mboho (1991: p, 117) quotes Klapper (1960) as saying:

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…Communication (including broadcasting) can lead to reinforcement, to conversion, to minor or major adjustments of attitudes, long-term or short term effects and those, which are unintended, as well as those, which are intended.

Watson and Hill (1996:.p. 63) aver that “the actual effect of the media on audiences, so far as it can be ascertained, is arguably less significant than the perceived effect.

Baran (2003: p. 338) says media content can be duplicated and transmitted easily without loss of quality. Individuals themselves can now be producers of media. Easier creation and distribution of content leads to more choice for media consumers because people can seek out and receive content they are interested in while ignoring other contents. But raised some fundamental questions: What will happen to security of personal information if content can be easily copied and transmitted (privacy and security issues). These are parts of the issues that will be unraveled in course of this research.

2.2 Theoretical Views on the Nature, Relevance and Vibrancy of Newspapers The newspaper represents one of the earliest attempts at mass communication.

Newspaper came after the introduction of the books as a medium of communication (1580-

135BC)…. The Gutenberg press invented by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, in 1450, revolutionized the print history (Agba, 2002: p. 120).

The newspaper, understandably, remained the prominent news medium for many centuries before the introduction of the electronic media in the early twentieth century. When

Reverend Henry Townsend set up the very first newspaper in Nigeria called Iwe Irohin in

Abeokuta, Egba land, in 1859, he was interested in developing and improving the literacy level of the Egba people. The first press established by the Presbyterian Mission in Calabar

13 years earlier and the second establishment in 1884 by Rev. Townsend had the same 22 motive as Iwe Irohin. This underscores one of the cardinal roles of the print media, namely education.

The newspaper industry has recorded successes in the face of stifling odds. Njemanze

(1996: pp. 164-165) notes “the country’s press has always had a crusading predilection since its inception. It is not shy to take positions and not for it the option to sit on the fence. Quite often, the press conducts investigations and takes necessary stance on issues of national importance. The print media have kept faith with the people”.

Also, the press (newspaper industry) saw countless legal and extra legal measures to control it. Tador (1996: p. 42) states explicitly “criticisms of the editors, especially James

Bright Davies of the Nigerian Iwes and John Payne Jackson of the Lagos weekly record compelled the government to think of ways of controlling the press”.

The following, in the words of Agba (2002: p. 123), acting sometimes separately and sometimes as groups, are predictors (facilitators or inhibitors) of newspaper readership:

 Ownership-related issues (newspaper credibility).

 Education.

 Economic status.

 Orientation/Exposure to the media.

 Sheer apathy/unconsciousness to the need to read.

 Electronic competition.

 Gender.

 Parent socialization values.

 Ties to the community.

 Socio-political/economic awareness. 23

 Marital status.

 Motivation (uses and gratifications) theory.

 Circulation/coverage radius.

 Newspaper aesthetics and content; and

 Newspaper cover price.

The above revelation is fallout of an investigation on “Perspectives in Newspaper

Readership: Towards Revitalizing the Newspaper Industry in the Southeast Nigeria”.

In one survey, several thousand people in Britain and France were asked how much trust they placed in each of 13 institutions. The press came in last even after politics and big business. In the United States, according to a report in the Awake magazine of October 22,

2005, most readers still say they believe their newspaper. But the surveys by the Pew

Research Centre show that the percentage of believers in the newspapers has declined.

Fundamentally, there is often justification for skepticism, especially when what is said involves the national interests of the country in which a newspaper is printed. What happens then? Truth is often sacrificed. As Ponsonby, an English statesman of the 20th century once noted, “when war is declared truth is the first casualty”. Even when war has not been declared, it is wise to examine the news with healthy skepticism. No wonder the holy writ warns “anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word but the shrewd one considers his steps (Proverbs 14:15). If one exercises an appropriate caution, the newspaper, no doubt, can generally satisfy one’s appetite for the news that he/she needs.

Everywhere, newspapers inform the public of important affairs. But they do more than that. They also provide information on which many readers form opinions. “Our daily 24 newspaper reading” claims Dieter Offenhäusser of the German Commission for UNESCO affects “our attitudes, our conduct and even our fundamental moral values”.

Historians on their part, say newspapers have instigated, supported and justified wars.

They cite the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian war, the Spanish-American war of 1898 and the

Vietnam War of 1955-75. Many businessmen, scientists, entertainment stars, and politicians have come to grief over a scandal published in newspapers. In the famed Watergates scandal of the mid 1970’s, investigative journalism set off a series of events that forced U.S.

President Richard M. Nixon to resign. But some observers say even if it is granted that nothing beats newspapers for in-depth coverage and the power to trigger on public discussion, the questions remain. “Can you trust their slant on the news? How can you benefit from the newspapers you read?”

Vivian (1997) justifies the existence of the newspaper in the following words:

Newspapers are the primary mass medium from which people receive news. In most cities, no other news source comes close to the local newspaper’s range and depth of coverage. This contributes to the popularity and influence of newspapers. (p.81)

Although television has stolen the glitz and romance that newspapers once had, the significance of newspapers is not easy to miss. The newspaper industry is large by every measure (Vivian, Supra: p. 81). Newspapers have a rich mix of – news, advice, comics, opinion, puzzles and data. It is all there to tap into at will. Some people go right for the stock market tables, others to sports or a favorable columnist. Unlike radio and television, one does not have to wait for what he/she wants.

But Pember (1992: p. 117) acknowledges that the newspaper industry is not without its problems, despite its dominance in many years. The newspaper, he further says, presents 25 us with a paradoxical picture: dominant, successful, and strong on the one hand, shrinking, vulnerable and troubled on the other.

Bittner (1989: p. 251) observes, “Research has suggested some general trends about media credibility, trends that do not necessarily remain constant but do reflect the public’s perception of the news media. For example, in the 1930s when radio first appeared as a medium, it quickly jumped ahead of newspapers as the most credible news source. Whether it was really more credible or contained few inaccuracies than newspapers is debatable. Yet the public clearly preferred hearing the news over the radio, and there were several reasons for this.

Kunczik (1988) seems to have provided the answer to the poser Bittner routed in the following words:

The newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and collective agitator, but also a collective organizer. In this respect it can be compared with scaffolding put around a building under construction; it indicates the shape the building will have, makes communication between the various building workers easier, helps them to distribute the work and to be aware of the general results jointly achieved by the organized work. (p. 74)

What then is the remedy for the existing condition of the newspaper? Strentz (1989) seems to provide a ready answer.

There is no remedy. Humanly speaking, the present newspapers are about as good as they can be if the newspapers are to be improved; it will come through the education of the people and the organisation of practical information and intelligence …. The real reasons that the ordinary newspaper accounts of the incidents of ordinary life are so sensational are because we know so little of human life that we are not able to interpret the events of life when we read them. (p. 170)

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To win back the credibility and potency of the newspaper Udofia (1991: p. 191) advises newspapers to do the following … “publish local, national and international news.

You should carry features, which your readers like. You must understand the community in which you operate. Also you must have a well organised, a well-managed circulation department. The newspaper must appeal to the local community by reporting such news that is of interest to them”.

Udofia further adds:

Endeavour to create friendly relationship between your newspaper and its readers. Human-interest stories are a goodwill builder and stimulator of relationship. Win the readers’ loyalty by writing about organisations to which they and their families belong. …. The success or failure of your paper very well depends on how you serve the community.

No doubt, newspapers have some basic advantages that need to be explored and utilized to maximum. Some of these advantages have been offered by Bovee and Arens

(1992: p. 458) thus:

 Newspapers are a local medium, covering a specific geographic area that comprises

both a market and a community of people sharing common concerns and interests.

 Newspapers are comprehensive in scope, covering an extraordinary variety of topics

and interest.

 Newspapers are read selectively as readers search for what is personally interesting

and useful.

 Newspapers are timely because they primarily cover the news.

 Newspaper readership is concentrated in time. Virtually all the reading of a particular

day’s paper happens that day. 27

 Newspapers represent a permanent record that people use actively. The advertiser’s

printed message stands still for rereading and reconsideration, for clipping and for

sharing.

 Newspapers provide opportunity for massive same day exposures of an advertising

message to a large cross section of any market.

 Newspapers combine broad reach with highly selective attention from the relatively

small number of active prospects who, on any given day, are interested in what the

advertiser is trying to tell them or sell to them.

 Newspapers offer great creative flexibility to the advertiser.

Researcher Bernard Berelson’s classic 1949 study of “What Missing the Newspaper

Means” speaks for today’s newspaper reader as well. Readers, he say, use the

newspaper:

 To get information about and interpretation of public affairs.

 As tools for daily living (for example; advertising, radio and movie listings, and

announcements of births, deaths and weddings).

 For relaxation and escape.

 For prestige (newspaper content is raw material for conversation).

 For social contact (for human interest stories and advice columns)

(Baran, 2004: p. 110).

Still talking about the advantages of the newspaper, Daramola (2003) reasons that newspapers and magazines, like transistors, enjoy the great advantage of portability because they can be carried almost anywhere, read anywhere, supplied at reading points such as library, waiting room, reception hall, home, office, taken along while travelling or read while 28 eating. They can also be carried to places beyond the reach of the electronic media but argues that:

Newspapers lack participation and intimacy which television and radio enjoy. Newspaper is often accused of exaggerated reporting, inaccuracy or omission and that of many confused readers and throws a large number of people or community into confusion. This is because readers take what they read in the newspaper for granted in the belief that newspapers do not print falsehood. (p. 122)

In spite of the above handicaps, Daramola (2003: p. 123) says newspapers provide a variety of news and information than the other media and they present far more details than radio and television. The newspapers provide pages and pages filled with stories that are not touched by the broadcast media.

Hynds (1972) in his view says, “Newspapers along with other print media are particularly suited to the communication of what has been described as linear and sequential information.

Available figures however show that although circulation has grown constantly, the worldwide total of daily newspapers has remained about the same for years. This figure, according to MacBride, et al (1980: p. 59), has remained static mainly because of mergers, the death of small local newspapers and competition from radio and television. The electronic media reviews of newspapers and magazines have undoubtedly come to further diminish the figure.

The role of the newspaper in circulating news is decreasing as broadcasting, particularly by television in developed countries, has stepped up its reporting and enhanced its appeal as a news source. But newspapers, continued the MacBride’s report, play an interesting valuable role in explaining, interpreting and commenting upon events in society, 29 especially when broad debates on major social objectives or world affairs that require expanded analysis as opposed to straightforward reporting. Way back in 1964, John Stormer argues that “The simple truth is that the press has given up on fact hunting for the less arduous and frequently more profitable role of interpreting what has gone before and predicting what is to come in conformity with the administration’s pattern”.

2.3 New Media and Their Awesomeness Essentially, new media are the new technologies that extend and change the entire spectrum of sociological possibilities for public communication. They are also taken to be those methods and social practices of communication, representation and expression that have developed using digital, multimedia, networked computer and the ways that this machine is held to have transformed work in other media, like books, movies, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, telephones, etc.

Therefore, there are grounds for thinking that mass media have greatly changed, certainly from the early 20th Century days of one – directional and undifferentiated flow to an undifferentiated mass. McQuail (2005: p. 136) says there are social and economic as well as technological reasons for this shift, but it is real enough and secondly, information society theory also indicates the rise of a new kind of society quite distinct from mass society, one characterized by complex interactive networks of communication. McQuail continues that

“the new media” are in fact a desperate set of communication technologies that share certain features apart from being new, made possible by digitalization and being widely available for personal use as communication devices”.

Although new media have been greeted (not least by the old media) with intense interest, positive and even euphoric expectations and predictions and a general 30 overestimation of their significance (Rossler, 2007), the most fundamental aspect of information and communication technology (ICT) is probably the fact of digitization, the process by which all texts (symbolic meaning in all encoded and recorded forms) can be reduced to a binary code and can share the same process of production, distribution and storage.

The ‘new electronic media’ can also be viewed initially as an addition to the existing spectrum rather than as a replacement. But McQuail (2005: p. 137) views that it seems that the interest in particular already deviates from the typification of digitalization on three of the five points identified. First, the internet is not only or even mainly concerned with the production and distribution of message but at least equally concerned with processing exchange and storage. Secondly, the new media are as much an institution of private as of public communication and are regulated (or not) accordingly. Thirdly, their operation is not typically processional or bureaucratically organized to the same degree as mass media. These are quite significant differences that underscore the fact that the new media correspond with mass media primarily in being widely diffused, in principle available to all communication and at least as free from control although, it is not easy to become famous on the internet without the co-operation of the old media (traditional mass media).

It is also important to note that the process by which computerization or digitalization impacted upon the media of the 20th Century has moved on many fronts and at different speeds. To that extent it is difficult to actually pinpoint a single date or decisive period for the emergence of new media. To actually have a good perspective of what new media actually are it is imperative to look out for the following specific features: 31

 Computer – mediated communications: e-mail, chat rooms, MUDS, and

MODS, avater – based communication forms, voice image transmissions, the

web and telephony

 New ways of distributing and consuming media texts characterized by

interactivity and hypertext formats – the world wide web, CD – Rom, DVD

and the various platforms for computer games.

 Virtual reality – from simulated environments to fully immersive

representational spaces.

 A whole range of transformations and dislocations of established media for

example photography, animation, television, film and cinema.

‘New media’ also has a substantial manifestation in electronic publishing

(production). Electronic publishing refers to computer – based stages of information acquisition, storage and retrieval. These stages are increasingly complementing and replacing older, traditional tools like the typewriter as electronic tools of print production. Computers for instance provide a variety of functions including typesetting, newspaper editing, and page planning and printing visual messages.

Agba (2007: p. 83) notes that “with desktop publishing and word processing packages, particularly the page maker, the production of newspapers, magazines, journals etc. has become an interesting business more so with the use of video display terminals

(VDTs).” ‘Computers’ he adds, “Were introduced for composing purposes in the 1970s and the first electronic terminal for use by journalists and editors came on the market in 1973”.

Desktop publishing is the process of using computer graphics to compose electronic page of 32 typeface and illustrations. The print-out from attracted laser printer is then used as a master from whom an actual page can be printed.

Desktop publishing is usually done with personal computers, which allows the use of graphics combined freely with text to dress up publications. The result is camera-ready pages that are printed from high quality printer.” Okafor (2002: p. 159). There is usually application software for this type of electronic publishing. Some of the software includes

Quirk xpress, presentation graphics software. The processes described above are also applied in the production of books and various other written communications.

Electronic publishing: the distribution angle involves those processes through which print media disseminate printed messages using electronic media, chiefly driven by computers. Various names have been used to describe these platforms for electronic media: teletext, videotext, online publishing and data (base) services or information services.

Teletext is a system where a computer is connected with a television transmission system and can send data to home receivers equipped with a special decoder. The home viewer can select standard television programming, the teletext signal or both superimposed.

The teletext can send electronic “pages of information using scanned lines of the television picture not visible without a decoder” (Bittner, 1989:p. 277). Teletext comes via the TV set and is delivered over –the – air. These electronic pages include electronic editions of major newspapers.

Video text on the other hand uses a wired connection between a central computer and a house TV receiver or personal computer. A subscriber leases a telephone line or a cable line. As such this system permits a two-way relationship between the user and the transmission system. Users of both teletext and videotext select pages of information. They 33 get the information immediately as it is “called up” from the data bank, where the teletext user has to wait (for less than one minute though) until the transmission system completes its cycle of sending all other pages before sending the page that corresponds to the requested page. Videotext users have a keypad about the size of a pocket calculator with which they request information.

Recording online publishing, newspapers and magazines make use of the World

Wide Web, among other services of the net. They create and maintain web servers in which they publish maternal to be read by people. People access the web sites using special addresses. Various other businesses and organizations maintain web sites where they advertise their products. These processes do not differ fundamentally from the processes that underlie teletext and videotextt. They are all computer network – based. Newspapers using the web are connected to the internet via a local area network that is directly connected to the net or via an Internet Services Provider (ISP).

2.4 An Overview of the Concept of Online News and Moving Audience Online

Online news is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of news and journalism. In the early 1990s, newspapers and other broadcast news providers were just beginning to explore the possibilities of delivering news content to readers via the World Wide Web

(WWW) (Deuze 2003). By 2005, reading news online was becoming a regular habit for many people. According to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) report at that time, the global readership for online newspapers rose by more than 200 percent between 2001 and

2005 (Asia Media, 2006). Since then, not only newspapers publishers but also television and radio stations, magazines, and other publications have constantly improved their presence 34 online. Statistics from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA, 2009) report shows

67.3 million visitors in the year 2008, which is an increase of 12.1 percent over year 2007.

Nielsen Online for the NAA also reported that in the fourth quarter of 2008, there was an average of 68.2 million visitors, an 8.6 percent increase, over the same period of 2007, when there were only 62.8 million visitors. In Australia Fairfax Digital (from Fairfax Media

Limited Annual Report 2007) claim to be the ‘No.1 online news site’, and reported over 14.3 million unique browsers per month have visited their online site, which was a growth rate of over 33 percent. An obvious trend is the merging of information and communications technologies and the Internet with all forms of the entertainment and news media. In addition, entirely new online news websites are emerging outside the mainstream traditional news media ownership, allowing both professional and amateur journalists a global forum for individual reports and opinions (see e.g. Connery and Hasan, 2005). Distributing the news online has a significant impact on the traditional news cycle (Hall, 2001).

For both traditional printed and broadcast news services there is a decreasing need to meet production as deadlines and stories are “not set in type” until the next edition or program. In the online environment journalists can put up one version of the story as soon as it breaks and then continue to revise and update the content as more is known (Flavián and

Gurrea, 2008). In the same way that digital technology has revolutionized many industries the change in the world of news delivery has been rapid and transformational. What is more, many online news sites are now discovering that more and more users want to become part of the media conversation.

The once static sites of newspaper, radio and television corporations have become increasingly interactive, adding advance features and devices such as news chats and blogs, 35 accepting pictures, video and audio, which allow readers to contribute, to become writers and reporters. In the process, we are seeing growing numbers the public who contribute media rich reports and opinions to news sites thereby creating a participatory flavour of news that is different from the traditional form of one-way broadcast news.

As cultures evolve, it is reasonable to expect the form of news in print and broadcast to evolve. According to Martin and Copeland (2003), if society recognizes its need and desire for news, and it retains the concept of a newspaper, it will surely have to accept the fact of an evolving format for this durable news conduit. The same is true for all forms of news media, principally radio and television, which have traditionally operated in broadcast mode where there was a clear distinction between the news provider and the news consumer.

Newspaper corporations, firstly set up websites, and then improve the sites to provide interactivity on those sites. Rapid recent changes to the Internet presence of the news industry as a whole have driven this phenomenon into a broader focus where changes to the whole industry brought about by developments of information and communications technologies are examined.

In general, online newspapers layout is different from print. Traditional print newspapers placed the most important story at the top of the front page. The allocation of space to an item of news, the size of the headlines, the photos used, the placement on the page, and the page on which story appears varies with the editor’s preference. This is unlike online news, where the first few sentences of only a few top stories are placed on the home page at any one time but represented with variation of pictures, videos, and audios that are changed and frequently as new stories break. Online newspapers then offer the full story on separate pages reached through hyperlinks (either within the story text or as a sidebar). Sub- 36 lists organised at the top or side of the front page are used to link items under headings such as, politics, entertainment, international news, sports and weather. The links may also lead readers to related stories on the current topic that would enlighten readers revealing the interconnected nature of many events at the local, national, or international level (Eveland et al, 2004).

According to Flavián and Gurrea (2008), the use of online news is characterized by increased speed to reach the reader, a much lower cost in distribution information, the ability to update news constantly, and to establish more direct contact and interaction with users. For all these reasons, reading online news has become increasingly popular and newspaper organizations are providing an increasing range of online services. Indeed, the Nielson

Online report shows that more and more people are visiting the Web to read newspapers. For example, the top 10 United States (US) online newspapers have increased readership by 27 percent from 199.6 million in December 2007 to 252.7 million in December 2008. The NAA report (NAA, 2009), states that users now visit online newspapers for an average of 45 minutes a month.

People are turning to the Web for news that is rich and instantaneous. Amongst the distinctive characteristics of the digital medium, compared to analogue media such as the newspaper, are interactivity, convergence of pictures, moving images, text and sound into one medium of distribution and, finally, immediacy, Karlsson (2007). Karlsson defined immediacy as virtually no lag between when information is received or created at a news producer and when the information is passed on to the news consumer. Immediacy to Massey and Levy (1999) is when web news sites provide the most immediate information. What readers need is news, of global and local happenings and fast-breaking events, updated 37 constantly, throughout the day. For Bucy (2004) immediacy is a set of features that lend a sense of “nowness” and real-time urgency. Similarly, Eriksen and Ihlström (2000) described immediacy as ‘live’ reporting that the Web affords in provision of news in a continuous pattern.

In contrast, one of the other advantages of having the news on the Web is the easy access to archived news. These archives can be from broadcast, television, print or online news which now can be captured and kept on the Web. The presence of the archival features permits readers to automate (filter) the delivery of preferred news content (Massey, 2000).

Content plays an extremely important role in online news. ‘Content is king’ is a well known slogan quoted from Huizingh (2000: p. 124). According to Bucy (2004), content and structural features of messages may compel audience attention, increase viewer arousal, enhance memory, and impact subjective evaluation. At that time, 2004, Bucy elaborated on content elements in four broad categories of information: text elements (links to full news stories, press release, newsperson biographies, and campaign issue positions), photographs

(photos of news reporters, anchors, and personalities, news sources, news events, political candidates, and other people and events), features that lend a sense of timeliness and immediacy to the page (date or time-stamped news stories, news ticker with current headlines, indication of new content, date or time of last update), and network presence items

(network or corporate parent logo or organization name in Web address).

Besides content elements, Bucy also posited interactive features into four categories: commercial transactions (for example, forms to buy memorabilia, donations or register to vote online, mechanisms for volunteering, and community activism), interpersonal communication (feedback forms; email links to reporters and staff, presence of chat rooms, 38 forums, bulletin boards, and other online discussions), content interactivity (multimedia), for example as, instant polls or surveys, games, puzzles, and contests, photos or graphics used as links, links to audio and video (archived or live), related sites, newsletters, news digests and listservs, links in news stories, emails postcards and stories, searchable database, downloadable graphics, and wallpapers, other forms and links. Lastly, information accessibility items that consists of search engines, indexes or lists of helpful links, a help page or forums, FAQ list, a site map, the provision of content in different languages, schedules or programming information, condensed information or story summaries, the ability to customize information displays (personalization) and delivery .

According to Bucy (2004) media organizations may stand to benefit by recognizing the nonmonetary contributions of online news to the broader news mission, of which there are at least three major types–enhanced coverage (‘hyper-local’ coverage and updates throughout the day, offers more consumers more control over the news, customized information delivery, other features that engage users on an individual level), include, brand loyalty (the primary purpose of an online news site is to increase viewer loyalty to a station and its services – cultivate by adding more interactive features to invite more involvement and dialogue), and media credibility (as audience tend to pay more attention to and become reliant on media they consider credible and reliable) .

Up until the last couple of years the majority of online news sites exhibited the characteristics just described but were still dominated by the traditional divisions of roles into news providers on the one hand and news consumers on the other.

However, moving newspapers online is seen as a strategic move both to retain and expand a base audience of print newspaper readers (see, particularly, Erlindson, 1995; 39

Dalglish and Wickens, 1992; Denton, 1993; Fulton, 1995; Garneau, 1996; and Peterson,

1996). Expectations about increased popularity of online newspapers are based on assumptions about the potential audience, and what online newspapers can provide that print papers do not.

Moving newspapers online might recapture young readers, who have fallen away from the habit of reading hard-copy papers (Adams, 1998; Bogart, 1989; Denton, 1993; Katz,

1994; Thurlow & Milo, 1993) and yet may be attracted to online services. Dalglish and

Wickens (1992) note that younger readers “have grown up with computers and video games”; (p. 34) perhaps they’ll grow into the newspaper habit online. Erlindson (1995) observes that “Online newspapers are the newspapers [sic] way of reaching at a younger audience” (“The Push Factor” section). Erlindson notes in addition that younger readers “feel more comfortable with new forms of technology” (1995, “The Push Factor” section).

Dalglish and Wickens (1992) also point out that the online environment is familiar to many young readers. And Cameron et al. (1996) discuss the youth market as one of vast potential for online newspapers.

Also, moving newspapers online facilitates immense archival capabilities, and these archives, along with tools for quick and convenient searching and retrieval, can be offered to the online audience (Cracknell, 1995; Hume, 1995; McAdams, 1995a). This advantage is related to another gain: moving newspapers online removes traditional space restrictions, allowing for greater in-depth coverage of items of reader interest. Lapham (1995) notes that

“using the hypertext capabilities of the World Wide Web (WWW) totally eliminates the proverbial ‘news hole’3 and opens up an unlimited amount of ‘space’ for presenting the news product” (“The Creation of a New Hybrid Model” section). Erlindson (1995) explains that 40

“since online newspapers are not limited by space, background information can be more extensive” (“Elements” section). Erlindson also cites Outing’s contention that “In the case of established newspaper readers, the online supplements bring them new services and features only available in the online environment” (March 26, 1995 email interview with Steve

Outing, as cited in “The Push Factor” section). McAdams (1995), in her informative history of the development of Digital Ink, the Washington Post’s online service, explains that Digital

Ink was able to “[expand the Washington Post’s] local coverage, for each suburb or region, because there was more space [online, in Digital Ink]” (Section 4, “Translating the

Newspaper”). Fulton (1996) and Paul (1995) discuss the advantages of this increased space in terms of “annotative journalism”; that is, the functionality of providing links from an online newspaper story to supplemental information, 3 The “news hole” is the non- advertising content of the newspaper (Bogart, 1989) such as entire transcripts, or audio recordings, of speeches (Paul, 1995, “This new technology is hyper-text, but the old product is linear” section). Gildner (1994) echoes these benefits of increased space and points out some further advantages of newspapers going online:

The computer is a perfect complement to the newspaper.... It enables the existing news industry to deliver its product in real time. It hugely increases the quantity of information that can be made available, including archives, maps, charts and other supporting material. It opens the way to upgrading the news with full screen photography and videos, while hugely enhancing the richness and timeliness of the news. (p. 10) Gildner notes here two more of the benefits often cited as available to newspaper viewers online: timeliness and personalization of the news. Regarding timeliness, Erlindson (1995) notes that “Online newspapers...can provide the news instantaneously. There is no waiting period for a press 41 deadline or an afternoon edition. Stories can be updated as they happen”. Fulton (1996), too, notes that “immediacy is one of the new medium’s advantages” (“What’s really new about this new medium?”). Fulton points out that a weekly magazine like Time can now have daily updates, and daily papers like USA Today can update several times a day.

Regarding personalization, Smith (1980), over a decade ago, foresaw that “there exists an audience for large quantities of information of a semi- to fully-specialist nature to be delivered according to individual choice” (p. 18). Smith saw electronic information activities in the 1980s (such as newspaper audio-text features, and commercial information services like CompuServe, America On-Line and Prodigy) as illustrative of a great shift...taking place from producer to consumer sovereignties in Western democracies.... In the field of information such devices as teletext, viewdata, cassettes, cables, and videodiscs all fit the same emerging pattern: they provide opportunities for individuals to step out of the mass homogenized audiences of (print) newspaper, radio, and television, and take a more active role in the process by which knowledge and entertainment are transmitted through society.

One last characteristic of online news assumed to be of value to its audience is interactivity. Many commentators note that moving newspapers online allows readers, writers, and publishers to interact more directly than ever before. Fulton (1996) defines this interactivity as “facilitating discussions or figuring out how to involve audiences meaningfully in gathering information,” or even in “actively helping readers create their own content” (“If this is a new medium no one yet understands, shouldn’t journalists focus on preserving traditions and values?” section). Hume (1995) defines online interactivity similarly, saying that this feature can allow the audience to collaborate in news making (p. 42

24). Hume also predicts that successful online papers will be those that allow for “talk back” features, allowing the audience to voice their opinions of newspaper coverage.

Syman (1996) reviewing The New York Times on the Web for the online magazine

FEED found the reader-response features of the online paper its most impressive feature: The

NY Times Forums deserve a separate paean of their own. Only a publication of the heft of the Times could ask Martin Kalb, of Harvard’s JFK School, and Richard Haas, of the

Council on Foreign Relations, to moderate its forums...It’s a brilliant fusion of prestige and interactivity; to be able to post a reply to James Gleick on “Copyright and Intellectual

Property vs. Net Culture” and read the spelling mistake he either failed to correct or let stand as his net “creds” is an experience unrivaled in any other medium. Only calling into the

News Hour with Jim Lehrer during Shields and Gigot (and making it on the air) MTO vent about Buchanan’s Iowa showing might come close.

The advantages listed above can be seen-and have been identified by many commentators (see, particularly, Erlindson, 1996; Dalglish and Wickens, 1992; Denton,

1993; Fulton, 1995; Garneau, 1996; and Peterson, 1996) -as facilitating both efforts to retain and enlarge the newspapers’ audience. However, for such hopes to be realized, the newspapers’ online efforts should be grounded in something more than assumptions about the audience. Specifically, an understanding of audience motivations for reading print newspapers, and whether and how they differ from motivations for online newspaper viewing, is called for. An examination of audience motivations can help determine if assumptions that potential youth and adult audiences will be drawn to online newspapers for their archival, annotative, immediate, personalized, and interactive features are well founded.

43

2.5 Features of Online News Sites Online newspapers mainly differ from their paper counterparts on four principal characteristics. It is very important to underline that it concerns potential characteristics, which are not always taken advantage of. Several authors distinguish only 3 main features of online journalism (multimedia, interactivity and hypertext), because immediacy is not always considered a separate element. Massey and Levy see it as a dimension of interactivity

(Massey and Levy, 1999: p. 141), but to us and others it is important and large enough to pass of as a fourth characteristic. There are empirical as well as theoretical grounds to assume so. According to Deuze & Paulussen (2002:pp. 241-243) Dutch and Flemish journalists consider ‘speed and immediacy’ as one out of four key concepts creating a surplus for online news. Beyers (2003: pp.121-122) found that 67% of Flemish online newspaper readers see the existent traits of online newspapers as the most important reason to consult them. In this context, Pavlik mentions ‘dynamic content’, meaning that information in an online environment is much more manageable. Immediacy, also called asynchrony, creates a culture of breaking news (Porteman, 1998: 74-76; Porteman, 1999: 94 and Pavlik, 2001: pp.21-22).

Multimedia

A first feature consists in the multimedia aspect of online newspapers. Broadcast media (television and radio) merely diffuse their content by way of audio and/or video signals. Print media (e.g. newspapers and books) only use text, although regularly supplemented with some kind of illustration. The internet is not restricted to one kind of signals: it can contain and diffuse text and illustrations, as well as sound and (moving) image.

All of this causes a blurring of the traditional borders between media: the borders between mass media mutually as well as between mass media and interpersonal communication become faint. 44

Interactivity For communication studies, interactivity has been a research topic long before it became a buzzword in the internet (e.g. Enzensberger, Brecht). Tucher refers to interactivity as ‘the most distinctive contribution of online journalism’ (Tucher, 1997). Rogers similarly characterizes interactivity as ‘the most distinctive single quality of the new media’ (Rogers,

1986: p. 5), while Morris and Ogan think of interactivity as ‘the key advantage of new media’ (Morris and Ogan, 1996). According to these authors the importance of interactivity is not to be underestimated.

With news sites, interactivity reveals itself in two ways. First, interaction can be present by interfering in the communication process (e.g. e-mail, discussion boards or chat).

This is what we call communication interactivity, ‘interpersonal interactivity’ (Massey &

Levy, 1999: 140) or ‘audience involvement’ (Pavlik, 2001: pp.20-21). A second form of interactivity consists of selecting content. The internet facilitates ‘The Daily. This is also referred to as selection interactivity. Pavlik talks about ‘customization’ (Pavlik, 2001: p.22), while Massey and Levy use ‘content interactivity’ (Massey and Levy, 1999: p. 140) or the extent to which journalists -technically speaking- enable users to manage content themselves.

Here, both sender and receiver have more of a grip on media because of the presence of digital systems. In this broader definition, interactivity creates increased interaction possibilities between communicator and user as well as increased control (by the user) of information and content. Steuer combines both aspects and equals interactivity to ‘the extent to which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real time’ (Steuer, 1992: p. 84). Or, stated differently, the extent to which users are able to manage the communication process as well as its content. 45

Hypertext Online media created a new dimension in news presentation: hypermedia, pointing at the interconnectivity of computer files through (hyper) links. These are references from one component (most frequently text) to another via one (or several) term(s) or icon(s). In other words, hypermedia causes the amount of information on web sites to be virtually unlimited.

This is why hypertext is an ideal means to archive old news items. This archival function can be seen as a facet of hypertext as well as interactivity: on the one hand archives link certain pieces of information to each other, but on the other hand the interactive feature lies in the control gained by the user to make independent choices to search the archives (Paulussen,

2002: pp. 1-9). Internal hyperlinks can refer to extra information about the same news item or column (within the same web site) or to another part of the same article (so-called bookmarks). When an online news site disposes of archives, this creates an additional possibility for internal hyper-linking.

External hyperlinks lead to a virtually unlimited amount of information on the same subject outside of the own site. Through hyperlinks the distinction between news coverage in depth and reporting breadthways fades away: where television news brings a lot of items in a superficial way and printed newspapers offer more thorough analysis, online newspapers can easily combine both approaches. In real terms we notice that for this moment, online publishers are still not sure which approach is the right one.

Immediacy

Because of technical restraints the editorial staff of a printed newspaper is used to work towards a fixed deadline. As for online news sites, deadlines no longer exist. Or, put the other way around, online newspapers are tied to a permanent deadline. Newspapers on the net do not have closing times and have to be up to date 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. 46

Lasica puts this aptly: ‘In a way, it’s a throwback to the old days when newspapers had three or four editions a day’. We add that this characteristic of online media was only generally recognized in February 1997, when The Dallas Morning News’ website instantly reported on the Oklahoma bombings (Rieder, 1997, Chung, 2004: p. 2).

Empirical Review

2.6 Medium-centred Perspectives: The Displacement and Replacement Effect of New Media

Since the first empirical attempts to explore the potential effect of new media on old media in the 1940s, there have been two main approaches to the issue: one is centered on the medium and its attributes and supports a displacement and replacement (absolute displacement) hypothesis; the other is focused on users' needs and often results in proposing a complementary effect of the new on the old (Lee and Leung, 2004).

The most pronounced medium-centred approach so far is Maxwell McCombs'

Principle of Relative Constancy. This principle was inspired by media owner Charles

Scripps, who contended that mass communication products have become staples of consumption in our society (much like food, clothing and shelter) and thus, 'in spite of the increasing complexity of mass communications with the advent of new media, the pattern of economic support has been relatively constant and more closely related to the general economy than to the various changes and trends taking place within the mass media field itself' (quoted in McCombs, 1972: p. 5). In other words, as staples, mass communication receives a constant share of the economic pie, or a relatively fixed proportion of all expenditures. Using aggregate data of consumers' and advertisers' spending on mass communication in the USA from 1929 through 1968, McCombs found strong support for this 47 hypothesis: despite some short-term anomalies, the ratio of media spending to total consumer spending remained relatively fixed (around 3%) during the four decades (McCombs, 1972).

This media-spending share constancy hypothesis, which was so compelling that McCombs raised it to the status of a principle, was confirmed in a follow-up study for the 1968-1977 decade (McCombs and Amp; Eyal, 1980).

The Principle of Relative Constancy has a dramatic implication for the fate of traditional media in a landscape marked by a rapid increase in the number of new media.

When a new medium is introduced, money spent on it either comes from new money in the economy or must be diverted from existing media and non-media spending. During the 1948-

1959, when television rapidly entered American households, McCombs tested these three possible sources to determine which accounted for television revenue. He discovered that the

Principle of Relative Constancy also held for this shorter period of television penetration, which means Information Research (2006) 11 (3): paper 259. http://InformationR.net/ir/11-

3/paper259.html television did not bring about any significant increase in total media spending (that is, it did not divert from non-media spending). It was new money in the economy and other media's losses that combined to finance television. In other words, despite economic growth, the intrusion of television took place during this decade at the expense of older media, especially those with a functional equivalence to television, such as movies. For example, five years after the introduction of television in the American market, the value of motion picture admissions plunged from $1.5 billion to $1.17 billion, a loss of

$330 million (McCombs, 1972). In short, the Principle of Relative Constancy could be understood as a zero-sum game, in which value is neither created nor destroyed and, 48 therefore, in the long run, new media would gradually displace and eventually replace old media with similar functions.

The Principle of Relative Constancy has also received support from aggregate data in other countries. For example, the change in the proportion of British spending on media was found to be statistically insignificant during the 1963-1990 dispensation (Dupagne, 1994).

The thesis was later developed to incorporate time as an obstacle to new media adoption, as

McCombs originally argued: For a time the consumer can increase the amount or number of goods enjoyed per time limit. He sips his martini, scans his newspaper and listens to the stereo simultaneously. But there must be some limit… The Principle of Relative Constancy describes a major economic constraint on the growth of the media in the marketplace over the past 40 years. But even with continued economic growth, mass media consumption may reach asymptote, with the ultimate constraint likely to be scarcity of time. For the immediate decades ahead, these two factors, time and money, will jointly constrain the growth of mass media in the marketplace. (McCombs, 1972: p. 63)

The rationale is clear: there are only 24 hours in a day and time spent on one activity cannot be spent on another. 'Time is a zero-sum game phenomenon, like a hydraulic system – it can be reshaped and redistributed like a fluid, but it cannot be expanded like a gas' (Nie et al, 2002: p. 217). This assertion has received considerable support from a number of industrial and academic studies on Internet impact. On the relationship between Internet usage and social activities, an innovative time-diary study by Nie et al (2002) found a clear replacement effect: with common demographics (education, sex, marriage status, race, age, living alone, and being a single parent) being controlled, there were statistically significant 49 negative relationships between time spent online and time spent with family, with friends, and with work colleagues.

Meanwhile, the amount of time being alone significantly increased. When their sample was split by location of use, the effect became more obvious: home Internet use came directly out of interaction with family members while work Internet use was compensated by reduction in the amount of time spent face-to-face with co-workers. In addition, time spent using the Internet at both places concomitantly increased time alone, further substantiating that 'Internet use, more than any other activity, isolates people from simultaneous active engagement with others' (Nie et al., 2002: p. 230). Finally, while the number of work-related e-mails showed no effect on time spending with family members, a one-minute decrease of the latter was found for each personal e-mail message sent or received.

As for the use of other media, a survey by Gomez Advisors and Inter Survey in

December 1999 found 25% of its 4,600 American respondents reduced their time reading newspapers and 46% watched television less because of Internet usage (Lent 2000). Another by Gartner G2 found less use of postal mail (by over half of respondents), less long-distance telephone calls (one third), less television viewing (20%), less newspaper reading (20%) less movie going (18%), less video watching (15%) and less magazine reading (15%) (Saunders

2002). According to an Interactive Advertising Bureau study, a quarter of Internet users in its sample Information Research (2006) 11 (3): paper 259. http://InformationR.net/ir/11-

3/paper259.html spent less time with television and over one in ten read less print media

(cited in Lee and Leung 2004). Some academic studies have arrived at the same conclusion.

A Stanford University survey discovered that 60% of regular Internet users decreased time watching television while one third did so to newspaper reading (O'Toole, 2000). Kayany 50 and Yelsma (2000) found a clear gradual displacement process happening to traditional media (television, telephone, newspapers and domestic conversations) in Internet households, especially among heavy Internet users. Among them, again, television suffered from the most dramatic reduction, although not to a statistically significant level. It was also the first to be significantly reduced in a study on pre-Web electronic bulletin board usage and its impact by

James, et al. (1995), followed by book reading, phone talking and letter writing in that order.

Studies in other countries also support this. According to the European Commission, while the percentage of its citizens using the Internet for news and information about the EU grew from 6% in 1999 to 14% in 2002, the proportion using television and newspapers for the same purpose was down from 69% to 65% and 46% to 44% respectively during the same period (cited in Nguyen 2003). More recently, 56% of European respondents in a recent survey by the UK-based research firm Strategy Analytics reported cutting down their television watching time since adopting broadband (Broadband... 2004). In Norway, less time reading newspapers was recorded with a growth in Internet usage from 2003 to 2004

(Statistics Norway, 2005). In Hong Kong, Lee and Leung (2004) reported reduced newspaper reading, radio listening and television watching by respectively 35%, 40% and 53% of

Internet users in their sample. All of these studies suggest that as the Internet is displacing traditional media usage, the possibility for an absolute displacement (that is, replacement) in the long run is high. In a recent book, Philip Meyer (2004), on the basis of the downward circulation trend in the past three decades, declared that the last newspaper to appear will be in April 2040.

Communication history, however, reveals a totally different picture. Predictions of the demise of old media are indeed as old as the media themselves. During the early days of 51 the telegraph, for example, publisher James Gordon Bennett was so overwhelmed by its immediacy that he declared: 'The telegraph may not affect magazine literature but the mere newspapers must submit to destiny and go out of existence' (quoted in Standage, 1998: p.

149). More recently, in 1982, journalist Steve Piacente bluntly told his colleagues that, '...the newspaper is doomed' (quoted in Patten, 1986: 4). As late as 2005, these prophecies of doom have turned out to be exaggerated: newspapers have adapted well in their competition with radio and television to remain a very important part of daily life, just as music recording survived radio and radio survived television. This suggests that old and new media might compete but do not kill each other: they coexist and complement each other. Why do the above studies contradict this?

2.7 Users-centred Perspectives: The Complementary Effect of New Media To answer the above question, we need first to revisit the problems associated with the Principle of Relative Constancy and the subsequent studies of time displacement. First, the constancy concept developed by McCombs is potentially unreliable because of its many theoretical and methodological drawbacks. Extending McCombs's data to 1981, Wood

(1986) revisited his methodological approach to discover that the Principle of Relative

Constancy's inherent hypothesis of income-share constancy in mass media spending, although correct for the whole six-decade period, was not supported in short-run tests. In particular, mass media spending significantly fluctuated from one decade to another and decade-long increases in disposable income were associated with either drop or surge in media spending. Such short-run departures from constancy were found in later studies showing that mass media spending dramatically increased after the VCR penetrated daily life

(Wood and O'Hare, 1991; Dupagne 1994; Noh and Grant, 1997). Son and McCombs (1993) found that total mass media spending Information Research (2006) 11 (3): paper 259. 52 http://InformationR.net/ir/11-3/paper259.html was up to 3.7% in 1987 from 2.2% in 1975 although they argued that this was a short-term exception rather than something to discredit the long-term Principle of Relative Constancy.

The Principle of Relative Constancy, Wood argued, is therefore, 'a correct long-term descriptive relationship with doubtful predictive values': To be sure, new forms of mass media can be expected to contend for consumers' time and money in the future, just as television did so successfully in the 1950s. But new technologies will not be shut out of the market, nor will existing technologies be doomed because of a historically descriptive constant share of income going to the media. The economic constraint the new and old technologies will face is that they will have to compete successfully for the consumer's time and money. This is the same constraint faced by producers of every consumer good and service. Useful as it is for summarizing past long-run trends, the Principle of Relative

Constancy can say little about the future (Wood, 1986: p. 51)

Recent research has also called the constancy assumption into question in the light of demand theory. Noh and Grant (1997) found the constancy assumption a biased adoption of consumer demand theory since it only takes income into account and leaves aside other possible explanations. For example, even if income remains constant, consumer spending on mass media will change as the result of a change in the price of a media good. Similarly,

Dupagne (1997) asserted that the proportional relationship in the Principle of Relative

Constancy is inconsistent with the dominant, traditional, micro-economic model of consumer choice and that using different methodological factors might result in conflicting evidence about the Principle of Relative Constancy. Using empirical evidence from Belgium, the study explored five independent variables (income, price, population, unemployment and interest 53 rate) to find that price and population were better predictors of consumer spending on mass media than income.

The second, and probably more important, problem of the displacement and replacement hypothesis is the associated technological-determinist assumption of functional equivalence. As uses and gratifications research has intensively and extensively shown, individuals are consciously or subconsciously active before, during and after their media exposure; they generally select media channels and content that suit their situation, which encompasses a choice based not only on available resources and the medium's technological attributes but also on their needs and wants, their social and psychological origins, their past media experience, the socio-cultural settings of use and the availability of content (Levy and

Windahl, 1989; McQuail, 2000; Dutta-Bergman, 2004).

In other words, there are many audiences or user groups with different sets of media preferences rather than only one audience or one user group with a relatively homogenous set of media preferences. Despite the many relative advantages of e-mail for distant communication, for example, some empirical research has found that the telephone is still used more for contacting far-away relatives while e-mail is used more for contacting far- away friends, suggesting that 'the norms, demands and joys of kinship interaction are more apt than friendship to call forth the greater social presence of face-to-face or telephone conversations' (Chen, et al, 2002: 96). Thus, by encompassing the audience as no more than a

'lump of clay', easily fashioned by media technologies and media usage as a mere 'give one, take one' process, the functional equivalence assumption is unnecessarily limited. In this light, it is urged that each medium should be recognized as having its own advantages and 54 disadvantages and, thus, its own right to exist, to meet human beings' information and communication needs.

The crucial importance of media attributes is widely recognized in past information behaviour models, although they are classified under different umbrellas and specified with different roles. In Johnson's model, for example, 'information carrier factors' include information utilities and characteristics of different channels (see Case, 2002 and Wilson,

1999 for more Information Research (2006) 11 (3): paper 259. http://InformationR.net/ir/11-

3/paper259.html detailed discussions of these). One model that has much to do with the above uses and gratifications perspective is Wilson's global model of information behaviour

(Wilson and Walsh, 1996; Wilson, 1999; Niedźwiedzka, 2003). In this model, Wilson grouped source characteristics (e.g., currency, accessibility, reliability) into what he called

'intervening variables', along with psychological characteristics (e.g., outlook on life, value system, knowledge, emotion, self-perception, prejudices, preferences etc.); demographic attributes (e.g., age, education, social status); social roles played by the individual; and environmental factors (e.g., legislation, degree of stabilization). All these variables, through activation mechanisms such as risk/reward weighing, could either support or hinder information behaviour, leading to preferences for some sources over others. In an attempt to modify this model to make it conceptually and graphically 'more clear and consistent',

Niedźwiedzka (2003) argued that source characteristics should be treated as part of, rather than separate from, environmental factors and that intervening variables affect not only information acquisition but all other stages of information seeking. In both cases, however, the key argument remains the same: the totality of information behaviour is submerged in a 55 context of personal, role-related and environmental (including medium) factors

(Niedźwiedzka, 2003).

From the uses and gratifications perspective, this can be understood in this way: source characteristics and other intervening variables interact with each other in formulating information behaviour. A person with limited education, for instance, might have limited cognitive capacity and, therefore, would not like reading, which leads him or her to preferring retrieving information from television and radio than from the more demanding newspapers and magazines.

In a broader context, we could then argue that different media as different content

(information and/or entertainment) resources will coexist for a number of reasons. First, each medium serves its audiences in a different manner within different contexts. Radio survived television at least partly because it can be combined with other daily activities to save time

(e.g., listening to the news while driving to work or while conducting outdoor activities).

Newspapers survived radio and television partly because they are portable, allow random access to content and offer a high degree of temporal freedom (Hsia, 1989). Similarly, the book could survive electronic publishing thanks partly to what Wilson called 'informality of use': When I read a novel, I do so in all kinds of places – in bed, on the train, in the bath, by my plate in a restaurant. I've even seen some people reading when they walk down the street!

Do I really want to drag out my notebook computer, attach it to my portable telephone, dial- up a Website and start reading (at some enormous cost in telecommunication charges)? This factor will apply to all those kinds of books that people read for entertainment, creative stimulation, vicarious experience and 'escapism' – novels, poetry, travel books, history, biography, popular science, and so on. Again, the existence of a market will be the 56 determining factor: if the market is there, it will be satisfied, and one cannot see the market declining in the face of competition from electronic products. (Wilson, 1997)

Second, each medium has a distinctive content profile. Although all media provide information and entertainment-related content, newspapers, for example, are more information-intensive (that is, offering both broad and in-depth content), which has substantially contributed to their survival in coping with their more entertainment-oriented broadcasting competitors. Third, and most importantly, because different media could serve the same media-related need in a different way within a different context, all of them might be used by individuals who experience a high level of that need. For example, people with a strong need for entertainment could seek entertainment content across all media, probably with television being the most frequently used medium for this purpose. A somewhat extreme scenario could be: an individual with a high orientation to entertainment content might listen (Information Research, 2006), http://InformationR.net/ir/11-3/paper259.html to music on the radio while driving to work or jogging, switch on the television in the lounge at night for some movies or drama and log on the Internet for some gaming before going to bed.

It is partly on these bases that Dutta-Bergman recently contended that studies that found a more-less relationship are, '...a product of the preoccupation with selling the new and discarding the old on one hand... and nostalgic lamenting over the loss of the old at the footsteps of the new on the other hand'. Accordingly, this 'myopic vision of the medium as the driving force' is so dominant that it leads these studies to 'a reliance on biased research methodology that is created to detect competition, constraining the answers to respondents to a competing media framework' (Dutta-Bergman, 2004: p. 42). 57

While these criticisms might appear excessive, it is true that most of the above-cited studies that found support for the displacement process of Internet usage do approach the issue in this competition-based framework, implicitly or explicitly assuming the Internet as a functional alternative to traditional media and thus asking respondents direct questions like

'Decrease a lot' or 'Increase a lot' or along a 'More-About the same-Less' scale. Meanwhile, a different picture emerges from those studies that investigate the impact of Internet usage on traditional media usage from a user-centred vantage point, comparing old media usage between users versus non-users or heavy versus light users of the Internet. Arbitron New

Media, for instance, found that heavy users of the Internet were likely to report more radio listening and television watching and that the total time heavy users spent on television, radio, audio tapes and CDs, newspapers and magazines were higher than light users. Stempel et al. (2000) compared their survey data between 1995 and 1999 to discover that although there was a considerable decline in regular traditional media usage, Internet adoption was not the cause of this change. In particular, they found not only that the Internet had no adverse effect on the use of traditional news products, but also that Internet users were more likely than non-users in all age, income, education and sex groups to read newspapers and listen to radio news.

The zero-sum hypothesis was also rejected by Robinson et al. (2000), who employed the Pew Research Centre's annual surveys from 1994 to 1998 to find little change in the use of traditional news and entertainment media, despite a three-fold increase in Internet usage and a 25% increase in home computer usage. In terms of the absolute amount of time

(measured by minutes a day), there was little monotonic relation in the 1998 data; that is, traditional media use was not found to be progressively less as Internet usage increased. Both 58

Robinson et al. (2000) and Stempel et al. (2000) concluded that Internet and traditional media uses are supplemental or complementary. In other words, there is a more-more, rather than a more less, relationship between old and new media. The more people use the Internet, the more they use traditional media. All this is well in line with a long-observed trend to the so-called 'all-or-nothing' model of media exposure, which states that 'those who are heavy users of one medium are also likely to use other mass media fairly regularly; and people who make light use of mass communication are likely to be restrictive to all the media' (Wright,

1986: p. 114).

We must caution, however, that these findings do not totally discredit the displacement hypothesis. The fact that newspaper circulation numbers have been following a downward trend all over the world in the past three or four decades, a period in which a range of new media were introduced, tells us that a displacement process might well be under way. More importantly, the user-centred, more-more relationship does not necessarily imply that people spend more time on new media. As implied in the all-or-nothing model itself, people with stronger media-related needs would use all available media.

Thus, it could be argued that online users might originally have a much higher time budget for total media usage than nonusers; and therefore, a certain reduction in the former's use of existing media might not lead them to becoming lighter users of these media than the latter. In other words, even when an individual reduces old media time spending to compensate for the adoption of a new medium, she still could display a more-more profile of media usage across all sources because of an originally big gap in time budget between that individual and one with weak needs for media (Information Research (2006) 11 (3): paper

259. http://InformationR.net/ir/11-3/paper259.html) related utilities. Our argument here is 59 that, even if heavy media users have to tip their traditional media budget to compensate for

Internet usage, there must be a limit in their reduction – to the point that every available medium will be taken advantage of in the most effective and efficient way to serve their media-related needs.

2.8 An Examination of the ‘Paywall’ Billing System and Online Newspapers’ Survival A Paywall is a system that prevents Internet users from accessing webpage content

(most notably news content and scholarly publications) without a paid subscription (Radoff,

Jon (30 November 2009). There are both “hard” and “soft” Paywalls in use. “Hard”

Paywalls allow minimal to no access to content without subscription, while “soft” Paywalls allow more flexibility in what users can view without subscribing. Newspapers have been implementing Paywalls on their websites to increase their revenue which has been diminishing due to a decline in print subscriptions and advertising revenue (Preston, Peter (7

August 2011). While Paywalls are used to bring in extra revenue for companies by charging for online content, they have also been used to increase the number of print subscribers.

Some newspapers offer access to online content including delivery of a Sunday print edition at a lower price point than online access alone (Rosen, Rebecca (12 September 2011). News sites such as BostonGlobe.com and NYTimes.com use this tactic because it increases both their online revenue and their print circulation (which in turn provides more ad revenue)

(Rosen, Rebecca (12 September 2011). Creating online ad revenue has been an ongoing battle for newspapers – currently an online advertisement only brings in 10-20% of the funds brought in by a duplicate print advertisements (Preston, Peter (7 August 2011). It is said that

“neither digital ad cash nor digital subscriptions via a paywall are in anything like the shape that will be needed for [newspapers] to take the strain if a print presence is wiped away 60

(Preston, Peter (7 August 2011). According to Poynter media expert Bill Mitchell, in order for a paywall to generate sustainable revenue, newspapers must create “new value” (higher quality, innovative, etcetera) in their online content that merits payment which previously free content did not (Vinter, Hannah, 2011). Most news coverage of the use of paywalls analyzes them from the perspective of commercial success, whether through increasing revenue by growing print subscriptions or solely through Paywall revenue. However, as a solely profit-driven device, the use of a Paywall also brings up questions of media ethics pertaining to accessible democratic news coverage.

The first major newspaper to implement a Paywall was The Wall Street Journal in

1997, which gained more than 200,000 subscribers in a little over a year (The Week. 30 July

2010). The Wall Street Journal has retained its “hard” Paywall since its inception – acquiring over one million users by mid 2007 (The Week. 30 July 2010). In 2010, following in the footsteps of The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, implemented a “hard” Paywall; a decision which was highly controversial, because unlike The Wall Street Journal, The Times is a general news site, and it was said that rather than paying users would seek the information for free elsewhere (Wauters, Robin (17 November 2011). Following the

Paywall’s implementation, however, it has been deemed neither a success nor a failure, having recruited over 120,000 paying visitors (Schonfeld, Erick (2 November 2011). In contrast, The Guardian has resisted the use of a Paywall, citing "a belief in an open internet" and "care in the community" as its reasoning – an explanation found in its welcome article to online news readers who, blocked from The Time’s site following the implementation of their Paywall, came to The Guardian for online news (Crace, John (2 July 2011). The

Guardian has since opted to experiment with other revenue increasing ventures like open 61

API. Other papers, prominently The New York Times, have oscillated between the implementation and removal of various Paywalls (Greenslade, Anne (3 November 2011).

Because online news remains a relatively new medium, experimentation is a key factor in finding a balance that will maintain revenue while keeping online news consumers satisfied

(Vinter, Hannah, 2011). The latest model of Paywall has been implemented in Slovakia and

Slovenia by a European start up, Piano Media. The company takes advantage of single- language markets and then relies on a cable TV-model. Piano got nine publishers in Slovakia and eight in Slovenia to agree to all go behind a pay-wall simultaneously. The reader is charged a small fee to access all content (Baker, William (14 Feb 2012).

Early implementations of Paywalls proved unsuccessful, often resulting in removal.

The Paywall model received skepticism from a variety of sources, including Arianna

Huffington, who declared "the Paywall is history" in a 2009 article in The Guardian. In 2010,

Jimmy Wales (of Wikipedia fame) reportedly called the Times paywall "a foolish experiment." One major concern was with content so widely available, potential subscribers would turn to free sources for their news (Chimbel, Aaron, 2011). The adverse effects of earlier implementations included decline in traffic and poor search engine optimization.

The "hard" Paywall, as used by The Wall Street Journal and The Times, requires paid subscription before any of their online content can be accessed. A Paywall of this design is considered "the riskiest option" (Filloux, Frederick (15 June 2011). It is estimated that a website will lose 90% of its online audience and ad revenue only to gain it back through its ability to produce online content appealing enough to attract subscribers. News sites with

“hard” Paywalls therefore succeed if they: Provide added value to their content, target a niche audience and already dominate their own market. 62

Many experts denounce the "hard" Paywall because of its inflexibility, believing it acts as a major deterrent for users. Financial blogger Felix Salmon writes that when you encounter a "Paywall and can’t get past it, you simply go away and feel disappointed in your experience (Salmon, Felix (14 August 2011). Media mogul Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia has also argued that the use of a "hard" Paywall diminishes a site's influence. Wales stated that by implementing a "hard" Paywall the Times of London "made itself irrelevant. Though The

Times has potentially increased its revenue, it has decreased its traffic by 60 percent.

A "softer" pay wall strategy includes allowing free access to select content, while keeping premium content behind a Paywall. Such a strategy has been said to lead to “the creation of two categories: cheap fodder available for free (often created by junior staffers), and more “noble” content (Filloux, Frederick (15 June 2011). This type of separation brings into question the egalitarianism of the online news medium. According to political and media theorist Robert A Hackett, “the commercial press of the 1800s, the modern world’s first mass medium, was born with a profound democratic promise: to present information without fear or favour, to make it accessible to everyone, and to foster public rationality based on equal access to relevant facts (Robert A. Hackett (2001). Intentional separation of content created by a Paywall directly opposes the democratic promise the news medium was founded on, and which the internet originally allowed for. The Boston Globe has taken this separation one step further by creating two different sites. The Boston Globe recently created a new premium content site under the domain name BostonGlobe.com which is protected by a

“hard” Paywall requiring paid subscription. In addition, however, The Boston Globe is retaining its previous site, Boston.com, available free to all but with only select content remaining on the site. Boston Globe editor Martin Baron states this change should be seen as 63

"two different sites for two different kinds of reader – some understand [that] journalism needs to be funded and paid for. While the internet was initially promoted as a platform endorsing a “more egalitarian communication system, the dual-site method implemented by

The Boston Globe illustrates how a “hard” Paywall can create obvious inequalities between content that is free, and content that must be paid for.

The "soft" Paywall is best embodied by the metered model. The metered Paywall allows users to view a specific number of articles before requiring paid subscription (Filloux,

Frederick (15 June 2011). In contrast to sites allowing access to select content outside of the

Paywall, the metered Paywall allows access to any article as long as the user has not surpassed the set limit. The Financial Times allows users to access 10 articles before becoming paid subscribers. The New York Times controversially implemented a metered

Paywall in June 2010 which lets users view 20 free articles a month before paid subscription.

Their metered Paywall has been defined as not only soft, but “porous, because it also allows access to any link posted on a social media site, and up to 25 free articles a day if accessed through a search engine (Indvik, Lauren (28 March 2011). The model is designed to allow the paper to "retain traffic from light users", which in turn allows the paper to keep their number of visitors high, while receiving circulation revenue from the sites heavy users.

Using this model, The New York Times garnered 224,000 subscribers in the first three months. While many proclaimed The New York Time’s Paywall a success after it reported a profit in the third quarter of 2011, the profit increase is said to be “ephemeral” and “largely based on a combination of cutbacks and the sale of assets” (Nelson, Anne (22 November

2011). Though the success of a metered Paywall would create revenue for the newspaper and 64 increased freedom for the public, the profitability of the metered model has yet to be sufficiently proven.

Professional reception to the implementation of Paywalls has been mixed. Most discussion of Paywalls centers on their success or failure as business ventures, and overlooks their ethical implications for maintaining an informed public. In the Paywall debate there are those who see the implementation of a Paywall as a “sandbag strategy” – a strategy which may help increase revenue in the short term, but not a strategy that will foster future growth for the newspaper industry. Greenslade, Anne (3 November 2011) said for the “hard”

Paywall specifically, however, there seems to be an industry consensus that the negative effects (loss of readership) outweigh the potential revenue, unless the newspaper targets a niche audience. There are also those who remain optimistic about the use of Paywalls to help revitalize floundering newspaper revenues. Those who believe implementing Paywalls will succeed, however, continually buffer their opinion with contingencies. Bill Mitchell states that for a Paywall to bring new revenue and not deter current readers, newspapers must:

“invest in flexible systems, exploit their journalists' expertise in niche areas, and, crucially, offer readers their money's worth in terms of new value. The State of the News Media’s 2011 annual report on American journalism makes the sweeping claim that: “to survive financially, the consensus on the business side of news operations is that news sites not only need to make their advertising smarter, but they also need to find some way to charge for content and to invent new revenue streams other than display advertising and subscriptions”.

Even those who do not believe in the general success of Paywalls recognize that, for a profitable future, newspapers must start generating more attractive content with added value, or investigate new sources of earning revenue. 65

General user response to the implementation of Paywalls has been measured through a number of recent studies which analyze reader’s online news consumption habits. A

Canadian study completed by the Canadian Media Research Consortium entitled "Canadian

Consumers Unwilling to Pay for News Online", directly identifies the Canadian response to

Paywalls. Surveying 1,700 Canadians, the study found that 92% of participants who read the news online would rather find a free alternative than pay for their preferred site (in comparison to 82% of Americans, while 81% stated that they would absolutely not pay for their preferred online news site. Based on the poor reception of paid content by the participants, the study concludes with a statement similar to those of the media experts, stating, with the exception of prominent papers such as The Wall Street Journal and The

Times of London that given the “current public attitudes, most publishers had better start looking elsewhere for revenue solutions”.

Hackett argues that a "forum on the internet can function as a specialized or smaller- scale public sphere (Hackett, Robert A (2006). In the past, the internet has been an ideal location for the general public to gather and discuss relevant news issues-an activity made accessible first through free access to online news content, and subsequently the ability to comment on the content, creating a forum. Erecting a Paywall restricts the public’s open communication with one another by restricting the ability to both read and share online news.

The obvious way in which a Paywall restricts equal access to the online public sphere is through requiring payment, deterring those who do not want to pay, and barring those who cannot from joining the online discussion. The restriction of equal access was taken to a new extreme when the UK's The Independent, in the fall of 2011, placed a Paywall on their

American and Canadian readers and not their national audience (Sweeney, Mark (10 October 66

2011). Online news media have the proven ability to create global connection beyond the typical reach of a public sphere. In Democratizing Global Media, Hackett and global communications theorist Yuezhi Zhao describe how a new "wave of media democratization arises in the era of the internet which has facilitated transnational civil society networks of and for democratic communication.” Hackett, Robert A (2005) argues that by placing a

Paywall on their international readers, The Independent hinders the growth and democratic quality of the public sphere created by the internet.

The use of Paywalls has also received many complaints from online news readers regarding an online subscription’s inability to be shared like a traditional printed paper.

While a printed paper can be shared among friends and family, the ethics behind sharing an online subscription are less clear because there is no physical object involved. The New York

Times' "ethicist" columnist, Ariel Kaminer, addressing the question of sharing online subscription, states that "sharing with your spouse or young child is one thing; sharing with friends or family who live elsewhere is another. The readers’ comments following Kaminer’s response focused on the dichotomy between paying for a printed paper and paying for an online subscription. A printed paper’s ease of access meant that more individuals could read a single copy, and that everyone who read the paper had the ability to send a letter to the editor without the hassle of registering or paying for the subscription. As such, the use of a

Paywall closes off the communication in both the personal realm and online. This opinion is not just held by online news readers, but also by opinion writers. Jimmy Wales comments that he "would rather write [an opinion piece] where it is going to be read", declaring that

"putting opinion pieces behind Paywalls makes no sense." Without easy access to both read 67 and share insights and opinions, the online news platform loses an essential characteristic of democratic exchange.

The use of a Paywall to bar individuals from accessing news content online without payment brings up numerous ethical questions. According to Hackett, media are already

"failing to furnish citizens with ready access to relevant civic information (Hackett, 2006).

The implementation of Paywalls on previously free news contents heightens this failure through intentional withholding. Hackett cites "general cultural and economic mechanisms, such as the ‘commodification’ of information and the dependence of commercial media on advertising revenue" as two of the greatest influences on media performance. According to

Hackett, these cultural and economic mechanisms "generate violations of the democratic norm of equality”. Implementation of a Paywall addresses and intimately ties the two mechanisms cited by Hackett, as the Paywall commodifies news content to bring in revenue from both readers and from increased circulation of printed paper’s ads. The result of these mechanisms, as stated by Hackett, is an impediment to "equal access to relevant [news] facts”. The ‘commodification’ of information–making news into a product that must be purchased–restricts the egalitarian founding principal of the newspaper. Editor’s Weblog reporter Katherine Travers, addressing this issue in a post discussing the future of The

Washington Post, asks, "is digital subscription as permissible as charging a couple of dollars now and then for a paper copy? While subscription fees have long been attached to print newspapers, all other forms of news have traditionally been free (Andrews, Robert (23

November 2011). The UK's Daily Mail argues that print revenue is unique because "people pay for the convenience of print in recognition of the special cost of production and delivery of a tangible product and because they purchase it whole”. Online news, in comparison has 68 existed as a medium of free dissemination. Poynter digital media fellow Jeff Sonderman outlines the ethical tension created by a Paywall. Sonderman explains that "the underlying tension is that newspapers act simultaneously as businesses and as servants of the public’s interest. As for-profit enterprises, they have the right (the duty, even) to make money for shareholders or private owners. But most also claim to have a social compact, in which they safeguard the entire public interest and help their entire community shape and understand its shared values." By implementing a Paywall before experimenting with other revenue increasing initiatives, a newspaper arguably puts profit before the public.

While there has been little coverage and discussion of the ethical implications of the

Paywall regarding newspapers’ obligation to maintain a generally informed public, there are two prominent instances where companies have addressed the restriction of online news coverage. First is the removal of Paywalls in the face of breaking news (news covering national or local emergencies). Second is Google’s “First Click Free” application, which news providers can implement if they wish to make news stories of interest accessible to readers regardless of a Paywall.

Some newspapers have demonstrated an ethical conscience by removing their

Paywall from blocking content covering emergencies. When Hurricane Irene hit the United

States' east coast in late August 2011, The New York Times declared that all storm related coverage, accessed both online and through mobile devices, would be free to readers (Owen,

Laura Hazard (August 12, 2011). The New York Times' assistant managing editor, Jeff

Roberts, discusses the papers decision, stating: "we are aware of our obligations to our audience and to the public at large when there is a big story that directly impacts such a large portion of people." In his article discussing the removal of Paywalls, Soderman commends 69

The New York Times' action, stating that, while a publisher "commits to a Paywall as the best business strategy for his news company, there may be some stories or subjects which carry such importance and urgency that it is irresponsible to withhold them from nonsubscribers."

While creating holes in a Paywall demonstrates an ethical conscience, it also suggests that

The New York Times does not believe they have "an obligation to their audience to provide in depth coverage (beyond the limits of their Paywall) on subjects other than natural disasters.

Google's mission statement: to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful", rings of egalitarianism. In hopes of holding news sites to the same standard of information proliferation, Google created an option to news publishers online called "first click free" (Mueller, John (17 October 2008). "First click free" is a scheme which allows web users using Google search to access content behind a Paywall if it matches the user's search criteria. According to Google, the scheme's two main goals are:

1. "To include highly relevant content in Google's search index. This provides a better

experience for Google users who may not have known that content existed.

2. To provide a promotion and discovery opportunity for publishers with restricted

content.”

As such, the "first click free" scheme promotes egalitarian access to content, while benefiting the news site by directing traffic to and creating interest in the site’s content. For example, in the past Google gave blanket access to FT.com articles that were behind the site's

Paywall through its news search engine. Google has since introduced a five-article daily limit on this method of bypassing FT.com's Paywall.

Given the overwhelming opinion that, regardless of Paywall success, new revenue sources must be sought out for newspapers' financial success, it is important to highlight new 70 business initiatives. In addition to erecting Paywalls, newspapers have been increasingly exploiting tablet and mobile news products, the profitability of which remains inconclusive

(Rosenstiel, Tom (17 October 2008). Some newspapers have also embraced targeting niche audiences, such as the Daily Mail's Mail Online in the UK (Andrews, Robert (23 November

2011).

Another strategy, pioneered by The New York Times, involves creating new revenue by packaging old content in e-books and special feature offerings, to create an appealing product for readers. The draw of these packages is not just the topic but the authors and the breadth of coverage. According to reporter Mathew Ingram, newspapers can benefit from these special offerings in two ways, first by taking advantage of old content when new interest arises, such as an anniversary or an important event, and second, through the creation of packages of general interest. The New York Times, for example, has created packages on baseball, golf and the digital revolution.(e-books) (Ingram, Mathew (11 October 2011).

In the same vein, an open API (application programming interface) makes the online news site "a platform for data and information that (the newspaper company) can generate value from in other ways”. Opening their API makes a newspaper's data available to outside sources, allowing developers and other services to make use of a paper's content for a fee.

The Guardian, in keeping with its "belief in an open internet" has been experimenting with the use of API. The Guardian has created an "open platform" which works on a three level system:

1. Base/Free – The Guardian's content is free to anyone for personal and non-

commercial uses 71

2. Commercial – Commercial licenses are available for developers to use the API

content if they agree to keep the associated advertising

3. "Bespoke" Arrangement – Developers can partner with the newspaper, using specific

data to create a service or an application, the revenue from which will be shared

(Ingram, Mathew (21 October 2011).

While an open API is regarded as a gamble just like a Paywall, journalist Matthew

Ingram ethically notes that the use of an open API aims at "profiting from the open exchange of information and other aspects of an online-media world, while the (Paywall) is an attempt to create the kind of artificial information scarcity that newspapers used to enjoy”. An open

API keeps news content free to the public while the newspaper makes a profit from the quality and usefulness of its data to other businesses. The open API strategy can be commended because it takes the pressure off the news room to continually investigate and explore new means of revenue. Instead, the open API strategy relies on the interest and ideas of those outside the newsroom, to whom the site's content and data are attractive (Ingram,

Mathew (21 October 2011).

2.9 A Theoretically-Based Examination of Audience Motivation One way to approach the task of developing an understanding of the motivations of online newspaper consumers is to place the examination within an appropriate theoretical framework. Some commentators have called for just such grounding in new media studies

(see Williams, Rice, and Rogers, 1988, Chapter 11). With the rapidly increasing industry interest in online news, a theory-based examination of the phenomenon might be particularly timely and useful. 72

Undertaking such an examination can contribute to the discussion about the challenges facing daily papers, and online papers’ opportunities to meet them, by providing benefits typically associated with theoretical explorations. These benefits include synthesizing and integrating empirical findings, directing and focusing future research, adding rigor to research by basing it on a priori hypotheses, providing perspective on larger issues, and directing researchers’ attention to central issues, rather than to hypotheses derived from “misguided technological imperatives” (Fulk and Steinfield, 1990, p. 14).

Many studies have considered print newspapers as a mass medium or applied mass media theory to a consideration of newspapers. Smith (1980) and Stephens (1988), in their historical overviews of the Western newspaper industry, both classify newspapers as a mass media. Early communication and media researchers, including Dewey (1927, 1930),

Lasswell (1948), Park (1923), Schramm (1949), and Wright (1960), examined newspapers as mass media. (See Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch, 1974; Palmgreen, Wenner, and Rosengren,

1985; Williams et al., 1988; and Wenner, 1985, for historical overviews of newspapers in mass media study.)

Current newspaper and media researchers seem to categorize online newspapers similarly. Lapham (1995) places her discussion of online newspapers in a consideration of mass media theorist Marshall McLuhan, among others. Levinson (1990) includes electronic media in his definition of “mass” media as media enabling an exponential increase in audience numbers. Hume (1995), McAdams (1995), and Fulton (1996) discuss online newspapers as a mass communication medium in flux. Morris and Ogan (1996) propose consideration of all Internet-based communications in a mass media framework. Williams et al. (1988) suggest a specific mass media theory, that of media uses and gratifications, as 73 holding particular promise for the study of new communication technologies like “video cassette or disk, cable television, new telephone services, home computers, [and] videotext or teletext services” (p. 241). Palmgreen (1984), too, in a comprehensive review of uses and gratifications theory and research, issues the challenge to explore “the adaptation and molding” of the uses and gratifications “conceptual framework” to “deal with new communication technologies” (p. 49). And Compaine, in a posting to the online-news discussion list, identifies uses and gratifications theory as one that can, when “sorted through judiciously,” help “(explain) why we see (certain online) phenomena” (15 January 1997).

A uses and gratifications study of online newspaper viewership may be valuable in applying insights about audience behaviour, gained in decades of uses and gratifications research, to a comparison of audience motivations for both print and online newspaper consumption. Uses and gratifications theory is applicable to both newspaper and new media studies, and is therefore particularly suitable for examining audience motivations as they intersect in these two media presentations of the single genre.

Uses and gratifications is a receiver-based communication theory. Evans (1990) defines uses and gratifications as a theory in which “audience gratification is primary” and

“media consumers are seen as rational agents whose various uses of media offerings depend upon how these offerings serve various social-psychological functions” (p. 151). Levy and

Windahl (1984: p. 51) note that the concept of uses and gratifications is a ‘receiver-oriented concept’ that presupposes an ‘active audience’. Katz’s (1959) seminal discussion of the tradition states concisely that, in a uses and gratifications framework, the question is not

“What do the media do to people?” but rather, “What do people do with the media?” In fact, almost any consideration of media from a uses and gratifications standpoint explicitly asserts 74 the central maxim of the active, goal-seeking audience. (See also Loges and Ball-Rokeach,

1992; McQuail, 1984; O’Keefe and Sulanowski, 1995; Orlik, 1994; Palmgreen, 1984;

Rosengren, 1974; Rubin and Rubin, 1985; Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Swanson and Babrow,

1989; and Windahl, 1981.) Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1974) offer an oft-cited classic seven-point précis of the uses and gratifications tradition. They define uses and gratifications studies as follows: (are concerned with (1) the social and psychological origins of (2) needs, which generate (3) expectations of (4) the mass media or other sources, which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and (7) other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones. (p. 20)

Certain corollaries follow from uses and gratifications’ central assumption of an active, goal-driven audience, and these, too, are often cited as essential to the school of thought. One corollary is the idea of functional alternatives, summarized by Littlejohn (1992) as the idea that “media compete with other sources of need gratification” (p. 365). Functional alternatives provide audience members alternate means of achieving the same ends of satisfying some need(s) or gaining some gratification(s) (Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas, 1973;

Rubin and Rubin, 1985; Rubin and Windahl, 1986).

Another basic tenet of uses and gratifications thought is a methodological assumption that audience members are self-aware enough to report on their personal motivations for using media (Babrow, 1988; Galloway and Meek, 1981; Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch, 1974;

Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas, 1973). Most uses and gratifications studies, with their reliance on surveys and self reports as data-gathering techniques, accept the validity of this assumption.

Evans (1990), McGuire (1974), Rosengren (1974), and Rubin and Rubin (1985) provide 75 examples of uses and gratifications studies relying on survey and self-reporting methodology, and discussions justifying this methodology and its assumptions.

A reliance on empirical research design and multivariate statistical analysis is also often cited as central to the uses and gratifications tradition (Evans, 1990; Palmgreen, 1984;

Palmgreen, Wenner, and Rosengren, 1985). One final tenet of the uses and gratifications tradition is the belief that “value judgments about the cultural significance of mass communication should [or at least can] be suspended while audience orientations are explored on their own terms” (Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch, 1974, p. 22).

To summarize, then, uses and gratifications research is based on the following theoretical foundations:

• It assumes an active, self-aware, goal-seeking audience.

• It assumes that this audience selects from and uses various media and non media

functional alternatives to meet their needs or to provide gratifications.

• It assumes that audiences are self-aware enough to know and to articulate their

motivations for media use.

• It relies on empirical data-gathering and multivariate statistical methods.

• It sometimes suspends value judgments about cultural implications of media use in

order to explore audience activity on its own terms.

Uses and gratifications research has been subject to criticism for some of these tenets.

First, the tradition has been criticized for a “tunnel vision” focused so exclusively on the audience’s actual mediated communication experience that other substantial concerns (like the cultural significance of the exchange or the long-term effects on the audience) have been ignored. (See, for example, Elliott, 1974; Swanson, 1977; and Rubin and Windahl, 1986.) 76

Rubin and Windahl (1986), along with McQuail (1984), Rubin and Rubin (1985), and others, defend or suggest modifications to uses and gratifications theory to meet this criticism.

McQuail states: In the end, one has to make a rather important choice as to whether one really wants to know most about culture (its origin, production, meaning and use) or about people in audiences (their identity, attributes, reasons for being there), or about individual behaviour (kind, frequency, causes, consequences, interconnections), or about society and the working of the media within it. It is unlikely that any one paradigm or model can serve all four purposes.

In his comprehensive review of the tradition, Palmgreen (1984) recalls Katz et al.’s

(1974) classic definition of uses and gratifications to defend it against the charge of tunnel vision. Palmgreen points out that, though individual items in Katz et al.’s seven-point précis have been given more or less attention, none have been completely neglected. Specifically,

Palmgreen contends that the research agenda shows that the “broad center” of Katz et al.’s outline has received most attention, with the “end point” considerations of social and psychological origins, and “media effects” receiving less attention (p. 21). Palmgreen (1984) also defends the tradition against criticisms that it is ‘theoretical’.

Though such charges may have once had merit, Palmgreen asserts that they would be

“difficult to defend” by the mid-1980s (p. 20). For by 1984, according to Palmgreen, uses and gratifications research was in a late phase, one of “theory development...concentrated on attempts to provide explanations of the ways in which audience motives, expectations, and media behaviours are interconnected” (p. 20).

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2.10 Related Empirical Studies 1. Ester de Waal and Klaus Schoenbach: “Presentation Style and Beyond: How Print Newspapers and Online News Expand Awareness of Public Affairs Issues” Ester de Waal and Klaus Schoenbach their work “Presentation Style and Beyond:

How Print Newspapers and Online News Expand Awareness of Public Affairs Issues” with a survey in a non-experimental, natural setting, they investigated how online news as compared to print newspapers affects the public agenda. More specifically: “Does exposure to printed newspapers indeed lead to a greater number of topics in the public sphere one is aware of?”

On the basis of their theoretical considerations they expected different agenda-expanding effects of exposure to print newspapers and online offers when they formulated the following hypothesis

H1: Exposure to printed newspapers increases the overall number of perceived societal topics more strongly than exposure to online news does.

In addition, they tested the notion that the political agenda, in particular, may suffer from the

Internet by examining how much newspapers and online news affect the number of perceived political topics thus:

H2: Exposure to printed newspapers increases the number of perceived political topics more strongly than the exposure to online news does.

Finally, they tested the idea that people with little interest in public affairs may be particularly prone to ignore societal issues if they use the Internet as a source of information.

Traditional newspapers, however, should be able to trap those citizens. If print newspaper readers profit from chance encounters with information unsought-after, print papers should neither need a readership interested in specific information, nor rely on newspapers as a source of that information. Just spending time reading newspapers should be sufficient. 78

Online news, on the other hand, should typically inform users of topics of personal interest, and not go beyond those topics:

H3: Exposure to printed newspapers increases the number of perceived societal topics in general and of political topics in particular more strongly than the exposure to online news does - even if readers are not particularly interested in societal/political topics and do not particularly value newspapers as a source for those topics.

Findings of the study reveal that the generic exposure to print and online newspapers does not significantly widen the overall span of topics that the respondents came up with when they were asked what was going on in the Netherlands and in the world. But spending time on other, non-paper news websites has a positive impact on the extent of one’s agenda.

This is also true for specific exposure to print newspapers: Printed newspapers significantly increased the number of the issues the respondents perceived if those papers are considered a valuable source for various types of information and if readers are also interested in a variety of those themes.

Furthermore, two socio-demographics, education and age, were discovered to be positively related to more societal topics of all sorts in one’s mind.

Also, the findings reveal that within the realm of “politics,” we find almost the same pattern. The number of topics does not significantly increase with just more time spent on reading newspapers, be that printed or online ones. their data reveal a weak impact of spending time on other news websites though, and again a fairly strong impact of specific exposure to print newspapers: Print newspapers expand the number of perceived political issues, significantly and fairly strongly, once exposure to newspapers specifically for politics is high, that is, if they are considered an important source for political information and if this 79 kind of information is deemed interesting. Among their controls, the time spent on teletext enlarges the number of political topics. Furthermore, education is again a significant predictor of more perceived political topics.

By way of conclusion the researchers reasoned that although their findings show a weak impact of media exposure on the number of public-affairs topics that people can name spontaneously, this is plausibly a realistic picture, due to the method used here. As opposed to the experimental design of virtually all previous research, their survey study neither forced nor limited encounters with media content. Nor did it measure recall directly after exposure to information, at least not systematically. In a natural situation, effects of specific communication channels notoriously blur and often are hardly measurable any more as distinct.

Finally, the researchers submit that “as the uses and offerings of print newspapers, their online equivalents and other news sites on the Internet are rapidly evolving today, we cannot expect their effects to remain stable over time. But our study signals some interesting patterns that may help us understand the changes in a rapidly changing media environment”.

2. An Nguyen, School of English, Media Studies and Art History, and Mark Western, The University of Queensland Social Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia studied “The Complementary Relationship Between The Internet and Traditional Mass Media: The Case of Online News and Information” This study tested the complementary effect of the Internet on traditional media within the specific function of news and information utilities that is shared by all media. Contrary to persuasive evidence from previous user-centred studies (Robinson et al. 2000; Stempel et al.

2000), the findings from this survey do not support the more-more relationship between general Internet usage and traditional news and information usage. However, given that 80

Internet users were not different from non-users in their use of more information-intensive sources like radio and newspapers and tended to use magazines more frequently, the findings do provide some evidence that the Internet population in general consists of information- oriented people, who are likely less frequently to use the entertainment-oriented

(infotainment) sources of commercial television, public television and talkback radio.

In terms of the cross-media news and information usage, however, a clear more-more pattern was found: there is a significantly positive, although weak, association between traditional news and information and online news and information uses (at both levels of general adoption and frequent usage). It appears that online news and information usage reinforces the use of traditional sources, especially those information-intensive sources like newspapers and magazines. These findings are in line with a study by Althaus and

Tewksbury (2000), who surveyed 520 American undergraduate students to find that Web- based news usage was positively associated with newspaper reading but no significant correlation was found in the former's relationship with television watching. In a more recent work, Dutta-Bergman (2004) incorporated audience involvement, selective exposure and the theory of the niche to find not only that online news adopters are avid information users who substantially seek news from available sources but also that there is strong congruence in the use of online and offline sources in seven news content domains (politics, sports, business, science and health, international affairs, government and entertainment) before and after controlling for demographic factors such as age, sex, education and income.

All the above provide strong evidence against claims that the Internet, as a 'powerful' news and information medium, would replace traditional sources in the long run. Rather— because of their strong news and information orientation or need and the many differences in 81 use contexts and information quality between media—online news and information users would use all available sources. The more-more relationship could happen in two scenarios, explored below.

In the first scenario, people with a strong need for news and information adopt the

Internet for this purpose at least without reducing their use of traditional sources. The chance for this scenario of increasing budget is quite high because media time spending is not necessarily constant. The time increase in total news and information usage might come from a number of sources such as time previously spent on entertainment on television or radio

(Bromley and Bowles 1995), sleep hours and other personal-care activities (eating and grooming) as well as family-care (shopping, child care, house cleaning, etc.) and even travel time, (Robinson, et al 2000). It could also come from curtailing non-media, free-time social activities, although the study by Robinson et al. (2000) did not support this (because active

Internet users were also found to be more sociable). To this, we need to add another possible source of time, which results from the nature of the Internet as an efficient time-saving multi- purpose medium.

Instead of spending much time driving to a bank to make a transaction, for example, an Internet user can easily log on the Web and accomplish it in a matter of minutes. This means Internet usage reduces time spent on traditional, non-media, non-free-time activities and this, in turn, increases time for Internet usage. In other words, Internet adopters can divert more time resources from non-media activities to their online usage while still fulfilling their needs for these activities. The total time spent on media would increase as the result. That is to say, the all-or-nothing phenomenon has an even better chance to occur in the 82

Internet age. As information-oriented junkies, online news and information users allocate this time increase for this purpose rather than entertainment.

However, as noted above, the more-more pattern found in this study does not definitely affirm that people would adopt and use online news and information without reducing their time for traditional news and information usage. The second scenario is that online news and information users might originally have a higher budget for news and information than nonusers and thus a reduction in this budget does not lead to a change in their profile of information junkies in comparison to non-users. This is especially worth noticing in the context that this study is based on a secondary data analysis of a survey that was originally not intended to investigate media usage and thus used only crude measures of frequency. The point to reiterate here is that even if a displacement effect is under way; that is, even if they have to reduce time on traditional news and information usage to compensate for online news and information use, strongly information-oriented users would put a limit on this reduction of time spent.

What then will happen when the Internet becomes the primary news and information source? In order to explore this, the sample was split again for statistical tests between two groups: one that includes those who had reportedly relied on the Internet the most for news and information (104 respondents or 2.5% of the sample) and those who had not. The data showed the distinction between the two groups in their patterns of traditional news and information usage, based on significance testing for differences in their mean weekly use of traditional sources. No significant difference was found in the case of magazine reading, but those who relied on the Internet the most for news and information reported significantly less frequent use of all the other sources. This is understandable given the most strength of online 83 news and information such as unlimited content, immediacy, customization, searchability and so on. However, the levels of using traditional sources among these people are not at all insubstantial. The means of 3.85 times a week for commercial television, 3 times a week for public television and 4.52 times a week for radio among those who relied the most on online news and information are quite considerable in the context that a score of '3' was coded for

'several times a week'. The only medium being used below this point is newspapers (2.69) but this is not too far below 3. In proportional terms, almost half (48%) of those relying on the Internet the most for news and information still use newspapers for the same purpose at least several times a week; the level classified as 'frequent usage' in this study. In other words, despite their ultimate reliance on the Internet for news and information, people still find other sources helpful and use them substantially to complement what they receive from the Internet. All traditional sources would experience some decline (that is, be partially displaced) but would have their own right to co-exist.

In conclusion, the researchers say the study suggests that the historical coexistence of old and new media will continue in the Internet age. At least within the provision of news and information, instead of driving out old media, the Internet will complement them in serving the seemingly insatiable news and information needs among a substantial segment of society. Decline of traditional news and information usage might be under way, especially when the Internet becomes the most relied-on news and information source – but it is unlikely for any replacement (absolute displacement) to occur. To go back to Phillip Meyer's prophecy of doom, newspapers will not die in April 2040 or whenever, and it is probable that other news and information sources will also survive.

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3. Sander M. Schoneville of the University of Twente analyzed “The Factors Influencing Online Newspaper Reading Behaviour” In another study Sander M. Schoneville of the University of Twente analyzed the factors influencing online newspaper reading behaviour.

The most important finding in this study was that habit has a large impact on both intentions and behaviour. This supports Limayem et al’s (2003) finding on the important role of habit in IS use, now applied to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

(UTAUT) model and online newspapers. The pattern is clear in all of the models that were constructed: as long as habit is left out of the models, the influence of intention on perceived usage is large. As soon as habit is included, intention’s effect on perceived use drops dramatically. The effect habit had on use was roughly three times that of intention. A strong reinforcing effect on intention, performance expectancy and effort expectancy was also shown by habit. Its role has important ramifications for studies using the UTAUT model to explain behaviour rather than to predict adoption. Omitting habit can lead to serious misinterpretation of causal effects. In a setting where technology acceptance has to be predicted, habits cannot have developed. Care should still be taken that habit formation is controlled for when use behaviour is measured after a period of use.

Because behaviour was explained instead of predicted, and because the UTAUT had not been applied to an online newspaper context before, scale development was needed.

Additionally, a specification search was necessary because the hypothesized model’s fit scores did not meet cut off criteria. This resulted in a model that is in part data driven, but all changes to the structural model had theoretical or empirical support. Additionally, the final measurement model had items that reflected the latent variables well. 85

The test panel that was used for this study is used in other research as well and is intended as a cross-section of a region in the Netherlands, which speaks for the case of external validity. However, participants that had no knowledge whatsoever of the online newspaper in question were excluded from the survey, which may have introduced bias in the results. Univariate skewness and kurtosis were within acceptable parameters, but the multivariate distribution was non-normal. Ordinal data were used while maximum likelihood estimation assumes interval data. Because of this fit scores and regressions found should be interpreted with care. At the very least, the structure of the model and the sizes of regressions relative to each other are very informative.

Even though the questions for habit and habitual print newspaper reading were worded in the same manner, Cronbach’s alpha was a lot higher for the items measuring the latter. Apparently, respondents’ perceived habitual use of print papers was easier to self- assess than their habitual visits of online news sites. This is probably due to the fact that print newspapers have been around far longer. Reading the daily paper is a widely known routine while habitually frequenting an online paper is not as clearly framed in people’s minds yet.

Another possibility is that admitting to habitually read print papers is socially accepted while admitting to habitually read an online newspaper is not. The effects of technical conditions

(called facilitating conditions in this study) on performance expectancy and effort expectancy, and the effects of performance expectancy and effort expectancy on attitude showed patterns similar to those found in other studies. Attitude did not fully mediate the effects of performance expectancy and effort expectancy on intention; in fact, attitude itself had no significant effect on intention. Effort expectancy showed no significant effect on anything but attitude. This suggests that the deliberate intention to use a website with an 86 information-providing goal (such as a news site) is determined more by utility than because it is fun or easy to use. This does not mean that attitude and effort expectancy are irrelevant.

More likely attitude and effort expectancy have to rise above some minimum level before performance expectancy can become the deciding factor. In other words, had the online newspaper been terrible to use, performance expectancy would have mattered less.

Respondents’ ratings for effort expectancy and attitude in this study do not counter such reasoning as they were high.

4. Scott Hendrickson studied “Online Newspaper Revenues: Albatross, Lifeboat or New World? In yet another study conducted by Scott Hendrickson on “Online Newspaper

Revenues: Albatross, Lifeboat or New World? “At the end of an empirical analysis the researcher arrived at the following scenario of what could happen in the future.

Scenario 0–Minor incremental changes to current performance. No catastrophic decline in newspaper circulation, not radical improvement in newspaper’s abilities to generate online revenues relative to offline unlikely because of demographic shifts.

Scenario 1–The overall structure of the relationship between online and offline revenues we have today remains intact, but online revenues out-pace print revenues (10 >

Rp/Ro > 1). This saves the newspapers, but is unlikely because it represents a dramatic shift in the competitive marketplace–where today newspapers have a geographic monopoly in print, online, they will be playing in a worldwide affinity driven competitive milieu.

Scenario 2–The overall structure of the relationship between online and offline revenues we have today remains intact, but circulations decline and margins for online advertising decline. This is a doomsday scenario. 87

Scenario 3–Papers create new business models where online and offline revenues are not a relevant measure because online revenues are generated by a different audience, different advertisers, different behaviours or a combination of all three. Newspapers face market fragmentation, but answer with an “Unlinked” online business strategy. This scenario is what seems to be going on with Murdoch purchasing MySpace. This is the attractive and realistic scenario as long as newspapers retain audience and resources. Execution will require creativity and hard work.

How will traditional newspaper advertising money move online? Total advertising spend will continue to grow (or shrink) along with the number and success of the businesses buy it. Some of this advertising spend will move online. It seems likely that many large newspapers will become smaller and that many smaller newspapers will survive (in print).

However, following this model, it seems likely that smaller newspapers will not sustain significant stand-alone online advertising revenues analogous to their offline advertising business. It is more likely that they will join a nationwide or worldwide network or coop or local advertisers to provide a link to local merchants for online advertising that is able to compete with the lower cost, advertiser-controlled, performance-metric-rich offerings such as Google AdSense and others.

5. Hans Beyers of the University of Antwerp studied “Tomorrow’s newsp@pers: online or still made out of paper? A Study on Perceptions, Opinions and Attitudes towards Online Newspapers” In general, it was discovered that surfers are used to getting any information for free on the web: they will simply look for other news sites where they can consult the same news for free. This means that news sites must offer relevant information that is not readily available elsewhere, particularly not via other web sites or media. The resistance to paying 88 for online content might ebb away, but this psychological process will take time. On the other hand, online newspapers ‘giving away’ content, radically undervalue their own journalistic products.

Several items were included in their survey question on paid content (n=269) to check to what extent people are willing to pay for different kinds of content and information. Not surprisingly, the most popular items are the archives (30.9%, p<.001). As nowadays a lot of archives are already paid-for content, this might account for a port of this quite high willingness to pay. The second place is taken by specialized content with 22.7% of online readers willing to pay for this kind of information (p<.001). Next, we have ‘in-depth reports’ and unique content with respectively 19.7% and 17.8% (both p<.001). Breaking news

(14.9% with p=.001) and pdf-like versions (14.5% with p=.002) also have a reasonable percentage of potential customers. All other items (audio, video, local news, classifieds/dating, e-letters, mobile content and financial information) did not produce significant data.

When asked how much people are prepared to spend on paid content, it appears that - if people want to pay at all (38.7% does not want to pay) - most people are willing to pay between 25Û and 49Û a year. 15.2% is prepared to spend an amount smaller than 25Û and only 12.7% wants to spend over 50Û a year (n=269 and p<.001). A recent report by the

Online Publishers Association (OPA) revealed that U.S. consumers spent 853 million $ for online content during the first half of 2004 (OPA, 2004: 4).

On the basis of the data gathered the researcher said the profile of the average visitor of online newspapers is an 18 to 44 years old (together accounting for 75.3% of our online reading group) working (74.8%) male (76%) with some form of higher education (75.3%). 89

The detection that the same newspaper is read online as in print version is a general phenomenon. A potential advantage of electronic newspapers (namely the possibility to remove geographical boundaries) thus seems to be undermined by our figures. Besides that,

De Standard Online is also the most popular newspaper in all Flemish regions.

What influence does the rise of online newspapers have on sales figures of print newspapers? Are they a threat to print newspapers, or does it all, turns out better than expected? 70. 8% claims their buying behaviour is still the same as before, while nearly a quarter admits to buy less print newspapers and 4.5% buy more. But when we ask people who do read online to make a choice between print and online on the assumption of identical

‘twins’ (meaning exactly the same news at the same cost), the results speak for themselves: almost three quarters preferred the print edition. Only the future can tell what the final outcome will be, but enough elements point towards a continued existence of print newspapers in the age of new media, at least for some time.

2.11 Theoretical Framework The value of theories in any academic research is not contestable. Theories usually help researchers explain, clarify and even predict phenomena central to their studies.

Communication which basically is a unique human activity has a galaxy of theoretical constructs. Considering the influence of online newspapers on newspaper patronage and revenue in Nigeria, the Uses and Gratifications and Media System Dependency theories underpin this study.

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2.11.1 The Uses and Gratifications Theory The focus of the Uses and Gratifications theory is the media consumer. The theory, according to Wimmer and Dominick (2011: p. 345), examines how people use the media and the gratifications they seek and receive from their media behaviours. Uses and Gratifications researchers assume that audience members are aware of and articulate their reasons for consuming various media contents.

The Uses and Gratifications approach, according to Baran (2004:p. 428), claims that the media do not do things to people rather people do things with the media. In other words, the influence of the media is limited to what people allow it to be. Similarly, Uses and

Gratifications in the words of Katz Elihu of Israel, is concerned primarily with the social and psychological origins of needs which generate expectations of the media or other sources, which lead to differential patterns of media exposure, resulting in needs gratifications and other consequences perhaps mostly unintended ones. On the basis of the above position therefore, if media exposure results in both intended and unintended gratifications, it tends to suggest that online newspapers may or may not satisfy readers’ needs for news.

Some contemporary proponents of Uses and Gratifications argue that one enduring challenge for their school of thought is to make a link from gratifications to effects. Windahl

(1981) argues that a merger of ‘Uses and Gratifications’ and the ‘effects’ traditions were overdue and proposed what he calls ‘Uses and Effects’ model that viewed the product of the uses of media contents as ‘Cons-effects’. In a similar vein, Palmgreen, Wenner and

Rosengreen (1985: p. 31) write, “studies have shown that a variety of audience gratifications(again both sought and obtained) as related to a wide spectrum of media effects, including knowledge, dependency attitudes, perception of social reality, agenda setting discussions and various political effects”. 91

Watson and Hill (1993: p. 111) quote McCombs and Shaw as saying “there is a direct correlation between the amount of media exposure of (the issues) and the degree to which the public sees as being important.

Kunczik (1988:p. 176) explains ‘Uses and Gratifications’ thus “the recipient is perceived as actively influencing the effect process. This is actively being equated with selective, needs oriented media consumption… the question posed as to who uses which contents from which media under which ‘situative’ conditions for what reasons and what effects?”

Gibson, Ivancevich and Donnelly (1994:p. 128) add that theories of motivation which are at the root of Uses and Gratifications fall into two broad categories namely, content and process categories. Content theories focus on the factors within the person that energize, direct, sustain and stop behaviour. They attempt to determine the specific needs that motivate behaviour. Process theories on the other hand describe and analyze how behaviour is energized, viewed, sustained and stopped by factors primarily external to the person.

The Uses and Gratifications theory therefore underpins this study because source characteristics and other intervening variables interact with each other in formulating information behaviour, in this context online or offline disposition. Also, a person with limited education, for instance, might have limited cognitive capacity and, therefore, would not like reading, which leads him or her to preferring retrieving information from television and radio than from the more demanding newspapers and magazines, multimedia, etc.

Also, each medium has a distinctive content profile. Although all media provide information and entertainment-related contents, newspapers, for example, are more information-intensive (that is, offering both broad and in-depth contents), which has 92 substantially contributed to their survival in coping with their more entertainment-oriented broadcasting competitors. And most importantly, because different media could serve the same media-related needs in a different way within a different context, all of them might be used by individuals who experience a high level of that need.

2.11.2 Media System Dependency Theory Media System Dependency which is akin to the Uses and Gratifications theory asserts that ‘the more a person depends on having his or her needs met by media use, the more important will be the role that media play in the person’s life, and therefore the more influence those media will have on that person” (Baran and Davis, 2012: p. 340).

From a macroscopic perspective, if more and more people become dependent on media, media institutions will be shaped to serve these dependencies, the overall influence of media will rise, and media’s role in society will become more central. This reveals that there should be a direct relationship between the amounts of overall dependency and the degree of media influence or centrality at any given point in time.

Media-systems dependency theory emerged from a 1976 article by Ball-Rokeach and

DeFleur that attempted to explain why media could have varying cognitive, affective and behavioral effects on different people. Over time, it evolved into a more complex theory that deals with the relationship between media and individuals at the micro level and media and social institutions at a macro level.

At the level of individuals, Media System Dependency theory assumes individuals are goal-oriented and active in the selection and use of media content. It suggests three dependency areas, with two sub-areas each, in which different individuals depend on media to varying degrees (1.) for solitary play and social play; (2) for self-understanding and social understanding; and (3) for action orientation and interaction orientation. In particular, the 93 action and interaction orientation dependencies assume that people act purposefully in deciding how they will behave to obtain goals.

From the above, it can be seen that orientation dependency is closely related to understanding dependency. Both of these dependencies require the acquisition of information for specific goals that often involve complex topics and issues; because of that specificity and complexity, the information needs to be detailed and in-depth.

Although Media System Dependency theory has been used as the theoretical basis for some studies of the Internet no published research was found that also addresses the particular relationship (e.g., displacement vs. complementarity) between the Internet and more traditional media with Media System Dependency theory as a framework.

However, in 1993 Lacy et al. used Media System Dependency theory and uses and gratifications concepts to create a typology of media uses from an economic perspective, and in 2000 Lacy extended this typology to a wider range of information. This approach hypothesized a media mix, represented by a matrix of uses and media types, for each person.

The particular mix of media for meeting an individual’s goals varies from person to person and across time. The media mix is a subdivision of a larger information mix, which includes interpersonal communication as an information source, for fulfilling an individual’s goals.

This mix does not assume that a single medium is the sole source of all the information a person needs to reach a goal or fulfill a need. However, the typology suggests that the mix is relatively stable, with some variation, during the short run. The mix goes through major shifts when disruptions occur in the availability of existing media and when new media products are made available. 94

This theory is relevant to this study because both Media System Dependency and the media-mix model indicate that the development of the Internet would introduce new sources of dependency for information and suggests that the use of the Internet will displace traditional media for everyone, although it might for some. Rather, the two approaches suggest that some people will replace the time spent with existing media for time spent online, and that this displacement may vary with the type of dependency motivating the

Internet use.

Melvin DeFleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach (1975:pp.261-263) as quoted in Baran and

Davis (2012: 340) have provided a fuller explanation in several assertions that the “basis of media influence lies in the relationship between the larger social system, and the media’s role in that system, and audience relationship to the media.” It should be realized that effects occur not because all-powerful media or omnipotent sources compel that occurrence, but because the media operate in a given system to meet given audience wants and needs.

Also, the degree of audience dependence on media information is the key variable in understanding when and why media messages alter audience beliefs, feelings or behaviour.

The ultimate occurrence and shape of media effects rests with audience members and is related to how necessary a given medium or message is to them. The uses people make of media determine media’s influence. If we rely on many sources other than media for our information about events, then the role of media is less than if we rely exclusively on a few media sources. The theory differs from traditional effects-based theories because it assumes that the audience is goal-oriented in its media selection. The audience is not seen as mindless drones that can be influenced by an all powerful media. But, as addressed earlier, it goes further than Uses and Gratifications because it does not ignore the persuasive impact of 95 media. As a needs-based perspective with an effects emphasis, the theory assumes that the more needs a medium fulfils for an individual then the more dependent that person will become on the medium. Subsequently, the more dependent that person becomes then the more influence that medium will have (Baran, 2010).

Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur provide four assumptions for the theory which are germane to this study; the first assumption essentially says that media influence is dependent on the relationships between society, media, and the audience. Basically, if we look at one dimension of this assumption, the more society relies on media to function then the more influence that media will have on their activities, for instance those who use social media are to a large extent influenced to stumble on online newspapers. The second assumption of the theory says that the key variable in predicting media effects is the degree of audience dependence. The more reliant the audience becomes on a particular medium then the more power that medium will have over the individual. On a macroscopic level, the more reliant a large population is on one medium, then the more influence it will have on society. The third assumption addresses the needs of the audience which is germane to this present study. It reads much like a boiled down version of Uses and Gratifications Theory. The theory says that the audience uses media to create meaning of the social world, to learn how to act in society, and for entertainment. These are meant to be categories for needs rather than specific definitions.

The fourth and final assumption of the theory, which bears directly on this study, is that dependency is directly correlated to the needs addressed (specific contents of either online or print newspapers as they gratify and address readers’ needs for information, entertainment, education and the like). 96

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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research Design The study adopted the survey method using the questionnaire and in-depth interview as instruments of data collection. This method can be used in studying the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue in South-east Nigeria. According to Osuala (2005: pp.253-254), survey research studies both large and small populations by selecting and studying sample chosen from population to discover the relative incidence, distribution and interrelations of sociological and psychological variables.

First, the questionnaire was used in gauging newspaper buyers’ general disposition to the online newspapers vis-à-vis their buying behaviour of the print versions after they had been exposed to the former. It was used in determining the incidence, distribution and interrelationship among such variables as online newspaper readership and ,print newspapers readership and revenue as well as focus on vital facts, opinions, attitudes, behaviour, and motivation of sample that were purposively drawn. This method employed a set of questions on aspects of the subject to which the selected members of the population responded.

The second instrument was the in-depth interview which provided tremendous details about the revenue profiles of The Punch, Vanguard, The Guardian, The Sun, The Nation,

ThisDay, and Business Day newspapers before the online phenomenon vis-a-vis their present profiles-during their online activities. According to Griffin (1999:p. 105), “in-depth interview can provide quite detailed and rich data on individual behaviour and attitudes. In the field of media research they can be appropriate in a number of areas- in-depth interviews are characterized by being open-ended, flexible, and respondent-centred and… like focus groups they are also used to attempt to go beyond those things which are on the surface”. 114

3.2. Population of the Study The population for this study comprised all Postgraduate students of all the federal and state universities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria. This category of respondents was specifically chosen because of their level of education. The pilot study revealed that

Postgraduate students have access to the internet and also read online newspapers. They also showed certain level of understanding of the dynamics of the online newspaper phenomenon in the Nigerian mass media circles. The newspapers evaluated to discover the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue were The Punch,

Vanguard, The Guardian The Sun, The Nation, ThisDay, and Business Day newspapers.

These newspapers were chosen especially because of their national spread.

3.3. Sample of the Study Wimmer and Dominick (2011: p.62) have argued that studying every member of the population in a given study may confound the research because large numbers of people often affect measurement quality. Hence, in this study efforts were made at investigating a sample that adequately represented the population. Only rarely also do survey researchers study whole population, instead they normally study samples drawn from population. On the basis of the foregoing therefore a sample of two thousand (2000) Postgraduate students across the three (3) federal Universities in the Eastern part of Nigeria: University of Nigeria,

Nsukka,(Enugu state) Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, (Anambra State) and Federal

University of Technology, Owerri (Imo State) and the five (5) state universities in each of the five (5) Eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states were selected and surveyed. The purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting 250 Postgraduate 115 students from each of the eight (8) universities selected. Generally, federal and state universities were chosen because students, especially Postgraduate students tend to use the internet and other multi-media for their research and to that extent access online newspaper as evidenced in the pilot study carried out in course of collecting preliminary data for this study.

3.4. Sampling Technique The sampling technique employed in this study was purposive. Postgraduate students of federal and state universities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria were purposively chosen as they were viewed to be intellectually alert and capable of appreciating the dynamics of the sustaining online newspapers phenomenon in the Nigerian media circles. As revealed by the pilot study. According to Treadwell (2011: p. 109) “purposive or judgmental sampling is based on the idea that a specific person… will meet specific criteria the researcher has”

Thus the two thousand (2000) Postgraduate students across the three (3) federal universities in the Eastern part of Nigeria: University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (Enugu state);

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, (Anambra State); and Federal University of Technology,

Owerri (Imo State) and the five (5) state universities in each of the five (5) Eastern states of

Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states (Abia State University, Uturu; Anambra State

University, Uli; Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki; Enugu State University of Science and

Technology, Enugu; and Imo State University, Owerri) amounting to two hundred and fifty

(250) from each of the 8 universities selected were picked on first come first served basis.

This justification for equal allocation of the same number of copies of the questionnaire to the selected universities is not to short change any of the universities in terms of representation since the samples had initially been purposively chosen. The research 116 assistants assisted in administering the questionnaire copies personally to the selected students. The two hundred and fifty (250) copies of the questionnaire were administered to the students in their faculties, departments and hostels until the allotted number got exhausted.

3.5. Instrument for Data Collection The instruments employed in gathering data for this study were the questionnaire, and in-depth interview questions for proprietors, editors, online editors, which would assist the researcher in determining the direction of the revenue of The Guardian, The Punch and

Vanguard The Sun, The Nation, ThisDay, and Business Day newspapers in the face of current online newspapers’ challenge.

Considering the employment of questionnaire in research, Nworgu (1991: p. 83) opines “with the questionnaire we can obtain data on the feelings and perceptions of a group of people towards certain things”. The questionnaire, which can easily be administered, was designed with the research questions formulated for the study in focus.

3.6. Validation and Reliability of the Measuring Instruments Validation and reliability of research instruments, which is the core of every academic research effort, is usually done to ensure that the instruments accurately measure what they set out to measure. For instance Wimmer and Dominick (2011: p. 55) say “an assessment of reliability is necessary in all mass media research…. Validity on the other hand is simply the appropriateness of an instrument in measuring what it is intended to measure”.

Consequently, the questionnaire and oral interview questions were pr-tested on some

Postgraduate students who were part of the population. The Focus Group Discussions 117

(FGDs) of eleven (11) Postgraduate students in each of the three (3) federal universities;

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and Federal University of

Technology, Owerrri was employed to gather preliminary data that helped in developing the questionnaire items. According to Krueger and Casey (2000), the focus group or group interviewing “is a research strategy for understanding people’s attitudes and behaviour. From

6-12 people are interviewed simultaneously, with a moderator leading the respondents in a relatively unstructured discussion about the topic under investigation”.

At the end of the day the 22 –item questionnaire covering four (4) research questions was developed for the survey and was validated by two lecturers each from the Departments of Mass Communication, and Statistics of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Reliability of the survey instrument was tested using the test-retest method.

3.7. Method of Data Analysis The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. The qualitative data obtained from the in-depth interview was discussed. The four (4) research questions were answered using the quantitative method using tables and charts, and representing of figures in simple percentage counts. The Two (2) null hypotheses were tested using‘t-test’ and ‘Chi-square test’ respectively

The first hypothesis; ‘there is no difference in the motivations for patronizing online newspapers and that of their print versions’ was tested with the aid of the ‘t-test’ in establishing the difference in the mean responses for online and offline newspapers in terms of the motivation for patronizing the newspapers. 118

The ‘Chi-square test’ was used in testing the second hypothesis which states that ‘the perception of the newspapers with respect to timely, authoritative, popular, and currency ratings of their usage does not depend on their online or print attributes’.

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REFERENCES

Krueger, R. A. and Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mytton, G. (1999). Handbook on radio and television audience research. Paris: BBC World Service Training Trust.

Nworgu, B. G. (1991). Educational research: Basic issues and methodology. Ibadan: Wisdom Publishers Ltd.

Osuala, E. C. (2005). Introduction to research methodology: The millennium edition. Enugu: Feb Publishers Ltd.

Wimmer, R. D. and Dominick, J. R. (2011). Mass media research: an introduction. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

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CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Data Presentation This study set out to evaluate the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue in the South-eastern part of Nigeria. The Guardian,

Vanguard. The Punch, the Sun, The Nation, Business Day and This Day Newspapers were chosen from newspapers in Nigeria for evaluation via in-depth interview of their Online

Editors who have been on the job for at least 8 years, and national spread; have their presence every state capital and other towns in Nigeria.

The twenty two (22) item questionnaire was administered to two thousand (2000)

Postgraduate students across the eight (8) universities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria namely – University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Federal

University of Technology, Owerri, Abia State University, Uturu, Anambra State University,

Igbanraim/Uli campuses, Ebonyi State University , Abakaliki, Enugu State University of

Science and Technology, Enugu, and Imo State University, Owerri.

Out of the 2000 questionnaire copies administered to the Postgraduate students, one thousand six hundred and sixty (1660) were duly filled out and returned in analyzable form representing 83% of the questionnaire administered.

The responses from the questionnaire and in-depth interview questions were analyzed in line with the objectives and research questions formulated for the study. Sections C-F in the questionnaire answered research questions 1-4, while the in-depth interviews with the

Online Editors of the seven (7) national newspapers (The Guardian, Vanguard. The Punch, the Sun, The Nation, Business Day and ThisDay) were used in addressing the 5th research 121 question and subsequently correlated their responses with the responses of the respondents on aspects that probed the revenue status/profile of the newspaper organizations.

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The findings of the study are as follow: 4.1.1 Data Presentation from the Questionnaire Table 1 Sex of the Respondents S/N Name of University Respondent Response Percentage

a University of Nigeria, Nsukka a Male 143 65 b Female 78 35 Total 221 100 b Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Respondent Response Percentage a Male 121 56 b Female 97 44 Total 218 100 c Federal University of Technology, a Respondent Response Percentage Owerri a Male 135 70 b Female 60 30 Total 195 100 d Abia State University, Uturu Respondent Response Percentage a Male 112 57 b Female 84 43 Total 196 100 e Anambra State University, Uli and S/N Respondent Response Percentage Igbariam a Male 123 59 b Female 87 41 Total 213 100 f Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki Respondent Response Percentage a Male 120 57 b Female 93 43 Total 213 100 g Enugu State University of Science Respondent Response Percentage and Technology, Enugu a Male 114 53 b Female 101 47 Total 215 100 h Imo State University, Owerri Respondent Response Percentage a Male 92 49 b Female 97 51 Total 189 100

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Table 1 above represents the responses of respondents across the eight (8)

Universities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria that represent the sample. In the University of Nigeria, Nsukka male respondents were one hundred and forty three (143) (65%), females seventy eighty (78) (35%). In Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka we recorded one hundred and twenty one (121) males representing 56%, females were 97 (44%). Federal University of

Technology, Owerri had one hundred and thirty eight (138) (70%) males, and 60 (30%) females.

Abia State University, Uturu recorded one hundred and twelve (112) (57%) males, females were 84 (43%). Anambra State University, Igbariam/Uli had one hundred and twenty three (123) (59%) males and 87 (41%) females. In Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki we had one hundred and twenty (120) (57%) males, and 93 (43%) females. In Enugu State

University of Technology, Enugu we had one hundred fourteen 114(53%) males and one hundred and one (101) (47%) females. In Imo State University, Owerri we recorded ninety two (92) (49%) males and Ninety seven (97) females.

Table 2

Age Brackets of Respondents S/N Age Bracket Response Parentage 1 Ages 23-34 622 38 2 Ages 35-44 412 25 3 Ages 45-54 318 19 4 Ages 55 and above 302 18 Total 1660 100

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40 35

30

25 Parentage 20

15

10

5

0 Ages 23-34 Ages 35-44 Ages 45-54 Ages 55 and above Figure 1: Age Brackets of Respondents in Percentages

Table 2 above clearly specifies the age brackets of respondents across the eight (8) universities sampled. Age brackets 23-34 recorded six hundred and twenty two (622) (38%),

Age brackets 35-44 had four hundred and twelve (412) (25%), Age brackets 45-54 record three hundred and eighteen (318) (19%), and age brackets 55 and above recorded three hundred and two (302) (18%) of the respondents.

Table 3 Age Brackets of Respondents According to their Gender across the Eight (8) Universities UNN Age 23-34 Males 42 Females 27 Ages 35-44 Males 64 Females 28 Ages 45-54 Males 28 Females 19 Ages 55 and Males 09 Females 04 above Total 143(65%) Total 78(35%)

NAU Ages 23-34 Males 30 Females 58 Ages 35-44 Males 71 Females 11 Ages 45-54 Males 13 Females 18 Ages 55 and Males 07 Females 10 125

above Total 121(56%) Total 97(44%)

FUTO Ages 23-34 Males 33 Females 11 Ages 35-44 Males 63 Females 34 Ages 45-54 Males 31 Females 11 Ages 55 and Males 11 Females 04 above Total 135(70%) Females 60(30%)

ABSU Ages 23-34 Males 45 Females 33 Ages 35-44 Males 38 Females 32 Ages 45-54 Males 24 Females 13 Ages 55 and Males 08 Females 06 above Total 112(57%) Total 84(43%)

ANSU Ages 23-34 Males 49 Females 36

Ages 35-44 Males 46 Females 31 Ages 45-54 Males 21 Females 15 Ages 53 and Males 07 Females 05 above Total 123(59%) Total 87(41%)

EBSU Ages 23-34 Males 51 Females 43 Ages 35-44 Males 40 Females 34 Ages 45-54 Males 23 Females 12 Ages 55 and Males 06 Females 04 above Total 120(57) Total 93(43%) IMSU Ages 23-34 Males 33 Females 24

Ages 35-44 Males 37 Females 38 Ages 45-54 Males 14 Females 26 Ages 55 and Males 08 Females 09 above Total 92(49%) Total 97(51%) ESUT Ages 23-34 Males 39 Females 52 Ages 35-44 Males 37 Females 28 Ages 45-54 Males 26 Females 15 Ages 55 and Males 12 Females 06 above Total 114(53%) Total 101(47%)

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Table 3 above shows the breakdown of the Age brackets of respondents according to their gender across the eight (8) universities sampled.

Table 4 Institutions of the Respondents S/N Name of Institution Response Percentage a University of Nigeria, Nsukka 221 13 b Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 213 13 c Federal University of Technology, Owerri 198 12 d Abia State University, Uturu 196 12 e Nnambra State University, Uli and Igbariam 210 13 f Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 213 13 g Enugu State University of Science and 215 13 Technology., Enugu h Imo State University, Owerri 189 11 Total 1660 100

230

220

210

200 Response

Responses

190

180

170 UNN NAU FUTO ABSU ANAMSU EBSU ESUT IMSU Names of Institutions Figure 2: Names of Institutions in Percentages

Table 4 above represents respondents’ response according to their institutions. In

University of Nigeria, Nsukka we recorded 221 (13%), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 127 recorded 213 (12%), Federal University of Technology, Owerri recorded one hundred and ninety eight (198) (12%), Abia State University, Uturu had one hundred and ninety six (196)

(12%), Anambra State University Uli and Igbariam Campuses we recorded two hundred and ten (210) (13%), two hundred and thirteen (213) (13%) respondents were recorded in Ebonyi

State University, Abakaliki. In Enugu State University of Technology we had two hundred and fifteen (215) (13%) of the respondents, and in Imo State University, Owerri one hundred and eight nine (189) (11%) of the respondents were recorded.

Respondents’ Exposure Patterns and Patronage Table 5 Respondents’ Purchase of Newspapers S/N Response Frequency Percentage A Yes 616 37 B No 712 43 C Sometimes 332 20 Total 1660 100

Table 5 above shows the frequency with which respondents purchased newspapers in South-east Nigeria. Six hundred and sixteen (616) (37%) affirmed that they buy Nigerian newspapers by indicating ‘Yes’, seven hundred and twelve (712) (43%) said “No” they do not buy Nigerian Newspapers, while three hundred and thirty two (332) (20%) of the respondents said they buy Nigerian newspaper ‘Sometimes’.

Table 6 The Frequency with which Respondents Who Buy Nigerian Newspapers Do So S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Every day 97 16 b Every other day 68 11 c Once in a week 212 34 d Once in 2 weeks 148 24 e Once in a month 91 15 Total 616 100 128

The six hundred and sixteen (616) (37%) of respondents who buy Nigerian newspapers responded in varying degrees in table 6 above. Ninety seven (97) (16%) buy

Nigerian newspapers everyday, 68 (11%) do so every other day, 212 (34%) buy Nigerian newspapers once a week, 148 (24%) buy Nigeria newspapers once in 2 weeks, while 91

(15%) do so once in a month.

Table 7 Respondents who Read Nigerian Newspapers S/N Reponses Frequency Percentage A Yes 892 54 B No 426 26 C Sometimes 342 21 Total 1660 100

Table 7 above shows clearly the frequency and percentage of respondents who read

Nigeria newspapers online. Eight hundred and ninety two (892) (54%) of the respondents said “Yes” they read newspapers online, 426 (26%) said “No” they don’t read newspapers online, while 342 said they read newspapers online ‘Sometimes’.

As a follow-up to the question on respondents who read newspapers online, the eight hundred and ninety two (892) (54%) of the respondents who read Nigerian newspapers online accessed them from the following places as captured in table 8 below:

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Table 8 Where Respondents Read Online Newspapers S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Cyber café 152 17 b The Campus Online 108 12 Services c Via Any of the 462 52 GSM Providers’ Modems d Any other, specify i Android phones 65 07 ii Ipads 62 07 iii Ipods 43 05 Total 892 100

500

450

400

350

300

250

Frequency 200

150

100

50

0 Cyber café The Campus Online Via Any of the GSM Android phones Ipads Ipods Services Providers’ Modems Response

Figure 3: Where Respondents Read Online Newspapers

According to Table 8 above, one hundred and fifty two 152 (17%) of the respondents

said they read newspapers online at the Cyber cafés, one hundred and eight (108) (12%) said 130 they read via their campus online services (462) (52%) said they read Nigerian newspapers online via any of the GSM providers’ modems such as MTN, GLOMOBILE, ZAIN, and

ETISALAT, 65 (07%) access online newspapers through their Android phones, 62 (07%) via their Ipads and 43 (05%) read online newspapers on their Ipods.

Table 9 How Often Respondents Read Newspapers Online S/N Response Frequency Percentage A Often 308 34 B Very often 517 58 C Not very often 67 08 D Hardly ever at all 00 00 Total 892 100

Table 9 above demonstrates the frequency with which the 892 (54%) of the respondents who read Nigerian newspapers do so. Three hundred and eight (308) (34%) of the respondents read online newspapers often, 517 (58%) do so very often, 67 (08%) do so not very often while 0(00%) hardly ever at all read Nigerian newspapers online.

Questionnaire item ‘NO 9’ required the respondents to state any of the websites on which they read or accessed Nigerian newspapers. The questions gave the respondents the leverage to list the websites. Listed below are the websites as mentioned by respondents: www.bizhallmark.com, www.busniessdayonline.com , www.cometnewsonline.com, www.sunnews onlinecom, www.championnewspaper.com, www.dailyindependent.com, www.thesunnewsonline.com, www.dailypost.com, www.financialstandardnews.com, www.ngguardiannews.com, www.ganiji.com/hotline:htm, www.newage-online.com, www.tribune.com.ng. www.the phctetegraph.com, www.punching.com, www.thisdayonlin.com, www.thetidenews.com, www.ndirect.com.uk. 131 www.triumphenewspapers.com, www.vanguardngr.com. www.dailypostng.org, www.saharareponfers.com. www.primuim times.org. Some of the websites are citizen journalism sites and other online newspapers that do not have their print versions.

Table 10 Motivation for Patronizing Online Newspapers S/N Responses Frequency Percentage A Read in Detail 192 22 B Simply scan through 468 52 C Just read Designated sections 232 26 Total 892 100

192 232

Read in Detail

Simply scan through

Just read Designated sections

468

Figure 4: Motivation for Patronizing Online Newspapers

Table 10 above shows how respondents read newspapers online. One hundred and ninety two (192) (22%) of the respondents read online newspapers in detail, 468 (52%) simply scan through the newspapers while 232 (26%) just read designated sections of the online newspapers. 132

Table 11 The Reasons that motivate respondents’ Online Newspaper Reading Behaviour S/N Response Frequency Percentage A Use of Pictures 138 15 B Depth of Reporting 78 09 C The Headlines 142 16 D News Interpretation 182 20 E Ease of Reading 222 22 F For Documentation 130 15 Total 892 100

250

200

150

Frequency 100

50

0 Use of Pictures Depth of Reporting The Headlines News Interpretation Ease of Reading For Documentation Response Figure 5 : Reasons that motivate respondents’ Online Newspaper Reading Behaviour Table 11 above required the respondents to tick the reasons that motivated their

online newspaper reading behaviour. One hundred and 138(15%) of the respondents said 133 they are motivated by the use of pictures, 78 (09%) are motivated by depth of reporting, 142

(16%) said the attraction is the Headlines, 182(20%) are moved by the “Ease of reading” and

130 (15%) said they read online newspapers for documentation.

The likert scaling system was employed in gauging respondents’ motivation for patronizing either online or offline newspapers. The respondents used the following keys to rate their disposition to the quality and potency of either online or offline newspapers: SA –

Strongly Agree, A- Agree, U – Undecided, D – Disagree, SD – Strongly Disagree.

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Table 12 Respondents’ motivation for Patronizing Either Online or Offline Newspapers S/N Disposition to SA A U D SD Disposition to SA A U D SD online newspapers offline Newspapers 01 Online newspapers 421 122 08 152 189 Offline newspapers 411 189 62 44 186 allow for easy allow for easy consultation of consultation of current materials current materials 02 Online newspapers 638 85 09 85 75 Offline newspapers 372 221 24 208 67 are a good are a good supplement to the supplement to the traditional offline new online newspapers newspapers 03 Online newspapers 688 62 04 52 86 Offline 544 138 08 102 100 offer a reach newspapers offer a archive from where reach archive from one can easily select where one can articles for research easily select articles for research 04 With online 600 189 03 67 33 With offline 533 174 06 122 07 newspapers one newspapers one may not need to buy may not need their their offline online counterparts versions 05 Online newspapers 822 28 02 27 13 Offline newspaper 721 138 10 20 03 add video, audio do not add video, and other animated audio and other illustrations that illustrative offline newspapers materials that the lack online have 06 Online newspapers 371 211 08 208 94 Offline newspapers 345 308 10 20 209 are cheaper than are cheaper than their offline their online versions counterparts 07 Online newspapers 328 266 43 148 107 Offline newspapers 345 209 08 188 146 are pleasant to read are pleasant to read 08 Online newspapers 114 108 04 408 258 Offline newspapers 408 307 07 100 70 provide detailed provide detailed information unlike information unlike their offline their online counterparts counterparts 09 One can carry 382 172 21 199 114 One carry around 418 217 17 141 99 around online offline newspapers newspapers easily compared to compared to their their online offline counterparts counterparts

10 Consulting online 406 172 07 177 130 Consulting offline 389 214 10 139 140 newspapers is newspapers is laborious and time- laborious and time- consuming consuming 135

Table 13 Ranking of the Punch the Guardian, The Sun, the Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard newspapers according to Respondents’ Perception of the newspapers with Respect to timely, Authoritative, Popular and Currency Ratings of their Usage Newspapers Variable Online Offline Timely, SA A U D SD SA A U D SD Total authoritative, popular, and current The Punch 892 422 121 10 88 251 410 288 22 79 101 892 The 892 288 245 25 109 225 348 212 18 107 207 892 Guardian The Sun 892 392 108 15 142 235 411 214 24 205 38 892 The Nation 892 481 212 10 62 127 292 215 22 200 163 892 ThisDay 892 389 211 11 115 166 215 192 19 215 251 892 Business 892 418 214 18 114 128 217 302 16 231 126 892 Day Vanguard 892 382 217 12 211 70 214 222 14 148 294 892

The likert scaling system was employed in gauging respondents’ perceptions of the

online or offline newspapers with respect to the newspapers timely, authoritative, popular

and currency ratings of their usage. The keys were SA- Strongly Agree, A – Agree, U-

Undecided, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly Disagree.

Convenience and comfort in accessing online newspapers in comparison with their print versions Table 14 Difficulty in Accessing Online Newspapers in Nigeria S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Yes 489 55 b No 208 23 c Sometimes 195 22 Total 892 100

Table 14 above reveals the perception of the respondents in relation to the difficulty

in accusing online newspapers in Nigeria. For hundred and eighty nine (489) (55%) of the 136 respondents said they have difficulty in accessing 208 (23%) said ‘No’ they do not have difficulty in doing so, while 195 (22%) said that they have difficulties ‘Sometimes’.

Table 15 Difficulty in Accessing Offline Newspapers in Nigeria S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Yes 321 36 b No 335 38 c Sometimes 236 26 Total 892 100

Table 15 above shows the perception of the respondents in relation to the difficulty in accessing offline newspapers in Nigeria. Three hundred and twenty one (321) (36%) of the respondents said “Yes” they have difficulty in accessing offline newspapers, 335 (38%) said

“No” they do not while 236 (26%) said they have difficulties ‘Sometimes’.

The follow-up question in questionnaire item ‘16’ required the respondents to choose between online newspapers and their print versions, which is more challenging in accessing?

Five hundred and eighty nine (589) (66%) said online newspapers is more challenging while three hundred and three (303) (34%) said their print versions are more challenging.

Questionnaire item ‘17’ being an open ended one required the respondents to provide explanations of they chose either online newspapers or their print versions as more challenging in accessing.

The respondents gave reasons for reasoning that the online newspapers or their print versions as more challenging. Their explanations are summarized in the fallowing words.

Some said online newspapers ‘are easily accessed since they have smart phones ranging from Blackberries, Communicators, Ipads, Ipods and other Iphones and other smart phones connected to the internet, others said ‘their laptops and desktops are also connected to the 137 internet via any of the GSM providers’ moderns’. To that extent they argued that the print versions of the newspapers are more challenging. Also, a few reasoned that since one has to travel long distances to buy newspapers, the offline versions are more challenging.

According to the respondents, sometimes the newspaper vendors are not within sight to access the papers; sometimes readers may not have the means of transportation to travel the distance to buy newspapers.

Furthermore, some of the respondents said the circulation officers and newspaper vendors are hardily reachable. Some argued that the newspaper stands may be far removed from their residences or location and one would need to travel long distances to access copies.

On the part of those who said the online version is more challenging pointed to the difficulty in charging their electronic devices due to absence of electricity. Some pointed to the high cost of the electronic devices such as (Blackberries, Communicators, Ipod,

Iphones, Ipad, Laptops, Pamtops and the like.)

Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions’ Readership and Revenue in Nigeria Table 16 Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions in Nigeria S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Yes 789 88 b No 08 01 c Sometimes 95 11 Total 892 100

Table 16 above shows the percentage of influence of online newspapers on their print versions. Seven hundred and eighty nine (789) (88%) of the respondents agreed that online 138 newspapers have some level of influence on their print versions, 08 (01%) said ‘No’ influence, while 95 (11%) said sometimes there could be influences.

Questionnaire item ‘19’ required the seven hundred and eighty nine (789) (88%) and the ninety five (95) (11%) of the respondents who said ‘Yes’ and ‘Sometimes’ the online newspapers have some measure of influence on their print versions respectively to state whether it is a “positive’ or ‘negative’ influence. Table 17 below shows a distribution of their responses.

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Table 17 Positive or Negative Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Positive Influence 255 29 b Negative Influence 381 43 c Both Influences 248 28 Total 884 100

Table 17 above shows a distribution of the responses of those who said the online newspapers have either positive, negative or both influences on the newspapers’ print versions.

The respondents who ticked “negative” influence in questionnaire item ‘19’ were further required to tick the likely negative influences online newspapers have on their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria. Below is a distribution of their responses.

Table 18 Negative Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Affects circulation (purchase of print 388 32 newspapers) b Impedes revenue generation of print 389 33 newspapers c Causes unemployment of circulation 295 25 officers d Reduces the quality of news reports 122 11 Total 1194 100

Table 18 above shows the distribution of responses on the negative influences online newspapers have on their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria. Three hundred and eighty eight (388) (32%) of the respondents said online newspapers affect circulation

(purchase) of print newspapers, (389) (33%) said online newspapers impede revenue generation of their print versions, 295 (25%) said online newspapers cause unemployment of circulation officers, 122 (11%) reduces the quality of news reports. 140

The respondents who ticked ‘positive influence’ in the questionnaire item ‘19’ were required to further tick (√) the likely positive influences online newspapers have on their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria. Below is a distribution of their responses

Table 19 Positive Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions on Nigeria S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Online newspapers complement their 245 27 offline versions b Online newspapers offer archive of 233 26 articles and other materials one can easily make choices c Online newspapers add audio, video, 214 24 and other animated illustrations that the offline newspapers lack d Online newspapers are cheaper 209 23 Total 901 100

Table 19 above shows the various positive influences the online newspapers have on their print versions. Two hundred and forty five (245) (27%) of the respondents said online newspapers complement their offline versions, 233 (26%) said online newspapers offer archives of articles and other materials one can easily make choices, 214 (24%) of the respondents said online newspapers add audio, video and other animated illustrations that the print versions lack, 209 (23%) said online newspapers are cheaper.

Table 20 Respondents’ Conservation of Money when they Read Online Newspapers S/N Response Frequency Percentage a Yes 548 61 b No 87 10 c Sometimes 257 29 Total 892 100

Table 20 above reveals the extent to which respondents save money as a result of patronizing online newspapers against their print versions. Five hundred and forty eight (548) 141

(61%) of the respondents said ‘Yes’ they save money, 87 (10%) said ‘No’ they don’t save money while 257 (29%) said they save money ‘Sometimes’.

The last question being an open-ended one required the respondents to give their general impressions of either online or offline newspapers in Nigeria.

The disposition and impressions to and about the online and offline newspaper phenomenon in Nigeria were summarized since a single thread ran through them. A greater percentage of the eight hundred and ninety two (892) respondents reasoned that the greatest plus for the offline (print) newspapers is that the print versions could remain in the libraries or archives until users have need for them but online newspapers are hardly there at all times since the systems may crash, and also there may not be power the access the papers their electronic devices.

Others reasoned that reading the headlines of the online newspapers may spur the interest of readers to go in search of the print versions especially when they have urgent needs for them.

On the other hand some respondents also argued that exposure to the headlines and some aspects of the stories may discourage them from going for the print versions especially when they do not have the means to buy the papers.

4.2 Data Analysis Analysis of data for this study was based on the research questions formulated. 4.2.1 Research Question One What is readers’ motivation for patronizing online newspapers against their print versions and vice versa? 142

Research Question One above essentially was formulated to verify readers’ motivation for patronizing either online newspapers or their print versions. To adequately gauge respondents’ motivation, it was necessary to first establish the number of respondents who read online as well as buy print newspapers. The eight hundred and ninety two (892)

(54%) of the respondents who read online newspapers were the ones that responded to the question. Various reasons were given by respondents as motivating factors; one hundred and ninety two (192) (22%) read the online newspapers in detail, four hundred and sixty eight

(468) (52%) of them simply scan through and two hundred and thirty two (232) (269) of them just read designated sections of the online newspapers.

The respondents were further asked to mention specifically the reasons that motivate their online reading behaviour. Readers are motivated to read online newspapers because of the use of pictures as represented by 138 (15%), depth of the reports represented by 78

(69%), the headlines represented by 142 (16%); other respondents were motivated by news interpretation, ease of reading, and documentation as represented by 182 (20%), 222 (25%) and 130 (15%) respectively.

Further still, the respondents were required to use the likert scale to enable us gauge their motivation for patronizing either online newspapers or their print versions. The respondents used the following keys to rate their disposition to either of the newspapers

(online or print): SA – Strongly Agree, A – Agree, U – Undecided, D – Disagree and SD –

Strongly Disagree. The t-test was used in testing the hypothesis – The motivation for patronizing online newspapers is more than that of their print versions.

On the surface it was discovered that 421 respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers allow for easy consultation of current materials”. Six hundred and thirty eight 143

(638) respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers are a good supplement to the traditional offline newspapers while 372 respondents strongly agreed that “offline newspapers are a good supplement to the new online newspapers”. Six hundred and eighty eight (688) respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers offer a reach archive from where one can easily select articles for research”, while 544 respondents strongly agreed that

“offline newspapers offer a reach archive from where one can easily select articles for research”.

Six hundred (600) respondents strongly agreed that “with online newspapers one may not need to buy their offline versions” while 533 respondents strongly agreed that “with offline newspapers, one may not need their online counterparts”.

Eight hundred and twenty two (822) respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers add video, audio and other animated illustrations that offline newspapers lack” while seven hundred and twenty one (721) respondents strongly agreed that “offline newspapers do not add video, audio and other illustrative materials that the online versions have”

Three hundred and seventy one (371) respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers are cheaper than those offline versions. This statistic agreed with an earlier question which required the respondents to say if they save or lose money in course of reading newspapers online, where five hundred and forty eight (548) (61%) of the respondents said “Yes” they save money in course of reading newspapers online. Three hundred and forty five (345) of the respondents strongly agreed that “offline newspapers are cheaper than their online counterparts. 144

Three hundred and twenty eight (328) respondents strongly agreed that “online newspapers are pleasant to read while 345 respondents strongly agreed that “offline newspapers are pleasant to read”.

Two hundred and fifty eight (258) of the respondents strongly disagreed that “online newspapers provide detailed information unlike their offline counterparts, while 408 respondents strongly agreed that “offline newspapers provide detailed information unlike their online counterparts.

Three hundred and eighty two (382) respondents strongly agreed that “one can carry around online newspapers compared with their offline counterparts” while four hundred and eighteen (418) respondents strongly agreed that “one can carry around offline newspapers easily compared to their online counterparts.

Four hundred and six (406) respondents strongly agreed that “consulting online newspapers is laborious and time-consuming” while 389 respondents strongly agreed that

“consulting offline newspapers in laborious and time-consuming”.

These findings go to support Katz’s (1959) seminal discussion of the tradition which states concisely that, in a uses and gratifications framework, the question is not “What do the media do to people?” but rather, “What do people do with the media?” In fact, almost any consideration of media from a uses and gratifications standpoint explicitly asserts the central maxim of the active, goal-seeking audience. (See also Loges and Ball-Rokeach, 1992;

McQuail, 1984; O’Keefe and Sulanowski, 1995; Palmgreen, 1984; Rosengren, 1974; Rubin and Rubin, 1985; Rubin & Windahl, 1986; Swanson and Babrow, 1989; and Windahl, 1981.)

Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1974) offer an oft-cited classic seven-point précis of the uses and gratifications tradition. They define uses and gratifications studies as follows: (are 145 concerned with (1) the social and psychological origins of (2) needs, which generate (3) expectations of (4) the mass media or other sources, which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and

(7) other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones. (p. 20). These 7-point pieces of the uses and gratifications tradition are evidenced in the plethora of motivations for patronizing online or offline newspapers in Nigeria.

4.2.2 Research Question Two What is readers’ perception of online and print newspapers in Nigeria?

The essence of the above Research Question was to ascertain readers’ perception of the online newspapers and their print versions. Questionnaire item ‘13’ was structured in such a way that respondents were expected to rank The Punch, The Guardian, The sun, The

Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard newspapers according to their perceptions of the online newspapers and their print versions with respect to their timely, authoritative, popular, and currency ratings of their usage. The Chi-square test was used in testing the hypothesis; “The perception of the newspapers with respect to timely, authoritative, popular and currency does not depend on their online or print attributes”.

But on the surface, the following results were recorded; four hundred and twenty two

(422) of the respondents strongly agreed that The Punch’s online newspapers are timely, authoritative, popular and current while 410 respondents strongly agreed that The Punch’s offline (print) versions are timely, authoritative, popular and current. Two hundred and eighty eight (288) of the respondents strongly agreed that the Guardian’s online newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular and current” while, 348 of them strongly agreed that the

Guardian’s versions are “timely, authoritative, popular, and current”. 146

Three hundred and ninety two (392) of the respondents strongly agreed that The Sun’s online newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular, and current” while, 411 of the respondents strongly agreed that “The Sun’s newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular, and current”

Four hundred and eighty one (481) of the respondents strongly agreed that The

Nation’s online newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular and, current’ while, 92 of the respondents strongly agreed that The Nation’s offline versions are timely, authoritative, popular, and current”.

Three hundred and eighty nine (389) of the respondents strongly agreed that

ThisDay’s online newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular, and current” while, 251 of the respondents strongly disagreed that ThisDay’s offline newspapers are timely authoritative, popular and current”.

Four hundred and eighteen (418) of the respondents strongly agreed that Business

Day’s online newspapers are timely, authoritative, popular, and current” while, 231 of the respondents disagreed that Business Day’s offline versions are “timely, authoritative, popular and current”.

Three hundred and eight two (382) of the respondents strongly agreed that

Vanguard’s online newspapers are “timely, authoritative, popular and current”, while 294 of the respondents strongly disagreed that Vanguard’s offline versions are “timely, authoritative, popular and current”.

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4.2.3 Research Question Three How convenient is accessing online newspapers in comparison with their print versions?

Section ‘E’ of the questionnaire outlined a number of questions aimed at ascertaining the convenience and comfort respondents experience in accessing online newspapers in comparison with their print versions. According to table ‘14’ in the Data presentation section, four hundred and eighty nine (489) (55%) of the respondents said ‘Yes’ they have difficulties and discomfort an accessing online newspapers in Nigeria. Also one hundred and ninety five

(195) (22%) said they experience discomfort in accessing online newspapers.

On difficulties and discomfort in accessing offline (print) newspapers, table 15 in the data presentation section clearly shows that 321, (36%) of the respondents said, ‘Yes’ they experience difficulties in accessing offline (print) newspapers. In addition, 236 (26%) of the respondents said they experience difficulties and discomfort ‘Sometimes’. The above data reveal that respondents’ online and offline newspaper readers have difficulties and challenges in accessing and reading online and offline newspapers.

Probing further, the respondents were asked to choose between online and offline newspapers, which is more challenging, out of the 892 respondents 589 (66%) said online newspapers are more challenging, while 303 (34%) said the print version is more challenging.

The respondents gave reasons on how they feel about online newspapers or their print versions; online newspapers are easily accessed since they have smart phones ranging from blackberries, communicators, Ipads, Iphones, Ipods connected to the internet. Some said their laptops, palm tops, desktops are also connected to the internet via any of the GSM providers’ modems. To that extent they argued that the offline versions of the paper are more 148 challenging. They also added that it is more challenging since one has to travel long distances to buy the print newspapers.

Furthermore, some respondents said the circulation officers and newspaper vendors are hardly reachable and that newspaper stands may be far removed from their residences or locations and one would need to travel these distances to access these papers.

To those who say online newspapers are now challenging pointed to the difficulty in charging their electronic devices due to lack of electricity. Also, some pointed to the high cost of the electronic devices such as blackberries, communicators, Ipads, IPods, Iphones, laptops, palmtops and the like.

4.2.4 Research Question Four To what extent do online newspapers influence their print versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria?

Research question four was raised to ascertain the influence online newspapers have on their print versions’ readership and revenue in South-east Nigeria. The research question was answered from the perspectives of the respondents through questionnaire items 17-22 as captured in section ‘F’ of the questionnaire and correlated with responses from the online editors of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, The Sun, Business Day and

ThisDay newspapers on aspects that have to do with the revenue generation of their online and offline newspapers before the emergence of the online phenomenon and currently.

According to the respondents, seven hundred and eighty nine (789) (88%) agreed that the online newspapers have a greater level of influence on The Punch’s versions and also 95

(11%) of them said online newspapers have influence ‘Sometimes’. Probating further, 255

(29%) of the respondents said the influence is positive, while 381 (43%) said it is negative 149 and 248 (28%) said there are both positive and negative influences. The above data therefore shows that the online newspapers have a measure of influence on their print versions, positive or negative. This is further corroborated by the online editors of The Punch,

Vanguard, The Sun, The Nation, Guardian, ThisDay and Business Day newspaper when they said in their separate interviews that the coming of the online newspapers has really affected the revenue of their organizations positively a ndnegatively.

On the negative influence of online newspapers, the respondents said online newspapers affect circulation (purchase) of print newspapers as represented by 388 (32%), online newspapers impede revenue generation of print newspapers represented by 389 (33%), online newspapers cause unemployment of circulation officers represented by 295 (25%), and online newspapers reduce the quality of news reports.

On the positive influences of online newspapers, the respondents said online newspapers complement their print versions as represented by 245 (27%), online newspapers offer archives of articles and materials one can easily make choices as represented by 233

(26%), online newspapers add audio, video and other animated illustrations that the print lack as represented by 214 (24%), and online newspapers are cheaper as represented by 209

(23%).

Furthermore, respondents were required to state if they save or loose money when they read online newspapers. The figure in table 22 in the data presentation section shows that respondents save money as represented by 548(61%) and those who save money

‘Sometimes’ as represented by 257(29%). These data align and corroborate the data in the oral interview that none of the newspapers investigated stopped the ‘Paywall’ billing system 150

– a system which ensures that online newspaper readers pay certain subscriptions to access online papers.

Generally, the respondents have impressions about the online newspapers phenomenon. A greater percentage of the respondents said the greatest plus for the offline

(print) newspapers is that the newspapers remain in the archives and libraries as long as the users need them while others said the offline versions rarely ensure this luxury. Rather the electronic systems keeping these materials may crash leading to the loss of the materials.

A few other respondents reasoned that reading the headlines of the online papers may spur the readers to go in search of their print versions especially when they have urgent needs for them. On the other hand, some respondents reasoned exposure to the online versions may discourage them from going for the offline print versions especially when they do not have the economic wherewithal.

The data above to a large extent align with Scott Hendrrickson’s study on

“Online Newspaper Revenues: Albatross, Lifeboat or New World?” where at the end of an empirical analysis the researcher arrived at the following scenario of what could happen in the future.

Scenario 0–Minor incremental changes to current performance. No catastrophic decline in newspaper circulation, not radical improvement in newspaper’s abilities to generate online revenues relative to offline unlikely because of demographic shifts.

Scenario 1–The overall structure of the relationship between online and offline revenues we have today remains intact, but online revenues out-pace print revenues (10 >

Rp/Ro > 1). This saves the newspapers, but is unlikely because it represents a dramatic shift 151 in the competitive marketplace–where today newspapers have a geographic monopoly in print, online, they will be playing in a worldwide affinity driven competitive milieu.

Scenario 2–The overall structure of the relationship between online and offline revenues we have today remains intact, but circulations decline and margins for online advertising decline. This is a doomsday scenario.

Scenario 3–Papers create new business models where online and offline revenues are not a relevant measure because online revenues are generated by a different audience, different advertisers, different behaviours or a combination of all three. Newspapers face market fragmentation, but answer with an “Unlinked” online business strategy. This scenario is what seems to be going on with Murdoch purchasing MySpace. This is the attractive and realistic scenario as long as newspapers retain audience and resources. Execution will require creativity and hard work.

How will traditional newspaper advertising money move online? Total advertising spend will continue to grow (or shrink) along with the number and success of the businesses buy it. Some of this advertising spend will move online. It seems likely that many large newspapers will become smaller and that many smaller newspapers will survive (in print).

However, following this model, it seems likely that smaller newspapers will not sustain significant stand-alone online advertising revenues analogous to their offline advertising business. It is more likely that they will join a nationwide or worldwide network or coop or local advertisers to provide a link to local merchants for online advertising that is able to compete with the lower cost, advertiser-controlled, performance-metric-rich offerings such as Google AdSense and others.

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4.2.5 Research Question Five To what extent are Nigerian newspapers organizations aware of the “Paywall” billing system as it affects revenue of online newspaper?

The research question 5 above was clearly in-depth interview-based and intended to get first had assessment and disposition of the newspapers on the online newspaper phenomenon as it affects readership and revenue of their newspapers. This is showcased in the responses of the online Editors of The Punch, The Guardian, Vanguard, The Nation, The

Sun, Business Day and ThisDay Newspapers. (See full text of Interview Transcript in

Appendix IV)

The Nation newspaper went online “in response to the emerging reality in the media landscape where it is no longer enough to be in print but to move online. The digital age has come on us and we had to respond. And those people who we are trying to compete with are online, so we had no choice than to go online”. The Vanguard newspaper went online due to the foresight of the editor especially in the areas of Growth plans. Create alternative sources of revenue and to stay ahead of competition. Business Day went online because it wanted to get a larger audience. According to Business Day “Not everyone can get our print paper printed here in Nigeria. We have Nigerians in the Diaspora; we have people all over the world we intend to reach. That was what inspired our going online and technology was a way for us to bridge the gap so we had to start moving online”. The Punch newspapers decided to go online because “we needed an additional platform to disseminate the news to the whole world, a broader platform by which the news could get to the whole world. And that was what informed the establishment of the website”. The Guardian went online because “the future of any newspaper now is online. We have more readers online than the print version.

And any newspaper that is worth its salt cannot afford not to be online in this present 153 dispensation”. For ThisDay newspapers “this is the latest trend in mass media operations.

And people all over the world that can’t get their hands on the hard copy, the only way they can keep in touch with Nigeria and your newspaper is by going to the online version”. The

Sun newspaper reasons” One, you get to bring in more people to know of your product.

When you are online a lot of people who now have Blackberries and others make use of these platforms that are readily available to get attention of people to the site and then to the print edition.

According to The Nation newspaper “we are generating income but it’s still not enough…if I’m to put it in percentages it could be as low as seven or whatever percent. But it is a growing concern. People are calling us, people are putting advert on the website and we are encouraged by the response we are getting and the opportunity to make more money from it is beginning to open up”. The Vanguard online revenue is still very insignificant. Business

Day “I can’t tell you that. It may serve a fact for the purpose of your research but I can’t tell you that”. The Punch newspaper says the online newspaper generates income. But according to them,” You have what we call ‘widgets.’ They are kind of applications… information is updated externally on them regularly and we now generate money per click. Because of the low broadband, for now we can’t generate money per views but we are getting to that point”.

The Guardian says” Yes, we generate income but the income we generate now is not as much as the print version. For instance, the adverts carried in the papers are not published online. The online has its adverts. The online averts are paid for separately from the Print’s adverts, and if you look at the quantum, what we have is not as much as what you have in the print newspaper though for now the revenue generation is not as much as the print version”.

ThisDay newspaper says “Yes they have adverts online and generates income through photos 154 but we had stopped that. “We used to have this photo reel under just like the Photo Page of the newspaper and people pay for their picture posting on the website. The photo reel was stopped because it was causing problem (among Governors with different pays)”. The Sun says it generates a lot of income from Google adverts mainly. Table 20 in the data presentation section of this study corroborates the response of the online Editors on low revenue generation by their online newspapers. Five hundred and forty eight (548) (61%) of the respondents said ‘Yes’ they save money, 87 (10%) said ‘No’ they don’t save money while 257 (29%) said they save money ‘Sometimes’ in course of reading newspapers online.

This goes to show that non-implementation of the Paywall billing system goes a long way in negatively affecting the revenue of these newspaper organizations.

The Nation newspaper says it is aware of the Paywall billing system. According to its online Editor “I am aware and it is an issue that is generating interest to an extent. That is, do you block people from reading or do you just give people free hand to read? Like some people would say if people can read online free how do we make our money? So we are aware of that. For now we don’t have a Paywall but it is something that we would get to.

Then the other thing is that for you to institute a Paywall, you would be sure that people cannot get information elsewhere, if they can get it elsewhere it would be futile to have a

Paywall. So we are aware of a Paywal but we do not apply it in running our online business”.

The Vanguard is also aware of the Paywall, but does not also apply it. According to The

Vanguard “the industry is not ripe for it yet. A competitor tried it a few years ago, with the availability of free competing news websites, the Paywall billing system failed as it was discontinued by the media house”. Business Day said “Yes, I’m very much aware of it, but currently we don’t apply it in running our website. The Punch says”We tried it, it failed. We 155 have thrown it onto the lagoon. The Guardian is aware of the billing system but according to its online Editor, “you see in this part of the world in Nigeria especially, a lot of people are averse to paying for reading news online. I would not say we are not ripe for it. When readers discover you charge for it they will go somewhere else where they can get news items free”.

ThisDay newspaper is also aware of it. According to its online Editor, “I think it was the

Times of London that first started it. I don’t know how many other online newspapers …..

Even the Times I think they have bent their house style towards it. The Punch tried it but with problems of the online publishing unlike the newspaper that you can doctor your circulation figures, it is a bit difficult because you have the software that can monitor it for you”. The

Sun newspaper is aware of it. The reason is we are just developing. But its online Editor says “we are not at that level yet. We are working towards it. In the next few months, there is going to be some sections of the newspaper that you cannot have access to unless you pay”. The data above therefore shows that the Online Editors of the sampled newspapers are aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system but they do not apply it in running their websites and they gain and also lose revenue in course of operating online.

Many experts have come to denounce the "hard" Paywall because of its inflexibility, believing it acts as a major deterrent for users. Financial blogger Felix Salmon writes that when you encounter a "Paywall and can’t get past it, you simply go away and feel disappointed in your experience (Salmon, Felix (14 August 2011). Media mogul Jimmy

Wales of Wikipedia has also argued that the use of a "hard" Paywall diminishes a site's influence. Wales stated that by implementing a "hard" Paywall the Times of London "made itself irrelevant. Though The Times has potentially increased its revenue, it has decreased its 156 traffic by 60 percent. But a "softer" pay wall strategy includes allowing free access to select content, while keeping premium content behind a Paywall.

To further corroborate the declining circulation and readership of Nigerian newspapers in Nigeria, the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) did an independent study. Over a period of six weeks, between March and April, 2009 portrayed an alarming slide in the patronage of newspapers. According to the study done across the country on about 15 newspapers, the daily sales figure of all the newspaper was less that 300, 000, meaning that only one in every 470 Nigerians buy newspapers daily. That ratio apparently doesn’t consider persons and organizations that buy between 2-10 newspapers daily. By this, it may be more appropriate to say that one in every 500 Nigerians buy newspapers daily. The angry reaction of the newspapers is understandable as these figures could greatly jeopardize their advert revenue, which constitutes the bulk of their profits. No newspaper in Nigeria can survive only by its circulation revenue, “each of the newspapers will need to sell at least

200,000 units to survive on circulation alone,” Nasir Ramon, a senior corporate communications staff of UBA said. And while they have disputed the ADVAN survey, none of the figures they declare as their circulation figures come anywhere near that of ADVAN.

The Punch, the highest selling, according to the Report, have previously claimed a figure of between 120, 000 to 150, 000. Others claim they do between 50, 000, 80, 000, and 100, 000 copies, and advertisers have since been working based on that.

That is why till date, only The Nation, which surprisingly came second in the ranking, has published the report. Others have declined in apparent protest. Punch’s rating as the number

1 selling national daily merely confirmed the obvious. However, instead of 120, 000 or 150,

000 copies claimed by The Punch, it was said to circulate only 34, 264 copies, which is 157 barely a fifth of what their claim was. The Sun was ranked third with 25, 632 unit sales.

Vanguard got 25, 241, while Guardian and ThisDay, two of the newspapers with the largest advert revenue in Nigeria, came 5th and 6th respectively, with 25, 222 and 21, 703 daily sales respectively.

The assessment also had Daily Trust, the most popular newspaper up North with 11,

672 daily unit sales. Tribune, the oldest surviving newspaper in Nigeria, was another surprise, managing only 8, 314 daily sales. The above mentioned dailies constitute what is known as the top 8 in the standing. The others combined, including Compass, Daily

Independent, Leadership, National Life, New Nigeria, Mirror and Westerner, could barely rake up 1,600 daily sales, according to the ADVAN reports. 158

4. 2.6 Test of Research Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no difference in the motivations for patronizing online newspapers and that of the Print versions. The Results of the test for the first null hypothesis revealed the following:

Table 21 Paired Samples Test for Motivation for Patronizing Online newspapers and that of their Print

Versions

Paired Differences

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std. Std. Error Sig. (2- Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df tailed) Pair 1 ONLINE IS EASY FOR CONSULTATION OF CURRENT MATERIALS - OFFLINE IS EASY -.182 .530 .018 -.216 -.147 -10.228 891 .000 FOR CONSULTATION OF CURRENT MATERIALS Pair 2 ONLINE HAS GOOD SUPPLEMENT - OFFLINE HAS .564 .806 .027 .511 .617 20.886 891 .000 GOOD SUPPLEMENT Pair 3 ONLINE HAS RICH ARCHIVE - .325 .606 .020 .285 .365 16.010 891 .000 OFFLINE HAS RICH ARCHIVE Pair 4 ONLINE REPLACES OFFLINE - .283 .611 .020 .242 .323 13.806 891 .000 OFFLINE REPLACES ONLINE Pair 5 ONLINE HAVE MORE FEATURES THAN OFFLINE - .073 .405 .014 .046 .099 5.372 891 .000 OFFLINE HAVE MORE FEATURES THAN ONLINE Pair 6 ONLINE IS CHEAPER - OFFLINE -.003 .679 .023 -.048 .041 -.148 891 .882 IS CHEAPER Pair 7 ONLINE IS MORE PLEASANT TO READ - OFFLINE IS MORE .189 .514 .017 .156 .223 11.019 891 .000 PLEASANT TO READ Pair 8 ONLINE HAS DETAILED INFORMATION - OFFLINE HAS -1.649 1.110 .037 -1.722 -1.576 -44.385 891 .000 DETAILED INFORMATION Pair 9 ONLINE IS EASY TO CARRY

ABOUT - OFFLINE IS EASY TO -.230 .550 .018 -.266 -.194 -12.472 891 .000 CARRY ABOUT Pair 10 ONLINE CONSULTING IS LABORIOUS AND TIME CONSUMING - OFFLINE -.029 .360 .012 -.053 -.006 -2.421 891 .016 CONSULTING IS LABORIOUS AND TIME CONSUMING

Paired Samples Test 159

From the table above the paired sample test “online newspapers allow for easy consultation of current materials” and “offline newspapers allow for easy consultation of current materials”, it was not significantly related to the degree of consultation of current materials for both online and offline newspapers at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

For the paired sample test “online newspapers are a good supplement to the traditional offline newspapers” and “offline newspapers are a good supplement to the new online newspapers”, it was not significantly related to the degree of supplementing either online or offline newspapers at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

In the case of “online newspapers offer a reach archive from where one can easily select articles for research” and “offline newspapers offer a reach archive from where one can easily select articles for research”, it was not significantly related to the reach archive of current materials of either online or offline newspapers at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

Regarding “with online newspapers one may not need to buy their offline versions” and “with offline newspapers one may not need their online counterparts”, it was not significantly related to their need for either online or offline versions, at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected.

For the paired sample test “online newspapers add video, audio and other animated features than offline newspapers” and “offline do not add video, audio and other animated features like online newspapers”, it was not significantly related to their features at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected for this pair. 160

Looking at the paired sample test “Online newspapers are cheaper than their offline counterparts” and “offline newspapers are cheaper than their online counterparts”, it was significantly related to the cost of either online or offline newspapers at (.882), therefore the hypothesis was accepted for this pair.

When pairing sample test “online newspapers are pleasant to read” and “offline newspapers are pleasant to read”, it was not significantly related to the pleasantness of either online or offline newspapers at (.000), therefore the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

For the paired sample test “online newspapers provide detailed information unlike their offline counterparts” and “offline newspapers provide detailed information unlike their online counterparts”, it was not significantly related to the detailed information that both online and their print versions provide at (.000), therefore, the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

In the case of the sample test “one can carry around online newspapers compared to their offline counterparts” and “one carry around offline newspapers easily compared to their online counterparts”, it was not significantly related to the potency of the online or offline newspapers being able to be carried about at (.000). Therefore, the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

After pairing the sample test “consulting online newspapers is laborious and time- consuming” and “consulting offline newspapers is laborious and time consuming”, it was not significantly related to the energy invested in consulting both online and offline newspapers at (.016) therefore, the hypothesis was rejected for this pair.

Of the entire paired sample test, the only one that was accepted was the one on cheapness of either the online or offline newspapers as represented by (.882) to that extent, 161 the first hypothesis, Ho “there is no difference in the motivations for patronizing online newspapers and that of their print versions was accepted for this pair.

The above data is corroborated first, by the response of the online editors as they said

‘they have not applied the Paywall billing system and to that extent they do not charge any fees for reading newspapers online and, second by the 548 (61%) of the respondents who said “Yes” they save money in course of reading online newspapers.

4. 2.7 Test of Research Hypothesis 2

H0: The perception of the newspapers with respect to timely, authoritative, popular and currency ratings of their usage does not depend on their online or print attributes. Table 22 Summary sheet of the results for the Chi-square test for the second hypothesis on the perceptions of The Punch, The Guardian, The Sun, The Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard online newspapers and their print versions with respect to timely, authoritative, popular and currency ratings of their usage

S/No Newspapers Test type Test value Table Result Value 1. Guardian Pearson chi-square 2.163 26.296 Rejected 2. The Sun Linear-by-linear 765.997 3.841 Accepted Association 3. The Punch Linear-by-linear 634.804 3.841 Accepted Association 4. The Nation Linear-by-linear 675.461 3.841 Accepted Association 5. ThisDay Linear-by-linear 692.583 3.841 Accepted Association 6. Business Day Linear-by-linear 707.152 3.841 Accepted Association 7. Vanguard Linear-by-linear 718.021 3.841 Accepted Association

162

Since the linear-by-linear chi-square test for The Nation newspaper is 675.461 and the table value (a = 0.05) where the P. value remains 0.000 is 3.841 (X2 = 675.461 > Tab X2 =

3.841) means that the result is accepted.

While the Pearson chi-square test for The Guardian newspaper is 2.163 and the table value (a = 0.05) where P. value remain 0.000 is 26.296 (X2 ≡ 2.163 < Tab X2 = 26.296) means that the test the result is rejected.

Because the Linear-by-linear chi-square test for The Sun newspaper is 765.997 and the table value (a = 0.05) where the P. value remains 0.000 is 3.841 (X2 = 765.997 > Tab X2

= 3.841) means that the result is accepted.

While the linear-by-linear Chi-Square test for The Punch newspaper is 634.804 and the table value (α = 0.05) where the P. value remain 0.000, is 3.841 (X2 = 634.804 > Tab X2

= 3.841). This means that the result is accepted.

As the Linear-by-linear chi-square test for ThisDay newspaper is 692.583 and the table value (a = 0.05) where the P. Value remains 0.000 is 3.841 (X2 = 692.583 > Tab X2 =

3.841) means that the result is accepted.

Because the Linear-by-linear Chi-square test for Business Day newspaper is 707.152 and the table value (a = 0.05) where the P. Value remains 0.000 is 3.841(X2 = 707.152 > Tab

X2 = 3.841) means that the result is accepted.

Since the Linear-by-linear Chi-square test for Vanguard newspaper is 718.021 and the table value (a = 0.05) where the P. value remains 0.000 is 3.841 (X2 = 718.021 > Tab X2

= 3.841). This means that the result is accepted.

The above chi-square tests revealed that the perception of The Sun, The Punch, The

Nation, ThisDay, Business Day and Vanguard newspapers with respect to timely, 163 authoritative, popular and currency ratings does not depend on their online or print attributes because the test values of the test is greater than the table values. But that of The Guardian was rejected because the table value is greater than the test value meaning that the perception of The Guardian with respect to timely authoritative, popular and currency ratings depend on their online or print attributes.

164

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CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary The major concern of this study was to investigate the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ Readership and Revenue in South-eastern Nigerian.

To achieve the above general objective, the researcher employed the survey method embodying the instrument of the questionnaire and the in-depth interview. The purposive sampling method was generally employed in choosing Postgraduate students from eight (8) universities in the South-eastern part of Nigeria namely; University of Nigeria, Nsukka,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Abia State

University, Uturu, Anambra State University, Igbariam and Uli Campuses, Ebonyi State

University, Abakaliki, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, and Imo

State University, Owerri.

Out of the two thousand (2000) copies of questionnaire administered, one thousand six hundred and sixty (1660) were duly filled out and returned in analyzable form. This figure represented 83% percent of the returned copies of the questionnaire showcasing a reasonable return rate.

All the seven (7) Online Editors of The Guardian, The Punch, Vanguard, The Nation,

The Sun, ThisDay and Business Day newspapers responded to the interview.

The quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in analyzing data from the questionnaire and in-depth interviews respectively. The hypotheses were also appropriately tested. 166

The study has revealed that online newspaper readers are motivated to read online newspapers due to the ease with which they scan through, use of pictures, depth of reporting, news interpretation, ease of reading, and documentation.

Readers of online newspapers and their offline (print) versions perceive online and print newspapers as timely, authoritative, popular and current although greater percentage of the respondents titled towards the online newspapers. More of the respondents have difficulties and challenges in accessing online newspapers as represented by (489) (55%) while 321 (36%) of the respondents agreed that they have difficulties in accessing offline

(print) newspapers.

Seven hundred and eighty nine (789%) (88%) of the respondents agreed that online newspapers have a greater level of negative influence on the offline newspapers in South-east

Nigeria in terms of negative effect on circulation (purchase) of offline newspapers; impediment to revenue generation of the offline versions; unemployment of circulation officers; reduction in the quality of news reporting.

From the responses of the Online Editors of the newspapers sampled it was discovered that their newspaper organizations are aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system but have not employed it in their online newspaper business. This was corroborated by the 548

(61%) of the respondents who said they save money in course of reading newspapers online.

5.2 Conclusion Following the findings of this study, we can to draw these conclusions.

(a) Gauging their exposure patterns and patronage, Postgraduate students in the South-

eastern universities do not buy newspapers. 167

(b) Two hundred and twelve (212) ((34%) of Postgraduate students’ newspaper readers

in the South-East who buy Nigerian newspapers do so once in a week.

(c) Eight hundred and ninety two (892) (54%) of Nigerian Postgraduate students’

newspaper readers in the South-East do so online.

(d) Postgraduate students Newspaper readers in the South-East who read newspapers do

so through any of the GSM providers’ Modems especially through their smart

phones; Blackberries, Android phones, Ipad, Iphones, Ipads, Laptops, Palmtops, and

the like.

(e) Five hundred and seventeen (517) (58%) Postgraduate students in the South-East who

read online newspapers do so very often.

(f) Postgraduate students’ newspaper online readers in the South-East do so on the

following websites – www.bizlallmark.com, www.busniessdayonline.com ,

www.cometnewsonline.com, www.sunnewsonlinecom,

www.championnewspaper.com, www.dailyindependent.com,

www.thesunnewsonline.com, www.dailypost.com, www.financialstandardnews.com,

www.ngguardiannews.com, www.ganiji.com/hotline:htm, www.newage-online.com,

www.tribune.com.ng. www.the phctetegraph.com, www.punching.com,

www.thisdayonlin.com, www.thetidenews.com, www.ndirect.com.uk.

www.triumphenewspapers.com, www.vanguardngr.com. www.daily postng.org,

www.saharareponfers.com. www.primuim times.org.

(g) Four hundred and sixty eight (468) (52%) online newspaper readers in the South-East

simply scan through the headlines and pages. 168

(h) Nigerian Postgraduate students’ online and (offline) print newspaper readers have

difficulties and challenges in accessing these papers due to the following reasons;

unavailability of electricity, unavailability of newspaper stands, and vendors,

unavailability of cybercafés, high cost of the electronic devices.

(i) There are both positive and negative influences of online newspapers on their print

versions’ readership and revenue in Nigeria in terms of reduction in circulation

(purchase) of the print copies; impediment to revenue generation of the print versions;

unemployment of circulation officers; and reduction in the quality of news reports.

(j) Online newspapers have the following positive influences, online newspapers

complement their print versions; offer archives of other materials where one can

easily make choices; add audio, video and other animated illustrations that offline

newspapers lack; are cheaper as evidenced in the 548 (61%) of the respondents who

said they ‘save money’ in course of reading online newspapers.

5.3 Recommendations From the conclusion of this study, the following recommendations are offered:

1. Offline newspapers should package attractive and contemporary editorial content that

are most times absent in their online versions. Okoye (2002: 211) agrees that “features

can do this through in-depth analysis, interpretation, explanation and focusing on the

side attractions,” in support of Okoye above, Ohaja (2005: 16) says “…after the

glamour and drama of television news, members of the public whose appetite for

information has been whetted but not satisfied, turn to the print media where the feature

stories assuage their hunger. 169

2. Offline newspaper operators should build relationships with their customers/consumers

through Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) with events sponsorship,

marketing promotions, public relations and advertising. Relationship building should

involve delivering the goods, contents and services that customers want and need, and

getting them to consumers at the right time and right place and at price they are willing

to pay. To that extent newspaper prices could be reduced to enable vendors continually

them in getting their products across to their readers.

3. The offline newspapers can employ the services of a brand manager to position the

newspaper brand. Product corporate positioning and the like have been viewed as one of

the key factors for success (KFS) of organizations and their products, especially when

they are experiencing one form of challenge or crisis as the case with online newspapers

phenomenon.

4. As a follow-up to the fallout of this present study, offline newspapers could conduct

media research, product research and consumer research to authenticate the newspaper

brand’s position in the market place. Furthermore, the offline newspapers could evolve

specific marketing research such as advertising research, operations research, business

research, circulation research to further discover audience needs and meet these needs

accordingly.

5. The offline newspapers can be more aesthetically appealing than they are at present.

The operators of offline newspapers could employ current design software in making

newspaper designs more appealing. 170

6. Since online journalism has clearly changed everything about the media landscape, it is

therefore imperative that newspaper organizations in Nigeria train and retrain their

reporters on computer-assisted reporting to be up to the minutes of today’s journalism.

7. According to a 2001 study of newspaper websites by the World Association of

Newspapers in Paris, 38 percent of newspapers make money, 26 percent break even and

36 percent lose money, Nigerian newspapers should learn their lessons in the area of

reorganization, improvement on data base infrastructure and web-focused sales team to

assist them in scouting for and trapping advertising revenue.

8. In the contemporary information hungry society, readers want news on demand. Since

online sites can keep updating, reporters need to continue gathering information for

developing stories such as terrorist attacks, kidnapping, oil theft, and the like. If you

update a news item exhaustively covered by the media, you can omit extensive

background information because the ‘Invented Pyramid’ generally works well for

updates because you can continue to add and change the story as events unfold, ensure

you put the most important facts and quotes near the beginning and be sure to blend the

new information smoothly into the existing one.

9. Newspaper organizations should use quizzes, polls, feedback questions and other types

of interactivity because these distinguish the web (online newspapers) from print and

broadcast news.

This study, by the body of data embodied herein has revealed that the print media are once again being challenged by the new media championed by the internet phenomenon as showcased by the various social media platforms such as twitter, facebook, skype, 2go, 171 wassap, etc accessed through such smart devices as Blackberries, Ipads, Ipods, Androids and the like.

This challenge is practically demonstrated in the dwindling revenue of print media organizations studied. The findings of this study particularly reinforce earlier theoretical and empirical postulations and inferences on the relevance, vibrancy and potency of the print media at the various stages when radio and television came to challenge the print media.

Therefore, it is viewed that for the print media to continue to enjoy their relevance, mass communication practitioners, especially those in the print should brace up to the reality of the presence and influence of the new media by submitting themselves to training and retraining on online journalism and upgrade their equipment and facilities to remain relevant.

Also, print media operators should set-up functional research departments and evolve research that would assist them in ascertaining their online presence and key into online advertising to trap online advertising revenue to make up for revenue that may have been eroded by partial non-circulation of the print copies as revealed by this study.

5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies This study has revealed that the print media including the newspapers are faced with a present challenge courtesy of the fast-faced internet medium. In recent years the number of newspapers slated for closure, bankruptcy or severe cutbacks has risen especially in the

United States where the industry has shed a fifth of its journalists since 2001.

This present study focused on the influence of online newspapers on their print versions’ readership and revenue. But a more challenging aspect of this phenomenon is the situation that newspapers that are basically online influence the readership of newspapers that are both online and also in the print. Also, what would be the fate of newspaper organizations whose newspapers are left with the challenge of competing with those who are essentially 172 online such as www.saharareporters.com, www.preniumtimes.com and other citizen journalism websites? This is another area that needs investigation as far as the online journalism is concerned.

Also, there is a new dimension to the online newspaper phenomenon in Nigeria exemplified by Enugu’s Dream FM 92.5, Enugu in Enugu State. The radio station reviews the online editions of the newspapers. The reviews may motivate consumers to go after the reviewed papers or discourage them from doing so. The worrying angle is that this activity may affect the revenue profile of the papers positively or negatively. Investigation into this scenario would reveal much more to motivate a qualitative and quantitative investigation.

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APPENDIX I

Questionnaire

Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Dear Respondent,

Request for Completion of Questionnaire I am a postgraduate student in the department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. As a requirement for the award of a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) Degree in Mass Communication, I am conducting a study on: “Evaluation of The Influence of Online Newspapers on their Print Versions’ Readership and Revenue in South-Eastern Nigeria”

I solicit your honest response as information provided would be used purely for academic purposes and treated with strict confidence.

Thank you for your co-operation. Yours sincerely,

Diri, Christian, T. PG/Ph.D/07/43668

GENERAL /DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Please tick () against your chosen options and fill out your views where explanations are required.

SECTION A: PERSONAL DATA 1. What is your Sex? (a) Male (b) Female

2. What is your Age Bracket? a. 23-34 b. 35-44 c. 45-54 d. 55 and above

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3. What is the name of your University------

SECTION B: RESPONDENTS’ EXPOSURE PATTERNS AND PATRONAGE 4. Do you buy Nigerian newspapers? a. Yes (b) No (c) Sometimes 5. If you answer “yes” to the above question then you can answer the following question if not skip to the next. How often do you buy Nigerian newspapers? a. Everyday (b) Every other day (c) Once in a week (d) Once in two weeks (e) Once in a week

6. Do you read Nigerian newspapers online? (a) Yes (b) No (c) Sometimes

7. If ‘yes’ where do you access the online edition (a) Cybercafé (b) The Campus online services (c) Via any of the GSM providers’ Modems (d) Any other, specify ………………………………......

8. How often do you read online newspaper? a. often (b) very often (c) Not very often (d) Hardly ever at all

9. Could you state any of the websites on which you access online newspapers ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………..………………......

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SECTION C: MOTIVATION FOR PATRONIZING ONLINE NEWSPAPERS 10. Do you read the online newspapers in detail or you simply scan through (a) Read in Detail (b) Simply scan through (c) Just read designated sections

11. Which of the following reasons motivate your online newspaper reading behaviour? You may tick () more than one if applicable to you. Reason Yes i Use of Pictures ii Depth of Reporting iii The Headlines iv News Interpretation v Ease of Reading vi For Documentation vii Any other, specify

MOTIVATION FOR PATRONIZING EITHER ONLINE OR OFFLINE NEWSPAPERS KEY: SA: Strongly Agree A: Agree U: Undecided D: Disagree SD: Strongly Disagree

Disposition to SA A U D SD Disposition to SA A U D SD S/N online offline newspapers Newspapers 01 Online Offline newspapers newspapers allow for easy allow for easy consultation of consultation of current current materials materials 195

02 Online Offline newspapers are newspapers are a a good good supplement supplement to to the new online the traditional newspapers offline newspapers 03 Online Offline newspapers newspapers offer offer a reach a reach archive archive from from where one where one can can easily select easily select articles for articles for research research 04 With online With offline newspapers one newspapers one may not need to may not need buy their offline their online versions counterparts 05 Online Offline news newspapers add paper do not add video, audio video, audio and and other other illustrative animated materials that the illustrations that online have offline newspaper s lack 06 Online Offline newspapers are newspapers are cheaper than cheaper than their offline their online versions counterparts 07 Online Offline newspapers are newspapers are pleasant to read pleasant to read 08 Online Offline newspapers newspapers provide detailed provide detailed information information unlike their unlike their offline online counterparts counterparts 196

09 One can carry One carry around online around offline newspapers newspapers compared to easily compared their offline to their online counterparts counterparts 10 Consulting Consulting online offline newspapers is newspapers is laborious and laborious and time-consuming time-consuming

13 SECTION D: RANK THE FOLLOWING NEWSPAPERS ACCORDING TO YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF THE ONLINE & OFFLINE NEWSPAPERS WITH RESPECT TO THEIR TIMELY, AUTHORITATIVE, POPULAR & CURRENCY RATINGS OF THEIR USAGE

KEY: SA: Strongly Agree A: Agree U: Undecided D: Disagree SD: Strongly Disagree

Newspapers Variable Online Offline Vanguard Timely, SA A U D SD SA A U D SD authoritative, popular, and current The Punch The Guardian The Sun The Nation ThisDay Business Day

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SECTION E: CONVENIENCE AND COMFORT IN ACCESSING ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN COMPARISON WITH THE OFFLINE COUNTERPARTS

14. Do you have any difficulty in accessing online newspapers in Nigeria? a. Yes b. No c. Sometimes 15. Do you have any difficulty in accessing offline newspapers in Nigeria? a. Yes b. No c. Sometimes

16. Between online and offline newspapers which is more challenging in accessing. a. Online newspapers b. Offline newspapers

17. Provide reasons for your chosen option------

SECTION F: INFLUENCE OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS ON OFFLINE CIRCULATION AND REVENUE IN NIGERIA

17. Do you think there is any influence of the online version of the newspapers on their Offline counterparts in Nigeria? (a) Yes (b) No (c) Somehow

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18. Is the influence ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ (a) Positive (b) Negative (c) Both

19. If you ticket ( ) negative influence in the above question, what are likely negative influences you may tick ( ) more than one (a) Circulation (purchase of the newspapers) (b) Revenue Generation (c) Unemployment of circulation Officers (d) Quality of News Reporting

20. If you answered “positive” influence in question “19” above, what are the likely positive influences? You may tick () more than one if they apply to you. (a) Online newspapers complement the offline versions. (b) Online newspaper offer a archives of articles and materials where one can easily make choices (c) Online newspapers add audio, video and other animated illustrations that offline newspapers lack (d) Online newspapers are cheaper

21. Do you save money when you read newspapers online (a) Yes (b) No (c) Sometimes

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APPENDIX II INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ONLINE EDITORS OF THE GUARDIAN, THE PUNCH, VANGUARD, THISDAY, THE SUN, THE NATION AND BUSINESS DAY NEWSPAPERS

1. What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? 2. Please, give a general background and history of the newspaper and online activities/sites 3. Why did your newspaper go online? 4. What were the major reasons behind the decision to so do? 5. What improvements have been made in course of your online activities? 6. What audiences/demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class, geographical locations? (a) Does the website successfully reach this target audience? Can you provide in general terms, any demographics/statistics? (b) What kind of portal does the website use (i.e. is it news only or news and commercial, etc and what kind of news does it carry? 7. Is the website a separate entity or independent from the print version? Why or why not? Briefly explain the reasons behind this 8. Does your website have separate or the same staff (journalists, writers, editors, etc) from the print version? 9. Briefly describe graphically the production of the website, in terms of how copy is gotten, does any editing take place before copy is put on the website 10. To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? 11. What pressures (economic, technology, staff shortage, politics, etc) currently threaten the site? How does this affect the work that you do? 12. In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site (content) is the site operated/run/managed in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words does the site have a technical team that is responsible for designing and putting the site online? 200

13. Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (a system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscriptions for reading newspapers online) in operating newspaper websites? 14. Do you apply the ‘Paywall’ billing system in running your websites? 15. Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? 16. Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? 17. Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media, etc) to ascertain your position in the online market? 18. In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your site offer (or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? If yes, why? If no, why not? (a) A choice of language, if yes, how many and which? (b) A search engine or search engines (c) News stories prominently placed on the home page (d) Links from the first page of the site (e) Links within news sites (f) Hyperlinks (g) Take into account users’ browsers and connection speeds 19. And any other questions that the interviewee’s responses would provoke

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APPENDIX III A DIRECTORY OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN NIGERIA

1. Business Hallmark - http://www.bizhallmark.com Business Weekly, Daily online edition. 2. Business Day - http://www.businessdayonline.com/ Website for the daily print business newspaper. Includes information technology news. 3. Comet - http://www.cometnewsonline.com/ Independent print newspaper. 4. Daily Champion - http://www.champion-newspapers.com/ Site of the print Lagos newspaper. Selected articles. 5. Daily Independent - http://www.dailyindependentng.com/ Daily "independent and liberal newspaper." Published by Independent Newspapers Limited. 6. Daily Sun - http://www.sunnewsonline.com/ The print newspaper targeted at young adults. Published by The Sun Publishing Ltd. 7. Daily Trust - http://www.dailytrust.com/ Web edition of the print newspaper. Published by Media Trust Nigeria Ltd. Began publication January 2001 8. Effectual Magazine. A Life Style magazine for women based in Lagos. 9. Financial Standard - http://www.financialstandardnews.com/ Website for the print weekly business newspaper. Published by Millennium Harvest Limited. 10. The Guardian -http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/ Electronic edition of the well- known independent Lagos newspaper. 11. Hotline - http://www.gamji.com/hotline.htm Website for the print newspaper. Published by Hotline Publishing Company Ltd. 12. Al-Mizan - http://almizan.faithweb.com/ In Hausa. Online version of the print newspaper from Zaria, published since 1991. 13. New Age - http://www.newage-online.com/ Print daily newspaper published by Century Media Limited. Political, business, sports news. 14. Nigerian Tribune - http://www.tribune.com.ng/ Website for the print daily newspaper. Published by African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC. 15. Port Harcourt Telegraph - http://www.thephctelegraph.com/ Website for the print newspaper from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. 202

16. Punch - http://www.punchng.com/ Web edition of the Nigerian print newspaper. Political, business, stock market, cartoons, sports news. Promotes democracy and free enterprise. Published by Punch (Nigeria) Ltd. 17. Tell - http://www.tellng.com/ Website for the print weekly news magazine. 18. This Day - http://www.thisdayonline.com/ Online edition of the print newspaper. Selected articles, e-business news, etc. 19. Tide - http://www.thetidenews.com Online edition of the print newspaper. Published by Rivers State Newspaper Corporation. News, especially on the Niger Delta, business, the environment. 20. Today - http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~n.today/today.htm Weekly newspaper. The paper has current and past issues. Published by Today Communications. 21. Triumph (Daily) - http://www.triumphnewspapers.com Daily print newspaper published by the Triumph Publishing Company, Ltd., Kano, Nigeria. 22. Vanguard - http://www.vanguardngr.com/ Electronic edition of the independent daily Lagos newspaper established in 1984. 23. Weekly Trust - http://www.dailytrust.com/Weekly/home.htm The Weekly Trust began publication March 1998. Accessed on 19/11/2011

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APPENDIX IV A DIRECTORY OF OFFLINE (PRINT) NEWSPAPERS IN NIGERIA 1. A1 Nigeria News (Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Delta) [In English] 2. Abuja Mirror 3. The Abuja Inquirer (Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Asaba, kaduna) [In English] 4. African Business Information Service [In English] 5. Almizan (Lagos) 6. Announcer Express (Owerri Imo State) [In English] 7. Arewa 8. The Beam newspaper (Port Harcourt) [In English] 9. BiafraNigeriaWorld 10. Business Hallmark News [In English] 11. Business News [In English] 12. Businessday News [In English] 13. BusinessWorld [In English] 14. Century Newsfront Newspapers Online (Niger Delta) [In English] 15. Champion News 16. Compass (Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan) [In English] 17. Complete Sports (Oyo, Ibadan, Lagos Abuja) [In English] 18. Confidence Newspaper 19. Daily Independent 20. Daily Post Nigeria [In English] 21. Daily Times (Lagos) [In English] 22. Daily Trust [In English] 23. The Dawn (Abuja) [In English] 24. Delta Voice (Delta State) [In English] 25. Financial Standard News (Lagos) 26. Financial Standard News (FCT-Abuja) [In English] 27. The Guardian 28. GlobalStar [In English] 29. Horizon Express (Omole, Lagos) [In English] 204

30. Kogi Graphic (Kogi) [In English] 31. Leadership Nigeria (Abuja) [In English] 32. The Liberation [In English] 33. MyNaijaNews (Lagos,Abuja, Niger-delta) [In English] 34. The Nation [In English] 35. National Accord (Abuja) [In English] 36. National Daily Newspaper [In English] 37. National Mirror Newspapers (National) [In English] 38. National Network [In English] 39. National Point [In English] 40. New Age 41. The News (Lagos) 42. The Newswriter (Rivers State) [In English] 43. News Star Newspaper (Lagos) [In English] 44. News Watch 45. Next (National) 46. Niger Delta Standard (Abuja, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Kaduna, Lagos, Ondo and Rivers) [In English] 47. Nigeria CommunicationsWeek (Lagos, Abuja) 48. Nigeria horizon [In English] 49. Nigeria News Direct (Abuja, Lagos, Niger Delta) [In English] 50. Nigeria News Live [In English] 51. Nigeria Newspapers (Lagos) [In English] 52. Nigeria Weekly News (Delta State Warri) [In English] 53. Nigeria World 54. Nigerian News 55. The Nigerian Observer (Edo State, Benin City) [In English] 56. Nigerian Pilot (Abuja) [In English] 57. Nigerian Tribune [In English] 58. Nigerians Abroad [In English] 59. Osun Defender (Osun) [In English] 205

60. The People's Daily (National) [In English] 61. The Pioneer [In English] 62. PM News [In English] 63. The Pointer [In English] 64. Pointer Express (Lagos) [In English] 65. The Port Harcourt Telegraph (Rivers State) [In English] 66. The Punch 67. Quick News Africa [In English] 68. Sahara Reporters [In English] 69. Sedocaonline (Lagos) [In English] 70. Sensor Newspaper [In English] 71. Sub-Saharan Informer [In English] 72. The Sun 73. The Sun News Online (Ismahi) [In English] 74. The Tide (River State) [In English] 75. The Times of Nigeria (Abuja) [In English] 76. This Day[In English] 77. Today 78. The Triumph Newspapers (Kano) 79. Urhobo Voice (Delta) [In English] 80. Vanguard 81. Weekly Trust

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APPENDIX V

Transcripts of In-depth Interview with the Online Editors of the Guardian, Vanguard, the Punch, the Sun, the Nation, Business Day, and ThisDay Newspapers on the Online Newspaper phenomenon as it affects their newspaper operations in terms of readership and revenue in Nigeria

The Nation Newspaper The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Friday, August 03, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? The Nation: My name is Lekan Otufodunrin. I work for The Nation newspapers as the online editor. The Researcher: Can u give a general background of and history of your newspaper and its online activities/site? The Nation: Well, The Nation newspaper was established in 2006 July precisely. It is based in Lagos. It is a daily national newspaper and it operates daily: Mondays to Sundays. We also publish a sports newspaper. But in terms of the online, I think we went online about almost the same time when we started The Nation newspapers. We have been online since that time. The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? The Nation: Well, the newspaper went online at inception in 2006. Why? It is in response to the emerging reality in the media landscape where it is no longer enough to be in print; you have to go online. The digital age has come on us and we had to respond. And those people who we are trying to compete with are online, so we had no choice than to go online. But more importantly, it is our admission of the fact that it is a digital age and we need to expand our reach beyond the print medium. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? The Nation: The major reason as I have mentioned is the fact that it is a digital age, everybody was going online, no media could afford to remain in the traditional mode of reaching out to the people. More people are having access to digital devices. Telephone had 207 become very popular and people could read online. So it was not enough to remain in the traditional mode. Specifically, it is our response to the new media landscape that provides for multimedia convergence where even as a newspaper you could have a website and also have a television portal. You could even have a podcasts online. So it is the multimedia approach that we are trying to respond to. Researcher: What improvements have been made in course of your online activities? The Nation: Well, in terms of improvement, it a continuous thing, we keep innovating. But principally, we have a website that contains everything that is in our print editions. But more than that, one improvement that we have tried to do is to sustain the coverage 24 hours. What I mean by this is that almost on 24 hour basis, we monitor news and we update them online as they are happening. So instead of waiting till 12 o’clock when there will be more news for the new edition of the newspaper for the next day. If anything happens at seven 12 midnight, we are ready to put it online. And of course, we have other social media like the twitter, the Facebook where we share them. So one major improvement is that we have been able to sustain coverage round-the-clock and we are able to get breaking news. We are also able to update stories as they are happening. So if something happens, like the recent plane crashes around 5 o’clock, that is the first lead that goes out, who are the people on board, you get the story online what is the government doing? What are the rest of the people doing as it is happening all that we have been able to do? Then, we have also been able to interact more with our readers. Unlike before when they have to wait to send us letters that we cannot accommodate sometimes. They now have opportunities to respond to what we are doing. And we have been able to respond to them. They are able to access information about the company more. These people can go online to check our ad rates, they could also make enquiry from us. The interaction has been more than before. And they have more avenues to respond to what we are publishing. In the traditional mode, if you publish a news story and ten people are aggrieved about it, may be one of them would be lucky to have whatever grievance he or she has published. In the online mode they have their response there. The Researcher: What audiences/demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class and geographical locations? The Nation: Well, in terms geographical location, if it’s for print it’s the whole country that is our target. We keep telling people we are not The Nation for nothing sake. We publish 208 across the country, we have printing presses in three places-Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja- and that gives us an edge to be able to publish stories as they are happening. If you wake up in Kaura Namuda in Sokoto state, or in Zamfara state wherever it is in the morning you find The Nation and you find the latest stories. So we don’t have to fly our papers from Lagos to the North like some papers do. So in terms of spread we cover the whole country. And of course in terms of the online edition, it is a global audience that we try to reach out to. The facts are there, if you go to check the Google Analytics to check the coverage of our paper, you will see that people read it around the world. Even from some impossible places you never imagined that people are reading The Nation and we get response and enquiry. We classify The Nation as a B.A. You know newspapers have classifications, we have the A B whatever but we say we are a B.A. We don’t say we are in the A class like The Guardian but we are in the B. That means we have the characteristics of the B which is the middle class and a part of the A, the elite class. So that is the target that we are focusing on and we are try to meet their needs in terms of news and whatever information that is useful for them. Our age range, I dare say it is a mix. As much as possible we want to appeal to a cross- section of age ranges and there are people who will say our paper is very political, to that extent we target people may be above, even up to, whatever age; let’s say even like 50 years upwards in terms of that political contents but we appeal, if you take different versions I mean the Saturday or Sunday newspapers, you have the mix of people to read them. There you have entertainment, you have music, and you have all those that appeal to a broad spectrum of the age divide. So we don’t have a particular fix that we appeal to. The Researcher: Does the website successfully reach this target audience; can you provide in general terms any demographics/statistics? The Nation: Yes, after this interview I can provide you with at least the Google Analytics in terms of the online reach which is there for everybody to see. So we are able to appeal to people who reach us. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use (is it news only or news and commercials, etc and what kind of news does it carry)? The Nation: It a general portal that covers news and we have contents for every other section whether it is law, whether it’s sports, whether it’s business, we have all those kind of beats that we cover. Well, if you talk about commercial, newspapering is business, it’s a social 209 service but it is also a business so we are conscious of the commercial imperative. And if you go on our website you see advert that are paid for and we are hoping to get more. Principally is to inform the people and educate the people and entertain them but we are not oblivious of the business imperative which requires us to make enough money to sustain this business. The Researcher: Is the website a separate identity or independent from the print version? Why or why not? Briefly explain the reasons behind this? The Nation: Well just like newspaper houses are structured, you have the daily editor, Saturday editor, the Sunday editor and with the online you now have the online editor. It’s a part of the whole company; separate in the sense that we operate separately. So it’s separate to that extent. We source our story just like the daily and Saturday source, we source our own stories and we upload them as they happen, we don’t wait for the Saturday or daily to cover the story before reporting it. I give you an example during the last Edo elections we were covering, although we all used the same reporters because we have reporters who service all the titles. So it’s that separate, we have our own staff and we do our own work. There are people who upload; there are people who work on the social media and every other aspect of it so it’s separate to that extent. There are stories in fact we use our people who are not in print editions because we source them. A part of our website is called online special and that means we think through a story idea even for the ones that are in the print edition, do our own story and put it there. So it’s separate and it’s also part of the whole press. The Researcher: Does your website have separate or the same staff (journalists, writers, editors, etc) from the print versions? The Nation: We do. We do but we also make use of the pool just like every title makes use. Saturday people make use of people in Abuja; we also make use of them. But principally we are separate; we have a team that works on the online. The Researcher: Briefly describe graphically the production of the website in terms of how copy is gotten. Does any editing take place before copy is placed on the website? The Nation: Well, there are two ways. There is the print version that is already edited that is uploaded overnight by the web officer. But apart from that from our own end and those ones must have been edited before they go into print and they are uploaded. But the ones we generate we work on them just like the typical newsroom process: the stories come into the box, we check the stories, in fact we have to change some of the headlines if it’s not the right 210 one and we also have to edit. Again we are also editing for the web. The truth is that online writing is supposed to be different from traditional writing. The people who are reading are in a hurry, you need to catch their attention in a way with your headline. There is what we call the SDO sensitivity. You need to look for what is trendy. So to that extent if you look at all those, we edit the story, put the right headline, put the right photograph with the right caption and everything has to be done. Because it is our face, if there is an error on The Nation website, it is as bad as having error in the print version. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? The Nation: Well, we generating income but it’s still not…if I’m to put it into percentage it could be as low as seven or whatever percent. But it is a going concern. People are calling us people are, people are putting advert on the website and we are encouraged by the response we are getting and the opportunity to make more money from it is beginning to open up. And we are also learning how to get people on our side. The good thing is that even in the media industry the people who put advert are beginning to come to terms that you need to advertise online so they are approaching us. If you go to our website presently you have Skye Bank’s advert that is there that is paid for, we have Emirate that is online and quite a number. We even have what we called text adverts, text that people can click on that will take them to another websites, they are paid for. But it’s something that we see it growing overtime that we need to nurture and we are working that way. The Researcher: What pressures (economic, technology, staff shortage, politics etc) currently threaten the site? How does this affect the work you do? The Nation: Well, I terms of technology, technology keeps changing. Today you are using template, tomorrow it is no longer in fashion, it is no longer as amenable, and it is no longer user-friendly as it should be. So in terms of technology, it keeps changing, and there are new applications coming up every day to do this work. So there is that pressure to keep learning and discovering new ways of being online. And we are also competing with people who we call net-savvy, people who understand this thing; we are competing with citizen journalists. Unlike the print where you are competing with other competitors who also print their newspapers, we are competing with people who can get stories and put them on their own blog and put it on their own Facebook. We are also competing with people who can set up their own websites. For example, we are competing with Sahara Reporters 211

(www.saharareporters.com), we are competing with Premium Times (www.premiumtimes.com) and they have an advantage, they don’t need a large structure. They are not being built like we are doing and they can source their stories from our own site and rewrite and not pay for reporters and put it online. So we are competing with them in terms of being online. I have talked about technology. The cost also, the cost is high, the revenue is still very low, it’s hard to sustain an online publication on the staff that we have. But thankfully we are part of the bigger competition and it’s growing. The Researcher: The politics? The Nation: If you talk of political pressure of course in terms of what you publish, what you don’t publish, that is not something that happens every day. If it’s about what we publish we know what to publish, we know what we stand for, and we know what we give out just like that. There is a principle that guides the operations of the company which apply also to the online version. So you have all those problems that are just there, you have financial too like I said. How do you sustain this, how do you buy the new technology, the new equipment you need to up-grade how do you subscribe to modems? All those services and all those things don’t come cheap. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site is the site operated, managed or run in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words, does the site have a technical team that is responsible for designing and putting the site online? The Nation: We have an I.T department and we have an in-house webmaster. Nonetheless, we work with some service providers from outside like the people we registered the website with and may be for other technical details. But from here we upload the website and if there are issues with the website we are able to work on it, to make whatever input. But when there is need like when you talk about web designing sometimes we have our people that we consult. But we have enough capacity in-house to be able to do as much as it is required untill it gets beyond that. But we have a functional I.T department, we have web officers. At our own level we understand, we can load the website from anywhere as long as I get to the backend. 212

The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (a system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscription fees for reading newspapers online) in operating your website? The Nation: Yes, I am aware and it is an issue that is generating interest to an extent, that do you block people from reading or do you just give people. Like some people would say if people can read online free how do we make our money? So we are aware of that. For now we don’t have a Paywall but it is something that we would get to. Then the other thing is that for you to institute a Paywall, you would be sure that people cannot get information elsewhere, if they can get it elsewhere it would be futile to have a Paywall. So we are aware of a Paywall. We have not put it. We have an e-edition, the electronic edition (of the paper) that is also online. You can view every part of our paper online in a particular edition. We are thinking may be doing that for people who want to read and pay but is an issue that you really need to weigh carefully. The Researcher: Do you apply the ‘Paywall’ billing system in running your website? The Nation: We don’t. We don’t The Researcher: Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? The Nation: Before we went online the revenue…, I guess the question is trying to find out how much contribution the online has contributed. I told you that it is coming in but it’s less than 10 percent to that extent. But it’s good enough for us to build on and we are working on it. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? The Nation: I think we must have lost some revenue because we have had instances where our circulation people come and said look, people can wake up in the morning and read all these stories why do they need to buy? But it is not something we can put a hand on. There are people, if may be 10 people used to buy; a number of them. And I think young people who ordinarily should buy are able to browse. But nonetheless, considering the fact that communication infrastructure in this country is not good you can’t read too long online. So we are able to go round that. Researcher: Which of your newspaper version- Online or Print, brings the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue? 213

The Nation: The Print of course. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media etc) to ascertain your position in the market? The Nation: We have not done any research but we have a very reliable web rating site. It’s called alexa.com. It’s a well-respected rating website. It’s a global rating website and it also has country-specific ratings. So we have been able to look at that. Presently as I speak to you, in Nigeria because it rates website in countries according to area of interest not only newspapers. Presently we are 32 and we are monitoring our competitors. The people who are ahead of us in the newspaper category are Vanguard, and The Punch. When you say listing in Nigeria, it says the most listed are Facebook Google even in Nigeria. So we have Vanguard at number 8, effectively at number 1, The Punch at number 14 or 15 but we are working. We have been at 26 but we keep walking down because of some other technical limitations. The Researcher: That is in terms of online market? The Nation: Yes. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your website offer or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? If yes why? A) a choice of language, if yes, how many and which?

The Nation: We presently offer choice of language. We have language icon on our website that you can read in almost 30-something languages. You can just convert; there is a language icon right there. The Researcher: A search engine or search engines The Nation: Yes, we are there already. The Researcher: News stories prominently placed on the home page The Nation: Yes, if you even open now we have the major stories about 4-5 of them. Then you have the full list. So you have lists that say these are the main stories, the ones in the front page news and the biggest news. The Researcher: Links from the first page of the site? The Nation: Yes. The Researcher: Links within news sites? The Nation: Yes, yes, I think we already have those ones The Researcher: Hyperlinks? 214

The Nation: We do. The Researcher: Take into account users’ browsers and connection speeds? The Nation: Yes. And that informs the design that is why we try to make our site as simple as possible. We don’t load the site with so many graphics and with our internet limitation in this country; it could be hard to open. But comparatively our site is fast to open. Some other rating agencies have also said our site is very easy to open and we don’t have too much graphics on the website. The Researcher: Please feel free to provide any other relevant pieces of information as may be necessary in the area of the online newspaper phenomenon in Nigeria. The Nation: Well, just to say that the kind of thing you are doing is necessary. Online market is keen but we are responding. It’s still a complex thing, complex to the extent that you have to respond to news as it is breaking. And one important thing is the competition is beyond…a newspaper no longer competes with another newspaper but now competing online with other newspapers and other media establishments-both traditional and citizens. An Individual sets up this own blog, I give you a very good example, when you go to alexa.com, click site and click country, you even find Linda Ekeji’s blog higher than even The Nation and that is somebody; just one person. So we are competing with that kind of person. She made enough money to sustain her own operations but compared to what we are making and she doesn’t have one over twenty staff of our own staff you know. So it’s easier. The challenge is that if you have more of such people, the question is why people should visit the traditional media even online. So for the traditional media we need to become more proactive, more innovative, and should be able to prove that we are the real professionals; if we don’t do that it will be a very big threat. But technology and we are responding. In terms of technology we are doing very well. We are not talking about The Nation alone; the major newspapers are doing well. Some people started very slowly but everybody is looking up. Our online data is there you can go and check unlike when you have to ask how many copies are you printing and hundred even when you are doing fifty. In online it’s fast just there, you just need to click and you will find it. Then of course we need to mention that we also try to use the social media to spread the word. So you put a story on your website and you share it on your Facebook, people see it, click and come back to the website, put it on Twitter, you put it on Google Plus and quite a number of things are emerging. It’s a real race online. 215

The Vanguard Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Monday, August 06, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? The Vanguard: My name is John Abayomi, Online Editor Vanguard newspapers, www.vanguardngr.com The Researcher: Please, give a general background and history of your newspaper and its online activities/sites The Vanguard: The Vanguard Media Limited, publishers of Vanguard Newspapers was established in 1984 by Mr. Sam Amuka (a renowned, veteran journalist and columnist of the Sad Sam Fame. Sam Amuka was editor of Sunday Times and the first Managing Director of The Punch Newspaper.) He is from Itsekiri land in the present Delta State of Nigeria. The maiden copy of The Vanguard hit the newsstands as a weekly on Sunday June 3rd, 1984 with the motto: Towards a better life for the People. It went daily on July 15, 1984. It aims to serve the people through unflinching commitment to free enterprise, the rule of law and good governance. For more detail see: http://www.vanguardngr.com/about/ The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? The Vanguard: The newspaper went online in the year 2000 due to the foresight of the editors and management. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? The Vanguard: Growth plans. Create alternative sources of revenue and to stay ahead of competition. The Researcher: What improvements have been made in course of your online activities? The Vanguard: Improvement in website design, interactivity via readers’ comments, deployment of social media (Facebook and Twitter) and creation of a community on the site. The researcher: What audiences/demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class, geographical locations? The Vanguard: According to Alexa.com vanguardngr.com is visited more frequently by males who are in the age range of 25-34, have no children, are graduate school educated and browse this site from work. In addition to this, Vanguard online researches have shown that 216 males and females in the age range of 17-24 who are usually higher institution students are increasingly visitors to the site. This is not unconnected with the increased internet penetration in the country, the availability of mobile devices such as blackberry phones, Iphones, tablets such as Ipads, Ipods and popularity of the social media. The Researcher: Does the website successfully reach this target audience? Can you provide in general terms, any demographics/statistics? The Vanguard: Yes we do. The statistics as provided above is reached by constantly making our news available on most ICT devices and the social media. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use (i.e is it news only or news and commercials, etc and what kind of news does it carry? The Vanguard: Vanguard online is a news website, it carries breaking news, updates - local and foreign, business, style entertainment and sports. The researcher: Is the website a separate entity or independent from the print version? The Vanguard: It is not a separate entity (for now) It depends on the print for stories as the prints already have reporters in many states of the federation. The Researcher: Does your website have separate or the same staff (journalists, writers, editors, etc) from the print version? The Vanguard: The online team is a full-fledged department of its own with reporters, editors but still works in tandem with the print in a seamless operation. The Researcher: Briefly describe graphically the production of the website, in terms of how copy is gotten, does any editing take place before copy is put on the website. The Vanguard: Copy is sourced from outstation reporters, international wire services, as well as, the News Agencies of Nigeria (NAN) where they are now edited, with appropriate headline before posting on the website. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? The Vanguard: The online revenue is still very insignificant. The Researcher: What pressures (economic, technology, staff shortage, politics, etc) currently threaten the site? How does this affect the work that you do? The Vanguard: Staff shortage, the reluctance of print staff to approach the new technology for stories to go on the site live as they break instead of waiting for the cold print production 217 time. Advertisers’ preference for prints despite the increasing popularity of the online platform & presence of needed demographics. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site (content) is the site operated/run/managed in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words does the site have a technical team that is responsible for designing and putting the site online? The Vanguard: Yes there is a technical back up team (in house) The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (a system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscriptions for reading newspapers online) in operating newspaper websites? The Vanguard: Yes, we do. The Researcher: Do you apply the ‘Paywall’ billing system in running your websites? The Vanguard: No, we don’t. The industry is not ripe for it yet. A competitor tried it a few years ago, with the availability of free competing news websites, the Paywall billing system failed as it was discontinued by the media house. The Researcher: Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? The Vanguard: The revenue though small compared to the prints however provides the organization with foreign exchanges since online adverts are dollar denominated. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? The Vanguard: I won’t say lost but there have been substantial investments in the online arm in terms of hardware and trainings. But revenue from the site though not commensurate with investments, has also come in handy especially, when there are foreign exchange needs - even on the printing press. The Researcher: Which of your newspaper versions-Online or Print, brings the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue and to what extent? The Vanguard: The Print because by my personal estimation, not in official capacity, say up to 95 percent of revenue is from the print. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media, etc) to ascertain your position in the online market? 218

The Vanguard: We are the number 1 website in Nigeria, not just the number 1 newspaper website. There are sites ranking websites such as alexa.com whose ranking are in public domain. Find here the current alexa.com ranking. http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category/Top/Regional/Africa/Nigeria. Also see http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/NG The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your site offer (or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? (h) A choice of language, if yes, how many and which? (i) A search engine or search engines (j) News stories prominently placed on the home page (k) Links from the first page of the site (l) Links within news sites (m) Hyperlinks (n) Take into account users’ browsers and connection speeds The Vanguard: We have tried some of these innovations in the past, for instance the language choice but discontinued it. We focus more on innovations that will give us added value not for the sake of carrying out innovations. We have deployed the social media more than any media online. (We have the highest number of fans on Facebook at 337,000 fans among Nigeria’s newspapers and 113,000 followers on Twitter, also the highest among Nigerian newspapers - these data are verifiable - check the mentioned social media) We have a daily digital edition on the website as well as a community of over 18,000 members. Our mobile edition is the most popular in the industry, so much that Nokia approached Vanguard for a deal to put Vanguard apps on its Asha brand of phones in the Nigerian market. The phones are already in the market.

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Business Day Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Wednesday, August 08, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? Business Day: My name is Chinwe Obinwanne I am the online editor for Business Day newspaper located at Amuwo Odofin Road Festac, Lagos. The Researcher: Can you give a general background of and history of your newspaper and its online activities/site? Business Day: Ok. The newspaper is almost 11 years old now. But it started with the print and then subsequently the online version followed at least five years ago. The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? Business Day: The newspaper went online…I can’t say categorically the year but it went online because there was a need to go with the trend. That was what was evolving and there was a need to reach a wider audience of people. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? Business Day: Like I said, we went online because we wanted to get a larger audience. Not everyone can get our print paper printed here in Nigeria. We have Nigerians in the Diaspora; we have people all over the world we intend to reach. That was what inspired our going online and technology was a way for us to bridge the gap so we had to start moving online. The Researcher: What improvements have been media the course of your online activities? Business Day: The online activities probably just started with just having a website and putting news on the website. But with time, overtime, it was discovered there is a need to be among the people that give more informative news for based on the fact that there has been an upsurge of bloggers everywhere. So now we are standing for a fact that we are a business newspaper, we want to give people business news online. So we’ve grown beyond just being a website to being a medium with an up-to-date news offering. So now, the news is being updated, you can’t see what you see in the morning in the evening. And we also reach out through the social media because we know a large number people are into the social media. The Researcher: What audiences/demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class and geographical locations? 220

Business Day: About anything, especially with the website, you have to figure out your target audience and there are ways to that with technology, technology has improved. So we have been able to figure out our audience by the use of our analytics. We’ve been able to use our analytics figure to know our audience by the use of our analytics. We have been able to use our analytics figure to know the kind of audience we have, where they are coming from, how often they come? With our social media offering too, we have been able to figure out the demographics, age of the people, we know the age-range that visit our website and the stories they click on. So these help us to form an opinion and know the kind of offering to give to them. The Researcher: In terms of literacy, what level of people do you cover? Business Day: We cover…we are business paper geared at educated people on how to do business, geared at reporting what the business are doing geared at anything that has to do with money, business, finance, stock market in Nigeria and the world, with Nigeria as being priority. So, I think to a very large extent we have been able to reach the audience. If we are talking about the literacy level, we are talking about the people that want to do business and people who want to do business are people. We have people that are illiterate who want to do business that come to the website but the higher percentage of people that come on the website are of course literate. You cannot come on the website if you cannot understand what the website is saying and we write in no other language than English so people that come on the website are literate to a very high level. So when you begin to check the kind of people that come on the website to see what the banks are doing you begin to talk about CEOs, you talk about bank managers and then you begin to cascade down you begin to talk about school leavers, graduates who want to do business. We do not talk about businessmen who are already in business who are graduates, who are educated to an extent that they can learn English Language. So we address the literates and elites. The Researcher: What about the social class of the audience. I would want to know if they belong to the AA, AB. Business Day: That is part of what I’m saying we are not restricting our contents to a particular kind of class but if the class you refer to as lower class find interest in our offering, then they have all the opportunity to tap into it. But we give contents to the Nigerian public, 221 business content that would help businesses more, that would keep the ones that are alive on their toes, to give better service to the Nigeria. The Researcher: And then in terms of geographical locations? Business Day: You cannot begin to underestimate the effect of the internet, so we reach as many countries as possible. In Nigeria, so long you have internet access anywhere you locate, you can reach our website. If you are outside of Nigeria so long as you know our web address, you can reach our website. So you cannot begin to underestimate or comprehend the geographical location of our website. The Researcher: Does the website successfully reach this target audience; can you provide in general terms any demographics/statistics? Business Day: Right now the fact that we have competitors; I would not divulge the statistics of our site. The demographics like I said, is all over the world for the location. And for the age-range, whatever ages the person states being business savvy and internet savvy, the website are there. Researcher: Can you say the online version successfully reach it audience? Business Day: We haven’t even started to scratch the surface yet. Our target audience is the world. So we have not reached the world and until we have reached the world we cannot say we have reached our target audience. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use (is it news only or news and commercial etc and what kind of news does it carry? Business Day: Commercial you mean, commercial how? The Researcher: If it’s just majorly news or it serves commercial purposes only. Business Day: I want to understand. The website is a business news website. So I don’t know about commercials. Every website has room for advertisements to be placed on it so I don’t know if that area is what you mean by commercials. The Researcher: Yes, and if there are news for other desks too or is it only business news? Business Day: Yeah, that we are a business newspaper does not take us away from being a Nigerian newspaper, so if there are people dying like the Dana Air crash we would not say because we are a business paper we would not cover it. The Researcher: Is the website a separate identity or independent from the print version? Why or why not? 222

Business Day: It’s the same company, so there is no way it should be a separate entity from the print. The Researcher: I don’t know if you can briefly explain that? Business Day: They have to work hand in hand. And the website…there are organizations that are news organizations, there are organizations that are online news organizations and all they do is online. So those ones you can begin to say they can have reporters and the reporters can be online reporters if they have no print but if you have reporters that can meet both needs, so why not. The Researcher: So in essence, the online version is a subsidiary of the print version. Business Day: It is not a subsidiary. The Researcher: Is a part of it? Business Day: They work hand in hand. The Researcher: Does your website have separate or the same staff (journalists, writers, editors, etc) from the print version? Business Day: Same category of staff write for the Business Day paper and Business Day online but different editors handle such sections. The Researcher: Briefly describe graphically the production of the website in terms of how copy is gotten. Does any editing take place before copy is placed on the website? Business Day: Of course there is no website…even the bloggers edit their copy before it is placed on the website. There is no website that is expected to put up a scrap so to say. We are journalists and journalists should be able to have sources. So we have copies wherever and everywhere. And we are able to know what is going on everywhere across the world at all times so when something happens and you get through to your source, confirm it from the source and have it written and the editor of the website edits it and then it goes. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? Business Day: I can’t tell you that. It may serve a fact for the purpose of your research but I can’t tell you that. The Researcher: But does it generate income? Business Day: Yea, It does generate income. If it weren’t generating income it would not make sense. 223

The Researcher: What pressures (economic, technology, staff shortage, politics etc) currently threaten the site? How does this affect the work you do? Business Day: The pressure that the online people encounter more is the kind of internet Nigeria has because you have to be online 24/7. The Researcher: And you have enough funds to….? Business Day: No department that has enough staff, so about the funds I read it somewhere. The Researcher: And the politics that comes with publishing? Business Dray: What politics exactly are you talking about? The Researcher: Sometimes you want to…like just mention competition that come from other newspapers and have you ever for once considered okay “don’t let me publish this because of our competitors, let me keep this in the shelve.” So, have you ever published one thing and competitors hijack it from you from the website? The website is updated frequently unlike the print version. Business Day: It’s about the strategy you are using. If you put something out there, as a journalist you should have to follow it up. There is no way you put out something that you would follow it up. So the only problem you have as a journalist is when you put it out and you don’t follow it up, it will never work. So if you have something on the website and The Punch or Vanguard puts it on their website. It’s a free space. All you have to do to look for a way to distinguish what you have from your competitors. The Researcher: And there has never been a story you wished to publish and somehow and somewhere it is dropped. Business Day: Why would that be? Now you can paint me a scenario, paint me a picture. The Researcher: Eem, You have a boss… due to economic influence. Advertisers and print version revenue and there is a story that affects the company that brings adverts to you and you need to stop that publication for the purpose of the advert income. Business Day: There are times you just eem…see some stories and you have to follow up on such stories and find out that they are deadly. So I can only say that when that kind of thing happens you can only do proper investigations. If you have a relationship with a company and there is something about them that you heard and you need to publish, it’s only right that for the sake of the relationship you have with that organization you do a proper investigation 224 and in the course of that investigation you find out that whatever you heard was false, would you go ahead with such a story? The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site is the site operated, managed or run in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words, does the site have a technical team that is responsible for designing and putting the site online? Business Day: Yeah, you should have a technical team, and a technical team belongs to the organization, so it’s not like it is run by contracted staff. And then the editorial work is done by the company too. The Researcher: Please, let me get this clear. The technical partners operate on just technical issues while the editorial matter is manned by in-house, right? Business Day: In the media, there are different kinds of people. So you cannot assume…the media are not only made of the journalists. Just like every other organization have engineers. Media houses have their engineers, have their technicians, and have their technical partners. So when you are talking about technical staff managing the website we are talking about the technical staff belonging to Business Day, you understand. So, they are Business Day employees. And then the copies, the stories, the articles that go on are also prepared and worked on by Business Day but where you have the difference now is the technical people do technical stuff and the other people manage the contents. The Researcher: And I believed there has not been any technical problem that involved outside people? Business Day: None. The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (a system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscriptions for reading newspapers online) in operating your website? Business Day: Yes, I’m very much aware of it. The Researcher: Do you apply the Paywall billing system in running your website? Business Day: No, currently we don’t. The Researcher: Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? Business Day: No I can’t compare it. I wasn’t here when they went online. 225

The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? Business Day: Lost or gained? Like I said I can only speak for the time I have been here. So, there is supposed to be revenue because if there is no revenue, why still online? The Researcher: Which of your newspaper versions- Online or Print, brings the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue? Business Day: I’ve told you before I can’t tell you that. You can simply assume that since the print has been in existence before the online that there is the possibility that the print will get more revenue. And also, you can also assume that with the website, it’s about the number of people you have on the website. The number of people clicking your website determines to a very large extent the kind of patronage you get. The Researcher: But you have adverts on your website. Business Day: Yeah, of course. The Researcher: Can you in a day say how many adverts? Business Day: No, I can’t tell you. I just gave you…. So I can’t begin to tell you categorically how many adverts come to the website, how many adverts come to the print. You can actually pick up the paper and do the comparison yourself. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media etc) to ascertain your position in the market? Business Day: Yes, of course. There has been research done. The good thing about technology is... there are a lot of tools to know where you stand in the competition. It depends if you know it. There has been research done because you always have to know where you are. And that is irrespective of the fact that we are a business paper and the other papers are general interests there is the need for feedback; we don’t have to relax just because we are a business paper. The Researcher: Please, if you have conducted the research, could you let us know what your position is in the online market? Business Day: In the online market in Nigeria. In the online in our field to a very large extent we own it. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your website offer or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? a) A choice of language, if yes, how many and which? 226

Business Day: No, we do not and the reason is because the general lingua franca in Nigeria is English. The Researcher: A search engine or search engines? Business Day: No, we do not; we only optimize the one we know. The Researcher: Could you tell us why you don’t because some newspapers have search engines? Business Day: Such as? The Researcher: The one I know of…I know of The Nation. Business Day: What kind of search engine do they offer? The Researcher: That is used to trail news. Business Day: Yeah, I mean give me the one for The Nation. What kind? The Researcher: It is attached to the Google. Business Day: How? I mean just break it down for me let me understand what you are asking. The Researcher: On their website (Cuts in) Business Day: A search box where you search and it is connected to the Google, yeah we do have that. The thing is it’s not like they are offering the search engine. They are only helping people to get information from Google, so they are not offering search engines and I want to correct that. The Researcher: News stories prominently placed on the home page Business Day: Yeah, yes. The Researcher: Please, why? Business Day: Why? There is always need to educate the people and tell them what is going on. The Researcher: Links from the first page of the site Business Day: Yes. There are links available because the front page of any website is the live page of a website because it determines whether people stay or people leave. The Researcher: Links within news sites Business Day: Yeah, there are. The Researcher: Hyperlinks 227

Business Day: Yeah, hyperlinks are available because there is always a need for the people to click…more like giving them more information, so you can link in to other places and give them hyperlink so they will be able to link and educate themselves Researcher: Please, feel free to provide any other relevant pieces of information as may be necessary in the area of the online newspaper phenomenon. Business Day: Okay, online journalism is here to stay because you cannot stop technology from evolving. New technology should be more in involved in online journalism. And the only way for that is online journalism. The thing is we should know as journalists that information we give moves at the speed of light. It goes faster than the print version of it so whatever you put out right now in Nigeria someone in the United States can be reading it on the net. So we have to be very…in giving out information we have to be very factual in giving out information so that we don’t give out wrong information. And I think online journalism is going out way beyond where it is right now. I don’t know what the print would be like but online journalism is here to stay not blogging, I mean online journalism because there are a lot of blogs I know now but there is a difference between a news website and a blog.

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The Punch Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Friday, August 10, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? The Punch: My name is Emeka Madunagu, I am the Online Editor, The Punch Newspapers. The Researcher: Please, give a general background and history of your newspaper and its online activities or sites. The Punch: The Punch newspapers were incorporated in 1973 but started publishing in 1976. Back then in 1976, it was Sunday Punch and then thereafter it was changed. The online department was founded in 2003 and since then we have been running a robust website which is the best in Nigeria today in terms of design, in terms of delivery of contents in terms of different metrics that you can use to gauge the website. The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? The Punch: I said we went online 2003. That was April 2003. We decided to go online because we needed an additional platform to disseminate the news to the whole world, a broader platform by which the news could get to the whole world. And that was what informed the establishment of the website. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? The Punch: Yes, like I said we needed a broader platform, and additional platform to reach readers worldwide. Then we needed an electronic platform to reach readers worldwide because you find in today’s world that electronic means of disseminating information is the most popular today because it is faster, it is the fastest and the most efficient. So we had to become part of the global trend. Then again, we are a newspaper and a newspaper has to get its news out to its readers under the shortest time possible time. If something breaks now you should get it to your readers in less than two minutes. If possible in thirty seconds, your readers should be informed. So when we set up the website in 2003 we also moved to set up an additional platform. We went on Facebook, we went on Twitter and other social media to get the news out. The Researcher: What improvements have been made in the course of your online activities? 229

The Punch: Oh yes, we have gone from being a news website to being the website of choice in Africa. We have gone from just a news website to being a content provider, we just don’t provide news, we generate contents and distribute. So we don’t just pick things, we also look for different formats with which to disseminate the news. We look for different formats, bar chart, pie chart, tables, videos, photographs, photographs and the rest. We look for different means to disseminate news. Why, because we don’t want to be left out of the innovation and advancement in the world of journalism. We are in the information age, and information is power. Now, above the fact that information is power, it is also the fact that it must get out as fast as possible to the audience. We must keep seeking news ways, more innovative ways of reaching out to our readers, of selling our contents. Now we just don’t have news, we call it contents. Now, it’s not just news that okay, Lagos-Ibadan expressway is shut down, we want to tell why it is shut down, we also want to tell you that if there are other routes you can go through, you find alternative routes. Now if we can provide you with a map to show you that okay such and such has happened in such and such a place, we also make it known. The Researcher: What audiences/demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class and geographical locations? The Punch: We cater for everything. Right now, we are in the process of disseminating our contents in other languages other than English. We are in the process of doing that. The Researcher: And please I don’t k now if there is a particular age that you cater for. The Punch: We cater for different age grades. But all of our contents…generally it is the adult reading public that constitute the bulk of our readers, of the bulk of those who consume our contents. But as time goes on we would also want to provide contents that can also cater for younger readers, children. Contents like cartoons, in fact right now we have animated cartoons on our website. Yes, yes, we have animated cartoons on our website. The Researcher: Do you consider their literacy level in your context? The Punch: Yeah, that is why I said cartoons. Children enjoy cartoons. The Researcher: What about the social class of the readers, do you put that into consideration too? The Punch: Yeah, that is why I said we are a multi-content provider. We are not just a website; we are a multi-content provider, so we have videos, we have animated cartoons, just like you go on television now and you slot a CD in your DVD player and your children can 230 watch cartoon. You can go on our website to watch cartoons because we have animated cartoons that you can click on and they would scroll and you would enjoy it. But we are in the process of also integrating voice into our cartoons so that after people have read the news they can also relax with the cartoons. The Researcher: Yes, why I am asking about the social class is that you know in the society we have the upper class, the middle class and lower class. I don’t know if The Punch newspaper specially targets the upper class or (Cuts in) The Punch: We target every class that is why you see different adverts on our website. We target every class. We target every class because the newspaper which is the primary source from where we derive our contents is rich. We cater for different classes that is why we say The Punch is a newspaper for all people. We cater for all classes the best newspaper in Africa. The Researcher: I want to believe the geographical location of the online is worldwide. The Punch: It is worldwide The Researcher: Can you say the website successfully reaches the target audience you have talked about? The Punch: Yes. You can check the metrics. You can go on different ranking sites. One of them is www.alexa.com. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use, is it news only or news and commercials? The Punch: I would answer that question in bits. We have contents and like I said I don’t want to say news because it is diverse. We have contents, we also carry adverts. Now with these adverts we are able to reach the diverse audiences, we are able to reach different publics like they say in public relations. The Researcher: Is the website a separate entity or independent from its print version? The Punch: No, they are integrated, the print and the online. They serve… like I told you the print edition is where we get our copy from primarily. But on the website we have different things, we have animated cartoons, we have different news items, we have videos, we have other things. Of course there is a problem we have in Nigeria which is the issue of broadband. Broadband is a big problem. So, we would like to provide videos on the net but come to a website like www.channelstv.com and try to watch their videos after sometime, it 231 will go away. Why? It is unfortunate that we have a low broadband in Nigeria and Nigerians want much more. People talk about power holding, no, there is no light. The issue is such that people watch videos on their phones but they are mainly pirated videos. Now, you should be able to watch videos on your phones, you will need to charge your phone again, find time to relax. But the issue is broadband, it’s a problem. The Researcher: Would you let us know why the online and print versions are integrated? The Punch: It’s a newspaper group. It is a group. The Researcher: Does your website have different or same staff (journalists, writers, editors) different from the print version? The Punch: Yes. The Researcher: Could you briefly describe graphically the production of the website in terms of how copy is gotten? Are copies edited before they are put on the site? The Punch: Yes, we edit the contents that go into the site and they are done in the newsroom and passed to us. We convert it to electronic format before we put it on the website. Now, within that website we have categories. We have news. Within that site also we have space for…it’s a continuous desk; round the clock; like they say the show never stops in the theatre, so we never stop providing contents. If you check our website now, you will see something there. There is already breaking news on our website this morning- Action Congress of Nigeria issued a statement. Immediately I got it I put in on the site. So it is continuous news desk. And we have automatic tweeting. We have a system that pushes news alerts to Facebook and Twitter automatically so as some people are reading on the website some are reading on the Facebook, some through Twitter. So you see it is a continuous stream. The Researcher: So in essence, there is no pool of journalists that work with you different from the print version? The Punch: That is what I told you that it is integrated. There is no pool; it is one pool. In the day time if they get breaking news, they passed them to me while working on their story. But of course I too, if I get any information I get in touch with them that ‘hey, I hear something is happening. Just give me a sentence.’ They give me a sentence; I put it on the site. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for the organization? 232

The Punch: It generates; it generates big income. You have what we call ‘widgets.’ They are kind of applications, you know…advert. So information is updated externally on them regularly and we now generate money per click. Because of the low broadband, for now we can’t generate money per views but we are getting to that point. May be you know about what is called PPM- pay per meal or view and PPC- per pay click. As I’m looking at this website now, if I go to any of the widgets and click on it, click on any of these widgets and it opens that automatically generates income. And if I go further to, say okay, maybe there are ten vehicles, (one of the widgets is for vehicles) and we have ten vehicles on ‘sale’ and I click on one of the vehicles that is an additional income. So once we integrate both of them so, when you click it is revenue for us, when you view it is revenue for us. When you click again, it is revenue for us, you view again it is revenue for us. The Researcher: I don’t know if you would not mind putting it in percentages? The Punch: The print because people are more used to print. Worldwide online advertisements are not very widely used but people are getting more and more used to it. It is a gradual process not just The Punch, it is worldwide so people are more used to holding newspaper than going online with phone or a device. The Researcher: What pressures (economic, technology, staff shortage, politics, etc) currently threaten the site? How does this affect the work that you do? The Punch: No organization can ever have enough staff to do its job but basically we are doing our best with the available ones. You can’t say you are too short staffed that you cannot do your job, you do your job. If we have problems we refer them to the appropriate quarters. The Researcher: What about funds? The Punch: No, no. this is a solid organization. The Researcher: And technology, how do you fare? The Punch: Whenever we are aware of a new technology, we get it to use it to make our site better. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site (content) is the site operated/run/managed in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words does the site have a technical team that is responsible for designing and putting the site online? 233

The Punch: It is. It is run in-house. The Researcher: What of the technical and..? (Cuts in) The Punch: We have technical partners but we run the website. The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (a system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscriptions for reading newspapers online) in operating newspaper websites? The Punch: We tried it, it failed. The Researcher: Do you apply the ‘Paywall’ billing system in running your websites? The Punch: We have thrown it onto the lagoon. The Researcher: Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? The Punch: It has improved. It is a new stream of income. You hear motivational speakers talking about different streams of income; it is a new stream of income. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? The Punch: No, we have gained more. We have gained more, we have tried different things, innovations and we gain more. The Researcher: Which of your newspaper versions-Online or Print brings the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue and, to what extent? The Punch: It is the print because it is more popular worldwide. You know appreciation of online contents is just gaining ground. So of course we cannot be different from what is happening elsewhere. The Researcher: And to what extent would you say the print brings in revenue in… (Cuts in) The Punch: It does generate income. Okay we can say the print 80 percent then the online 20 percent. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media, etc) to ascertain your position in the online market? The Punch: Let me tell you statistics are not reliable in Nigeria. People have done independent surveys and what we found out are not accurate. But so far we just do our best. We strive to be the best. 234

The Researcher: And that means the company, newspaper does not really conduct any form of research to know…. (Cuts in) The Punch: We do. We try to gauge the public perception. In terms of doing research that means you talking of trying to compare with others? Why should we do that? They would accuse us of fraud. That is why I said generating statistics in Nigeria is corruption. Look at Census, look at voters registration, is corruption issue. So why would you do that? It is a waste of resources at times. Let’s be good at what we do that is what is important to us. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your site offer (or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? The Punch: We are moving there. The Researcher: Why do you want to adopt it? The Punch: We want to broaden our audience so that if you want to read our news in French, Spanish, and Germany you can. It is a choice or Russian you just choose your language option. The Researcher: Search engine or search engines The Punch: Yes, internally in terms of The Punch contents. But in terms of integrating search contents into our pages we are also getting there. You understand we are also getting there. The Researcher: Why would you put search engines? The Punch: Of course, because it is a popular platform. Search engine maximization is a popular platform by which people get things. The Researcher: News stories prominently placed on the home page The Punch: Yes. The Researcher: For what objective? The Punch: We have the slide show, we have static news. Like I told you we have videos, we have pictures. We have different contents. The Researcher: The prominently placing of news on the homepage is to achieve what purpose? The Punch: To achieve the purpose of drawing attention of readers. The Researcher: d) Links from the first page of the site The Punch: Yes. 235

The Researcher: Would you tell us why there are links? The Punch: To take you so that…for easy navigation. So you can navigate to other parts of the site. You can get stories, you can look for stories. You can access stories. The Researcher: e) Links within news sites The Punch: Yes. The Researcher: And I want to believe that they are there to take readers to stories that are related to that story. The Punch: Yes. When you finish reading a story, below it will show you stories that are related to the story. So, you can always follow a trend. Like Doyin Okupe, everything on Doyin Okupe lines there. The Researcher: Hyperlinks The Punch: We don’t have hyperlinks. The Researcher: Why? The Punch: Okay, hyperlinks? Well, not exactly. No. we don’t really need hyperlinks because for a news website would not really achieve…well we may consider them at a time but for now we don’t have hyperlinks. But we will consider that later. The Researcher: You wanted to tell, me may be what…? The Punch: Well may be it would put more pressure on the website. There is a way around all these. The Researcher: Take into account users’ browsers and connection speeds The Punch: Yes. We have Opera, we have Internet Explorer, and we have Mozilla. Yes, we take into account all those things. The Researcher: And the connection speed of the internet? The Punch: Yes, we are integrated for any browser even for phone. The Researcher: Why do you take these into account when designing your website? The Punch: So that we can reach our reader anywhere. We can reach consumers of our contents anywhere. In any phone even if it is a small phone, we can reach them anywhere. The Researcher: Please, feel free to provide any other relevant pieces of information as may be necessary in the area of the online newspaper phenomenon. The Punch: Well, it is growing. We have a lot of blogs, we have news sites, and we have multi-platform news sites and mono-platform news site. Mono-platform news sites are blogs 236 that just basically deliver contents may be entertainment, health, education while multi- platform are like news websites like www.punch.ng. Now, it is growing, but of course many phones now come with internet access and people can access the internet easily. So, running online news is an interesting thing because you are reaching a wide audience. The Researcher: There is one thing I left out in pressures, how does politics of publishing affect your work? The Punch: Which politics? The Researcher: In publishing environment, you know you have competitors that… (Cuts in) The Punch: Yes that is why I said we keep studying we keep researching, we keep reading to see how we can do things better. How we can be the best. We keep studying.

237

The Guardian Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Monday, August 13, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? The Guardian: My name is Akintolu Oluwamuyiwa, I head the online desk of The Guardian. The Researcher: Please, can you give a general background and the history of your news paper and its online activities or site? The Guardian: Yes, The Guardian online started in 1997 and when it started it wasn’t too pronounced. From 1997 up to now, we have had to redesign the site twice for readers to get more reader-awareness. What we have currently is the latest version of our design which we did about a year ago. The Researcher: Please, when was The Guardian established? The Guardian: The Guardian was established in 1983. The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? The Guardian: When and why I just told you we went online in 1997 and why we went online is because the future of any newspaper now is online. We have more readers online than the print version. And any newspaper that is worth its salt cannot afford not to be online in this present dispensation. For The Guardian, the flagship, the online version is a must for us and our online presently belongs to our readers. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? The Guardian: Well, like I said, any newspaper worth its salt must have an online version because we have more readers. We are in the technological age where more readers are ‘techy’ and they want to get things at their fingertips. We have a lot of people online wanting to read you and only very few people now are with the physical paper. Majority of people want to read online. And as a flagship newspaper, we can’t afford not to have an online presence. The Researcher: So far, what improvements have been made in the course of your online activities? 238

The Guardian: Yes, like I said, when we started we just did the cut and paste version of the print edition but we’ve had to redesign the online version. For instance readers can comment on our articles and they get responses instantly. These are the ways of getting feedback intelligence from our readers. Unlike in the past when the site was just stalk, we cut and paste and there was no response from readers, but now we have various ways of getting response from our readers, we have opinion poll, we have the ‘U Report’ section where our readers can send articles and once they are worth publishing, we publish them without editing because it’s just like an individual opinion but you can report for us based on reporting Nigeria, reporting the world or reporting Lagos, etc. The Researcher: What category of audience(s) do you cater for? The Guardian: I think we cater for virtually all sections as long as you are computer literate, you can browse there are various sections that can interest you. If you are not interested in politics, you will be interested in arts or sports, business, entertainment all cadre, depending on where you fit in. We don’t discriminate. The Researcher: And the literacy level? The Guardian: Yes, like I said, literacy now has been defined not just ability to read and write but ability to compute. Once you are computer literate and you browse the internet and you have internet access, then definitely you are one of our audiences. The Researcher: What about social class? The Guardian: It cuts across for an average person who is computer literate, then it shows you are learned and you can have access to the site once you are able to navigate then you can browse our site. Our site is very user friendly. The Researcher: And the geographical locations? The Guardian: It is a worldwide thing. It cuts across all over the world. Whenever you are, at the press of a button you can. You could be in New Jersey you could be in London you could be in Hawaii Horiololu, anywhere in the world. As a matter of fact, it would interest you to know that we have a lot of readers outside the country. That makes it very interesting. Because like you know, there are many Nigerians all over the world and they want to get news from home. And The Guardian is one of their major sources of getting reliable news as at when due. 239

The Researcher: Does the website successfully reach this target audience and I wouldn’t know if you can provide in general terms any demographics or statistics? The Guardian: Yes, we do, but I may not be able to give you … but in terms of hits I could get you some statistics at least for July, June-July this year. I will give you statistics on our hits. Yes for instance, in the month of June. This year, we had 297,000,000 hits while in the month of May we had 240,000,000 hits. For the month of July too, we had a drop, we had 194,000,000 hits. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use i.e. is it news only or news and commercial etc. and what kind of news does it carry? The Guardian: Like I said, we are a general interest newspaper. We have from Monday to Friday news as news but for our week end editions we have news, we have sports, entertainment arts, cartoons. We cater for virtually all segments of the society, depending on what your interest is. The Researcher: Is the website a separate entity or independent from the print version? Why or why not? The Guardian: The website takes its feeds from the newspaper; it is not a separate entity. Like I told you, when we started, it was purely cut and paste from the newspaper to the online but now the online picks its best to a great extent for the print. But that notwithstanding we do update which is independent of the paper. The Researcher: You just mentioned that the online version still maintains some level of independence, in what way? The Guardian: Yes for instance when news breaks, we carry it before the print edition. For instance, if anything happens now, like the Boko Haram issue, the bomb here and there once it happens, we take it live before the print edition carries the full details of the issue much later. The Researcher: Does your website have separate or the same staff (Journalists, writer, editors etc) from the print version? The Guardian: The website depends largely on the reporters from the print version. We have an online team but like I said we are not independent of the paper. The paper is the mother and we depend much on them. But when news breaks, like I said, we take it independent of the paper, the paper later does a detailed version of the same story but we 240 would have gotten our readers to know what is happening, they might not get the full details but much later they could get it. But as at when the news breaks, we get the news out. The Researcher: In other words, if the news breaks, you have some editors and writers that are attached to this desk. The Guardian: They are not so to say attached to the desk. For instance, the way it works, when the news stories come, they come to the news editor, but we liaise with the news editor so when news breaks we can always get very latest news from the news desk which we publish immediately. The Researcher: Could you briefly describe graphically, the production of the website, in terms of how copy is gotten, does any editing take place before copy is put on the website. The Guardian: We upload in two ways. For instance as the pages of the newspaper are being produced, we also get copies from the news desk. Like I said, as news stories are being readied, we upload them. But when news breaks, important news, we don’t wait for them to publish before we go online; we go online before them, so that the next day what you get is the fuller version of what we had earlier published. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? The Guardian: Yes, we generate income but the income we generate now is not as much as the print version for instance, the adverts carried in the papers are not published online. The online has its adverts. The online averts are paid for separately from the Print’s adverts, and if you look at the quantum, what we have is not as much as what you have in the print newspaper though for now the revenue generation is not as much as the print version. But I tell you there are plans in place to boost the revenue profile for the online version. The Researcher: I don’t know if you have a specific range of percentage of the income the online generates. The Guardian: Hmm, I can’t give you a definite statistics now, but all I would say is that what the online is generating now is not as much as what the print is generating. The print for now generates more than the online version. The Researcher: What pressures that is in terms of economic, technology, staff shortage and politics currently threaten the site and how do they affect the work you do? The Guardian: Each, for now, in terms of technology, there are areas I think we can do better, in terms of technical input there are things I think we would need to do to make the 241 work much easier. In terms of pressure, as news breaks you have to relay them as they break and because of the nature of our readers, it’s not every day that you have earthshaking news stories, you keep waiting when would this news story come and there are times that as you are posting one, another is breaking so that for somebody who is not too deep …. Certain days you don’t have stories but some days before you finish putting one story, another one is happening and you just find out that that day is like a special day for you. But there are days you have to manage your stories, look for, look for what to publish, especially weekends, it’s like some weekends, I don’t know, you just discover that you don’t have real earthshaking stories. The Researcher: In terms of funds available to you to operate, are there enough funds? The Guardian: There can never be enough funds in any operating environment. But for now we are making do with what we have, but if more funds comes, good. The Researcher: And recently we have been witnessing technological changes, how does this affect the software and hardware you use? The Guardian: Yes, the online is a very interesting place just that things charge almost every day. For instance, the version of the web we had before now was too … what we have now is an improvement on what we had before. What we have now our readers can interact with us, they can send comments to us, we can also reply on their comments, we can moderate what they have send to us unlike before when once you just publish, you wait till next time before we can send it. But now we can interact with our readers. Technology has made it possible for our readers to send comments and respond like other people too can reply to the comments we have online. In terms of the design, technology has made it possible too that we … It you want to be redesigning your website every month you can do it as long as you have the money but ….. For instance now, we use the July version on our web and we are very interactive The Researcher: You mentioned that no reporter is attached to this desk, in a way that must affect the production in terms of news generation and publishing online. The Guardian: Sure The Researcher: I don’t know if you want to elaborate more. The Guardian: It would have been very interesting if the online desk has its dedicated reporters and dedicated photographers, dedicated editors, it would have made the work faster 242 and easier. But in the near future we would get at that, we would get at that because I have ….There are online media where you have dedicated reporters, dedicated photographers, they can send in stories, they can send in pictures. The essence is that it makes the production process faster unlike when you have to depend on the mother (print version), asking for stories. We work together but if you are independent, things can move faster. The Researcher: And the workplace politics is the game of publishing. The Guardian: Yes, that is true at times you are even being careful that since you are an online version, you have the advantage of sending the story earlier, you are guarding against your competition that if you send in the story now wouldn’t they copy, take the story from you and not even credit where they got it from, but there is away you can always manage all these so that you could hide certain things. The print might not want to give you this because of the competitors so that if they see it there, they could take the shine off you. But as a matter of fact, I don’t think it matters because once news is gotten, they could always say where did you read from, and you would say from the Guardian online and once they know that they would get the story from you they could always come back next time to your site. In terms of politics, the print wants to say no hoard all stories until we care ready to go to press. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site is the site operated, run or managed in house or is it contracted out to an outside party? In other words, does your site have a technical team responsible for its designs and putting copies on the site? The Guardian Yes, we have our technical pastier who designs the site and we also hire outside parties who manage the site in terms of providing other services. When there are technical issues, they handle it. But in terms of editorial contact, facing the site, it is usually done in-house. But in managing the technical aspects, in running the site, we have a technical team who is based London. The Researcher: Are you aware of the “Paywall” billing system (A system that ensures that online readers pay certain subscriptions for reading newspapers online) in operating your site? The Guardian: Yes, But you see in this part of the world in Nigeria especially, a lot of people are averse to paying for reading news online. I would not say we are not ripe for it. When readers discover you charge for it they will go somewhere else where they can get news items free. But it is an area I think we will get to. We have tried it before when we 243 asked readers to subscribe but we discovered only very few people do it. And currently our website is free but for you to be able to make comments or do other things or send articles you just need to register on the site, the registration is free but what you are saying is paying for contents, yes there are stories you click and after the first paragraph you are told if you want the detailed version, you would pay, I am aware about that but currently we don’t do that now. But in the near future we would go into it because it is also a source of revenue for the online edition. Apart from the adverts, these are sources of revenue when people pay for contents. The Researcher: That has answered the next question, so I will move to the next question. Can you in specific terms, site, compare the revenue of your organization before you went online and currently? The Guardian: Like I said, we make money online but we are not making much. We are not making much like we desired from the little research we have been able to do, we discovered that people…. most people are …. If we are ready to give them free, a lot l of people want to get things free. But I tell you, in the near future, apart from all these we would create things that would want to make people pay for online services. The Researcher: I don’t know if you are saying the online version has not added any revenue? The Guardian: It has, it has added. But what I am saying is that if you are talking of paying …. Because we are not independent of the paper, we are all under the umbrella body of the paper. You want to look at it in terms of generating revenue to pay salaries of staff and stuff like that, no we don’t have that. But the online version gets revenue for the paper but is not as much as what you have with the print. As a matter of fact, I can’t give you statistics now, but I know we have the online marketing team, the online marketing team doing the marketing of the online site; we have adverts on our home page. In terms of the quantum, you cannot compare with the paper where you have this and this advert on a daily basis. The Researcher: Why we are asking this question is because, the fact younger generations are used to reading online now, instead of buying the paper, so we don’t know if that has taken ……. The Guardian: I told earlier that for now my MD I doubt if he can tell you how many people read the print version, we have more people reading online but this does not translate 244 to adverts. This same …, 17 years old who is reading online, tell him to pay for this, the next thing he goes somewhere else. We have not gotten to that stage, we are getting there gradually. We have more people reading online but it does not translate to more revenue online. But if you look at it the other way, then you would say if more people are reading online then we should have revenue online but with time it would get there. The Researcher: And it has not reduced the income of the newspaper? The Guardian: Aaah … in away. For instance, the Guardian thrives on adverts not on the cover price. So like The Punch that they would tell you their circulation is this and that, I can’t speak for them but The Guardian thrives on adverts in the paper now, the cost of putting that advert is times the cover price of the paper. So the number of people that buy does not translate to the adverts the paper carries. So the paper thrives on adverts than on circulation. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? The Guardian: Lost revenue from eeh. I would answer that question this way; we have more readers online than in the print but we make more money from the print than online. I hope I have answered your question. The Researcher: Actually, it's not yet answered, because I don’t know. The Guardian: Yeah, I wouldn’t say we lost revenue. Yes because it’s like what you lost in readership in print you gained it online and what you are supposed to gain online in revenue, you are gaining it in the print version. I think it’s an area where the management would still have to sit down and see how they can marry the two. If you have more readers online, it is not the same number of readers that are putting adverts. For instance, if you look at corporate organizations now, if you look at banks, you have Zenith, GT, they do adverts online and they also have their adverts in the print version. But if you look at the mileage they gain online. It is more than that of print. If you put an advert online, a click opens the page, a lot of pages they have there. But paper is limited. If GT Bank is advertising for …… if they are saying GT connect, it’s limited but online GT connect can open as many pages as you want. So it is gaining more mileage. Corporate advertisers, they know the value of the online. But you know it is something that is just evolving and I tell you with time, by the time fewer people read papers the online version would thrive in terms of adverts. 245

The Researcher: Which of your newspaper version- online or print- brings the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue and to what extent? The Guardian: It is the print. The print brings more revenue for now. The Researcher: And to what extent, the advert revenue? The Guardian: I can’t give your figures. I don’t have figures I can give you. Merely looking at the paper for instance our Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s usually a bumper, so the paper brings revenue. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research on audience, media etc to ascertain your position in the online market? The Guardian: No. But there is an agency, Phiillips consulting. They do ranking for websites. They categorize websites. They rank insurance, media and whatever. They do it yearly and in terms of what they have done, I don’t think we are doing badly. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice available to users, does your website offer or plan to offer in the near future any of the following? The Researcher: A choice of language The Guardian: Language would always be English. The Researcher: No French, no others? The Guardian: For now The Researcher: Why not? The Guardian: Well, that is the medium that appeal to people and cuts across all segments of the society. The Researcher: What about a search engine? The Guardian: Yes, you can use various search engines. The Researcher: Why? The Guardian: For research purposes, for how would I put it now for wider out-reach. The Researcher: Are news stories prominently placed on the home page? The Guardian: Sure. The Researcher: I don’t know if you would be willing to tell me why? The Guardian: Sorry the news pages? The Researcher: Yes, the new stories being prominently placed on homepage. 246

The Guardian: Yes, apart from a section we call the slide show, that keeps scrolling, that is the most prominent on the site. Apart from the picture, the next conspicuous is the news. And that is because that is what sells the site. “Ah! Have you read it? Where did you read it? On this net, demand will soar there. The Researcher: Are there links from the first page of the website? The Guardian: Yeah, sure. The Researcher: Why? The Guardian: Like I said, for instance on our pictures slide when we have stories that are linked to pictures, when you click the pictures it takes you to the story, without you having to look for that story. The Researcher: And there are also links within the news itself? The Guardian: Sure. The Researcher: For what reason? The Guardian: if for instance I am reading a story and may be the story is on Boko Haram’s killings in Borno today and what happened yesterday, that link will take you to the story. The Researcher: And hyperlinks? The Guardian: Sure. The Researcher: And eeh, all these questions have why and why not if you don’t have them, so why hyperlink? The Guardian: Well, hyperlink because eeh…. I will say because for emphasis sake. If for instance you are doing a research, you have a story on Boko Haram or Jos today, you should for easier, and ready access we should be able to give you a link to other activities of Boko Haram, since the last one week, since the last two weeks. Okay, it happened in Jos, it happened in Sokoto. The Researcher: In the design of the site, is there consideration for users’ browsers and connection speed? The Guardian: Yes, but now on our website, there are things we do like I have had course to discuss with our designer. He said the internet speed in Nigeria is still a little bit low, so in terms of graphics and yes, in graphics, we try to reduce the size of our pictures so that users’ browsers are able to pick this in time. Outside Nigeria, the internet speed is much faster, so that at a bottom like this, it goes. In Nigeria, we still have issues with internet speed so when 247 we load articles we try to, we are mindful of browsers so it doesn’t go too slow. As a matter of fact, we also have the mobile set. We have the mobile site as different from the main site. Why? With the phone, you are able to access the site faster than with the laptop or desktop. You know the main site is heavy, it would not be able to open easily on this smaller phones but with the mobile site, the mobile site takes into cognizance all that and the application is able to load faster than the main site. The Researcher: Please feel free to add any other relevant pieces of information as may be necessary in the area of online journalism phenomenon. The Guardian: Well, I think is an area we are moving to. One thing I have come to realize is that the online publishing that is the future of newspapering especially in Nigeria. The online is the future; no newspaper can afford not to have an online version now. You know that is where everything is bending towards. If you look at the laptops, desktops everything that has been made available for browsing, it points to one thing: in the near future, most people will be tired of carrying the physical paper. You are encouraged if you want to know what is happening, on the move, get on the street and see how many people … this is the future. So no paper can afford not to have a mobile site or a website otherwise people would not read you or if they would read you, they would read you at a very slow …. You can imagine now, you can’t be reading this on the road; it is when you get home. But with your phone as you are in a bus, you are able to know what is happening, that is the future of newspapering.

248

ThisDay Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Researcher: What is your name and designation in your newspaper organization? ThisDay: My name is Tunde Sulaiman, the online editor of ThisDay Newspaper. The Researcher: Please, give a general background and history of your newspaper and its online activities or sites/ ThisDay: Our newspaper now …. It gonna be 17 year this year Yeah! 17 years this year. And our online version is about four or five years. It is over five years. The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? ThisDay: This is the latest trend in mass media operations. And people all over the world that can’t get their hands on the hard copy, the only way they can keep in touch with Nigeria and your newspaper is by going to the online version. And that is why we are here and you can go online and read, Washington Post even though they are not in the States, read The Guardian of London even though we are not in UK. So likewise anybody, anywhere in the world that is interested in ThisDay or Nigeria can go online and keep abreast of what is happening in ThisDay by extension what is happening in Nigeria. The Researcher: What were the main reasons behind the derision to do so? ThisDay: Ok I have answered that for you. The Researcher: What improvements have been made in the course of your online activities? ThisDay: One of the major improvements we have is that we have expanded our scope. When I first got here we had only the … about four sections, but we now added Life and Style, Entertainment, we have Health and Wellbeing so, and initially we had five. So initially we had five other ones are the new additions. Unfortunately for us, the newspaper, we have more than these. The way this is designed is so that it can accommodate more as in we have the picture page in the newspaper but we don’t have it here. The Researcher: Opinion pages? ThisDay: We don’t have it here. If you put many things (contents) in the opening page you chuffer it and if you chuffer if, it doesn’t appeal. If you chuffer it too much you lose your 249 aesthetics, and people would go to places they can look easily. So these are what we have. So, now we have about ten sections. We have added five more sections. The Researcher: I don’t know if you have social media interactivity? ThisDay: We do, but we have those who are supposed to handle our Twitter and Facebook. The Researcher: What audiences or demographics does the website cater for in terms of age, literacy, social class and geographical locations? ThisDay: This is a little bit difficult. I don’t really know and why am I saying this/ The Nigerian population from the feedback we get from our commentaries …because everybody almost own a phone that can browse, people that would normally not buy a newspaper would once in a while say ’make I even see watin paper carry’ as in they go online. May be they just scan the headline ‘na lie’, this one don chop money’, probably they would go online to check, that is why I can’t really be specific about this your question. But I do know we have some people outside that are regularly bombarding just “we didn’t see this’, ‘we don’t agree with what you wrote, and they come from UK, US, so basically anywhere you have Nigerians. So, somebody in Australia remembers that there is a paper called ThisDay or he wants to know what is happening in Nigeria ,he doesn’t even need to know ThisDay, ones he just goes to the search engine Google and type ‘news about Nigeria’ so you have Vangaurd. ThisDay, Guradian, so he would now pick what to read. Then overtime, which is natural, you now zero in, you may not have the opportunity of reading all on a daily basis. Initially, make I see, make I see, then naturally instinct, human instinct that I like this, I don’t like this. So some people would gravitate to The Guardian, some would gravitate to ThisDay. You know you cannot force anybody to like anything. What you give is what attracts people to you. Luckily, our publisher took time and 1am not saying this because I am here, we are about the most attractive different from the contents because I check The Guardian, I check Vanguard. Guardian is still very conservative, just The Guardian thing. No website that I know, newspaper category, has this much colour we have. And we just changed it, it wasn’t like this before. I think it’s just changed this month. It has been redesigned. Even though our page has changed, the contents would always be the same, primarily trying to highlight what is in the newspaper, breaking news which is another advantage of online. One of the main problems I have is trying to get our reporters to jump into the online age. They wait till around five to send news to the news editor forgetting that in online, we can’t wait. So if something happens 250 now, we can’t wait. So if something happens now, you can’t say ‘Ah readers wait till tomorrow! They would just go to The Guardians, Vanguard or The Nation to read about it. The Researcher: The class, what kind class do you attract? Is it ‘A’ class ‘B’ class…? ThisDay: No, the chairman right from time is smart. If you look at the politics of Nigeria, it is the masses that go to the polls to vote but it is the elite that decide who gets what or who is going to win. So, our target audience is ‘A’ class – government officials, blue-chip companies, CEOs and movers and shakers primarily. The target audience is still supposed to be ’A’, but because it is online anybody can, and it is free. Luckily now, almost all the networks give either free 15 or 10 MB data. The Researcher: And the literacy level? I suppose it should be graduate, college graduate, educated readers? ThisDay: Yes. That is the target audience too. The Researcher: Does the website successfully reach this target audience and can you provide in general terms any statistics or demographics? ThisDay: I don’t know about that. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use, that is, is it news only or news and commercials? And what kind of news does it carry? ThisDay: By increasing our sections, we have virtually covered everything. Now, like I was telling you, we have some news on Agriculture but we don’t carry it because we don’t have Agric section (online). What we have tried to do is if you look at the Agric story and it is along the lines of Business like fertilizer etc, we put it under business. Even though in the newspaper, we have an Agric section but because we cannot incorporate it, there is even a story on how Boko Haram is affecting farming in the North that came under style or life. Again we have tried to argue features, where do we fix them, ideally we should have a feature section but where do we put it. So at times you get stories that you don’t really know where to put them because of our ‘straightjactketted’ section, so where does it fall? The Researcher: Is the website a separate entity or independent from the print version? Briefly explain. ThisDay: Semi-autonomous that is all I would say. Why am I saying semi-autonomous? Like that story (of Ethiopian Prime Minister’s death), I don’t have to wait to get permission from the editor to put it, instead the chairman would call and start abusing. So, we are semi 251 autonomous in the sense that I’ve just done some stuffs (editorial work), she (a technician) uploads them for me. So, semi-autonomous in the sense that we can generate, I’ve done, they have been sent to her and she is uploading, then, the newspaper (hard copy) sends too. We cannot say because we are online, we cannot carry because the online is by extension ThisDay. So, whatever the newspaper (hard copy) does in the night, they sent to me, to us and we now upload. So, basically everything in the newspaper you see them online. Not 100 percent because like I told you we are having problem with segmenting, if a story is very important and we don’t have its segment (section), we just place it under a section contiguous to it. The Researcher: Does your website have separate or same staff (journalists, writers, editors etc) from the print version? ThisDay: Yes, separate. I would explain. Again, we were in the UK in January to do a little course on this thing (online Journalism). Unfortunately again, the Nigerian factor played out when the chairman was harassing us because we had just started we tried to convince him about something. The then (online) editor, the guy has left us now had to calm him down, telling him that, chairman how many of us? Four then, that were doing this and luckily for us we were in the UK, that he (chairman) should call somebody in the BBC. BBC has over 3,000 staff. Why? They take it very serious. So unlike here, like I was telling you somewhere, that I am having problem with reporters, in BBC, it is mandatory even… look at Sky News (a foreign television station) it is the same person that does the blogs and feeds, same thing in CNN. They have realized otherwise, both of us cannot be at one event, then I am saying ‘no’ because of the print, then me I am busy. You go, do a main story for the paper and do four or five paragraphs for the online. You don’t really need to have full report for the online so most of the people reading it online …. You look at the BBC (online) most of their things are not long, maximum may be eight or ten paragraphs. We have not done that here but ideally, that is what we are supposed to do. But we are short-staffed. So when we now told chairman, the man had to keep quiet. How can four people do the entire job? He too was saying go to BBC, go to CNN, Sky. Those guys have all their gadgets, it is from there that they upload to the sites and the editor would read it. You even see that it is almost the same thing you read in the news that you see on the site. Why? Cost benefit. 252

The Researcher: Briefly describe graphically, the production of the website in terms of now copy is gotten, does any editing take place before copy is put on the site? ThisDay: I have explained all this to you. Does any editing takes place? Yes, it does. My short stint working online, until I came on board, we have the former, I wasn’t the editor then, I was sports and foreign editor. Initially, I just get and throw it online and he told me that TS I no read those things. When I started reading, I thought with all their (foreign) editors and gate keeping process, quickly clean copy, they still make errors so, editing still takes place. Again, let me highlight another thing for you. When Okonjo Iweala was striving to be the World Bank President, there was this story pushed out online, in the early morning, I was supposed to go to church but I could not. One of the drop-outs of online, my wife could not understand. Because if you don’t check, something may happen and then Chairman had seen it or somebody has called him that he has been on the site, it is not there, the next thing is complaints. The other time I had surcharge because of Edo state (Gubernatorial election). I just felt there was no way they could release that result (election) before church finishes. I went to church; results came out, the man (Chairman) no loan her (not willing to listen). I got punished for that. So, that morning I was ready to go to church, my madam (wife) was ready, I just checked, and I saw something not Okonjo Iweala but one of the World Bank people but they mentioned her in that story, so I had to wait behind. From the Nigerian perspective which is under (the story) that even though Obama has not officially said on record that one Professor, lecturer was going to be made, (a candidate for World Bank presidency) breaking away from the nom economy or finance. I saw the story, they mentioned her name and there was another part of the story that some former World Bank officials have written a letter to the Board backing Okonjo Iweala that was the story although they didn’t put it because to them that was not news. So I had to rewrite: Ex World Bank employees back Okonjo Iweala. That as an aside, one of the drop outs of online, almost every thirty minutes I check BBC, CNN to see if anything breaks. Copy also comes from the paper. At the height of Boko Haram whenever I got a story, even if it is a stale one, once it comes, I put it online. If I have an exclusive, I don’t put it online because if I do, I would have let the cat out of the bag and every other paper will carry the story after re-writing it. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for your organization? 253

ThisDay: Yes, we do have adverts. We have a couple of adverts. Then another thing we use to do (which generate income) but we have stopped is photos. We used to have this photo reel under just like the Photo Page of the newspaper and people pay for their picture posting on the website. The photo reel was stopped because it was causing problem (among Governors with different pays). The Researcher: What pressure (economic, technology, staff shortage and politics) currently threaten the site and how do they affect the work you do? ThisDay: Surprising, one of my major headaches is that bandwidth in Nigeria is a problem. They say we have 4G in Nigeria, in my brother’s house in UK (during the training) if you just press a button, the page has opened. I was watching matches on my system in his house. And it does not hang, rarely does it. I don’t do it here, why? It is not there, internet is a major problem. There was a time all my networks: Etisalat, Zain, Swift and MTN were not connecting and I was under pressure to update. At later time Swift picked up again and I was able to update. It doesn’t happen in UK and my brother uses only one network. I used to tell people that it was easier for me doing production in the UK than it is in Nigeria. A part from that, I don’t have to think about NEPA. Because of this interview connection: Swift, Ariel, MTN and Etisalat all because work must go on, because anything can break (news break). For a long time people say I should get a BB, I replied that what would I use it for but now I cannot do without it so those ate some problems we do have the amount of money I spend to call them for stories. At the height of the Boko Haraam issue, our reporter in Maiduguri, I called him for a bomb blast story something and he told me editor I would send it, one hour later he hasn’t so I went to AFP, rewrite it without a byline and post it .sometime, you call them and not until four hours later that they send the story, so why am l m in a hurry? And l had been trying to explain to them that in online do not need your whole story. Just give me the gist that is all they need. Change is a major problem in Nigeria. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site, is the site operated, run or managed in-house or is it contracted to an outside party? In other words, does your site have a technical team responsible for its design and putting copies on the site? ThisDay: The design of the layout was done in the UK. Some materials (contents) are actually uploaded in the UK but the bulk of upload is done here. The Researcher: So is there is any technical problem? 254

ThisDay: We have to ping them or call them. And it happens. Immediately they call (for technical problem) and I have to call them. Majorly, uploading is done here except a particular content which was done in the UK because of low internet connection and unavailability of the software to upload it. The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (A system that ensures that online readers pay a certain subscription for reading online)? ThisDay: I am aware of it. I think it was the Times of London that first started it. I don’t know how many other online newspapers ….. I think The Punch tried it but stopped. Even the Times I think they have bent their house style towards it because …okay let us forget. I know it was the Times that started it because it was a big issue, then I used to read it so, The Punch tried it but when problems of the online publishing unlike the newspaper that you can doctor your circulation figures, it is a bit difficult because you have the software that can monitor it for you. Not that it is not ‘backable’ but why go through the pain when you can get another software figure to verify. So that is one of the reasons why The Punch quickly went back on that policy. What do you think led them to it? No doubt about it, The Punch is the paper most people buy even surprisingly I work in ThisDay I buy The Punch at the weekends. Now, they assumed that it would not pay twice. I am buying your hard copy for N150, you cannot say I should pay to read online when Vanguard is free, Vanguard that they would expect to pay so they just quickly relaxed the policy. So I am aware of it but we, it’s free. Anybody can go to www.thisdaylive.com. And you make your money, the more hits you have, the more money you have. The Researcher: Do you apply the ‘Paywall’ billing system? ThisDay: No, we don’t. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained any revenue since your newspaper went online? ThisDay: I am not too sure, because the funny thing they might even start up …… instead of you paying for two things out rightly, pay one and you get two. So I suspect that is a possibility, pay above this and we give you full page here (Print) and online opportunity adverts. The Researcher: Which of your newspaper-online or print-brings in the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue? 255

ThisDay: Online is still relatively new, print still brings more of the revenue because it has more advert pages. Again, because of the way the site is configured it can’t take more than four adverts on a page. Though, I am not sure, but with my little knowledge of economics, when they are selling, they (advert executives) would say only four adverts can come here (website), unlike in the print where you can have 20 adverts but in online we cannot have that much. Like I said earlier, I am new to this thing. But my colleague at The Nation gave me a site. He said according to that site, we are number four or three or number two, is either we or The Guardian that is number three or four, I haven’t tried the site. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice does your newspaper offer or plan to offer any of these in the near future; a choice of language? ThisDay: No Idea. The Researcher: Search engine or search engines? ThisDay: No idea. The Researcher: News prominently placed on the homepage/ ThisDay: You can see we are already doing that. The Researcher: Why? ThisDay: I don’t have the idea that is how I met it. I guess is to attract readers to it. You can quickly …. Your eyes can pick news easily. The Researcher: Links from the first page of the website? ThisDay: I don’t know. But I think for them to have links from the story. I think so, though I am not too sure. The Researcher: Are there links from the news itself? ThisDay: No, we don’t. What we have are tags to take you to the story. It’s not the same as links which would take you directly to where the story is. We don’t have links but we may eventually adopt it. The Researcher: Why would you want to incorporate it? ThisDay: Because it will provide links to other contents and income. The Researcher: Hyperlinks? ThisDay: I don’t know about that The Researcher: Take into account or consideration of users’ browsers and connection speed? 256

ThisDay: I told you that that is the problem I have at hand too. For this last question, I said many things, add and subtract I have added many things. The Researcher: And does the website open on all browsers? ThisDay: Why not?

257

The Sun Newspapers The Interview was conducted at the Newspaper’s Corporate Headquarters, Lagos on Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Researcher: Can I know your name and designation in your newspaper organization? The Sun: I am Dotun Oladipo. I am the online editor of The Sun newspaper. We operate at www.sunnewsonline.com The Researcher: Please, can you give a general background and the history of your newspaper and its online activities or site? The Sun: We have been in business for quite some time and like the new friend in the industry and generally, all over the world, especially in Nigeria where the surge is just catching up, the online version only started of recent. In terms of gauging prominence, it has not been there until the realization that there are more people online now. Especially with the introduction of BlackBerry in Nigeria in the last two years - everybody has practically gone online. In fact we might say it has resulted in a small percentage of deduction in terms of patronage of the print edition, but the online version is with us and here to stay. The Researcher: The newspaper as a whole was started when? The Sun: I don’t have the date now but The Sun has been in the market for over 10 years now The Researcher: When and why did your newspaper go online? The Sun: like I said, it is the realization where the world is moving to. There are some other parts of the world where we have newspapers that are solely online and you find some having up to 600-800 staff. There are so many like that all over the world and it is the same in Nigeria. I can tell you that on a daily basis the traffic on our website now, at least in the last 2-3 weeks is close to 500,000 per day. The Researcher: What is the year that The Sun actually went online? The Sun: like I said, I don’t have that history. It should be about 3-4 years now. The Researcher: What were the major reasons behind the decision to do so? The Sun: One, you get to bring in more people to know of your product. When you are online because like I said, a lot of people now have Blackberries and they are platforms that are readily available with which to get attention of people to the site and then to the print 258 edition. And then you have the Facebook, you have the twitter; those are two strategic media through which you can reach people, especially those in the middle age category. And we obviously know that in terms of economic power and willingness to read, you are talking of people who are within the 23 to say 35 year bracket; people who are socially active, who use Blackberries, who know how to manipulate, how to apply those things to what they are doing. The Researcher: What improvements have been made so far in the course of your online activities? The Sun: We’ve had to redesign the website about 3 times. In fact in the last 2 months, we design it twice. That is the new one that is operational now. And the reason is just to ensure that we are reader-friendly all of the time, easier to access in terms of speed, easier to use in terms of reaching out to people, and all of that. Now, before now, the technology used to be you copy your story; you go and put it on Facebook. It is automatic now once you put the story on the website; it goes to the Facebook and to the the twitter. So those are improvements that are coming which you kind neglect in terms of upgrading your site, if you not current, you cannot do all these. So, won’t be surprised that in the next one week, we might have to redesign again. The Researcher: In terms of audience and demographics, what does the website cater for in terms of age, social class, literacy and geographical locations of the readers? The Sun: The good news with The Sun is that it appeals to everybody. When The Sun started, it was more of a tabloid, but over the years, it has graduated to serve all audience. You still have your tabloid laid of stories in there and it is very strong politically. Economic wise also in terms of providing information it is also strong. So in terms of saying this is where and how you want to run, I think The Sun is in a better position than most newspapers in Nigeria. When you look at The Guardian, you begin to talk about the economy; you talk of The Punch you are looking at politics, so The Sun has succeeded in blending all. And I can tell you that, as somebody who works from the back of the system, that when I look at all of them, I can see that all of our stories in The Sun you hardly have less than 20,000 hits. The Researcher: The geographical location, what is it? The Sun: Most readers are in Nigeria obviously because of our plan. But also don’t forget that we have Nigerians in the Diaspora who want to know what is happening. So, I can 259 quickly tell you that we get read very well in America, UK, Germany, Holland, France and other western countries. In those places where you have a lot of Nigerians, you just look at the statistics and you are impressed. The Researcher: You have talked above the social class, what about the age? Does it appeal to (Cuts in) The Sun: All ages. Yes, like I said, we appeal to all ages. The reason is that we combine human interest story along with politics, with business. So, like I said, when i look at the statistics, I realized that there is hardly any story that we pushed in that you have less than 20,000 viewers. The Researcher: Would you say the website successfully reach the target audience. The Sun: Yes, we do so. We successfully reach them. The Researcher: In general terms, can you provide statistics? The Sun: In which regard now? The Researcher: In reaching the target audiences. The Sun: like I told you, there is no day that less than 500,000 people come to that website in terms of viewership. Yesterday we had over a million. So we are looking at the statistics and we know that those are impressive, especially when you consider our clime. So it is a matter of deploying the right audience. The Researcher: What kind of portal does the website use, is it news only or news and commercials and what kind of news does it carry? The Sun: We combine both. There is no way you are going to be online that you say you want to do it for free. Even if your audience will not pay, there are some advertisers who whether you want to do it not are always on your neck. So we combine both. The Researcher: And what kind of news does it carry? The Sun: All manner of news; human interest, business, breaking news, whatever, entertainment and with that we are even ahead of every section you have in the newspaper online. The Researcher: Is the website a separate entity or independent from the print version? The Sun: It is both. The reason is this: as much as the website will provide you news. The way it runs is this. We run from the print edition to the online that is stories that have been used, that are in the print version today you find online. We also run from online to print 260 meaning that we generate online, breaking news, exclusives, so both way, we have our own internally generated news in the print version and we have their own stories online. The Researcher: Can you tell us why this arrangement? The Sun: Because whichever way it goes, it is one organization. You can’t run away from that fact and we also look at all of those things in taking decision. The Researcher: Does the website have separate or same staff (journalist, writers and editors) different from the print version? The Sun: There are a few staff that are just for the online. But at the same time, like I said, we run from one to the other. We don’t shy away from that. We take stories from them and they also take from us. The Researcher: So you share staff but there are different editors? The Sun: Yes I am basically responsible for whatever happens online. Those who run the print edition (daily & weekend) editors are responsible for them. The Researcher: Can you briefly, graphically describe the production of the website in terms of how copy is gotten? Does any editing take place before copy is put online? The Sun: Certainly there is no way you are going to get a copy and just put it online. You have to edit for grammar, you have to edit for conformity, standard, there are some stories you throw away because they don’t meet your standards. So, like the print, there are standards and you don’t have to run away from, so you have to do editing before you post. You can’t post before you do editing. The Researcher: So, how is copy generated? The Sun: From reporters all over the country or and all over the world. The Researcher: To what extent does the website generate income for the organization? The Sun: It generates a lot of income. From Google adverts alone, we make money. So also we have people who want to advertise. The Researcher: Can you put it in specific percentages? The Sun: For now I would say it is not much because it is just evolving. Like I said, we have been redesigning, now we are there. When you look at the site one month, then we can say this is how much. But I can say may be 10-15 at present. In the next two months, I know it should be able to generate more than that. 261

The Researcher: what pressures (economic, staff shortage, technology and politics) currently threaten your site? How do these affect the work you do? The Sun: I think what I would say is that the pressure is from technology mainly in Nigeria. Where you want to load a story and you are waiting for the service provider (internet) to come up. For ‘ins’, for about one hour I was trying to connect to Airtel and it was just misbehaving and I had to wait for it to come up. I think that was basically the challenge that we are having now. In terms of economic pressure, yes, it would come but, you know any business that you set up, especially when it comes to the media, you will need to give it a minimum of two years to stabilize. But this wouldn’t even take up to that because most advertisers are running away from the print to the online for so many reasons. One of them is once your site is opened; people can see your advents. Two is that the print version is becoming very difficult to manage in terms of cost. A situation where you have a one-page colour advert running for only one day and you are paying about N600, 000, it doesn’t make any sense to most people now. And with the same amount, you can come to online and stay there for one month. So, people will now be talking of reach. The Researcher: You have enough funds to work with? The Sun: Yes of course. The Researcher: On staff shortage, you mentioned that are basically working on the… (Cuts in) The Sun: The good news is that with the online version and the Blackberries even unsolicited information comes to you. For instance, on my way somebody has been chatting with me form Damaturu. I have not seen him before. He does not work for The Sun but he is always interested in us getting stories of happening in Damaturu, so he sent me his own and all I need to do is confirmation. The Researcher: What about the politics of publishing? The Sun: No policies as far as I am concerned. Journalism is journalism. You play politics in your news room as per getting promoted but I can tell you that from my experience in journalism, politics is totally out of it. I do my work and I allow my work to speak for itself. The Researcher: let us talk more about technology, we have seen technology coming in and out within a spate of time you work with one this month and next month there is another one. Has this affected your work? 262

The Sun: Like I said, it has, for instance in the last two months The Sun has been practically off the site. Not that we were not functioning but we were not functioning the way we should because the outlet we were using was too small for the audience that we had. So that restricted us and we couldn’t take breaking news. Once you want to take breaking news and you have about 30,000-40,000 on the site, it goes down. It is part of the problem. So, now the load time for the site has dropped and we are looking for something new again. It is like human life, you have to keep developing, if not you are gone. The Researcher: In terms of design (technology) and putting copy on the site, is the site operated, run or managed by in-house staff or contracted to an outside party? The Sun: It is a joint thing. It doesn’t make any sense to employ designers to sit in the office because you can only redesign may be once in 3-6 months. All other things can be done within. So what you can do is to give out the design to somebody who sits outside and you can give instruction that this is what I want done. Manage your website; get somebody from outside to design it. The Researcher: In other words you have a technical partner? The Sun: Exactly. The Researcher: What if there is a little technical problem? The Sun: If you have a designer outside, the designer works in 24hours. But he doesn’t actually work for you and issues don’t come up every day. There is danger in having people in house, for instance, who are editorial people to begin to manipulate the system. Anything can go wrong so up to the point where you don’t have to do anything technical, you do that. Instead let somebody sit somewhere and do it and which is what everybody all over the world is doing. The Researcher: Are you aware of the ‘Paywall’ billing system (A system that ensures that readers that read newspapers on the net pay a certain subscription)? The Sun: Yes I am aware. But it is not yet operational in Nigeria. The reason is we are just developing. There are newspapers around the world that have up to 600-800 staff and who have up to a million subscribers online, people who pay to get the news. We are not at that level yet. We are working towards it. In the next few months, there is going to be some sections of the newspaper that you cannot have access to unless you pay. We are working 263 towards that because you can’t afford to run everything free. We are running everything free for now but we are getting there. The Researcher: Can you in specific terms compare the revenue of your newspaper before you went online and currently? The Sun: I cannot be very specific because I don’t have all the details but what I know is that we are generating enough online. The Researcher: Sorry, the question is before you went online; if by going online revenue has dropped... (Cuts in) The Sun: No. Revenue has increased, that is basically it. But in terms of specifics how much or what percentage, I don’t have. But certainly it has increased. I can tell you to the extent that the revenue we generate from Google in The Sun (online) is what we use in buying spare parts for our machines when they breakdown. And we still have more than enough in that account. You can’t bring out the money; you know it is in dollars. All you need to do is to tell those that are supplying to give you account and you debit that account straight. So, it is enough to take care of our spare parts and we still have a left over. The Researcher: Have you lost or gained revenue since your newspaper went online? The Sun: In terms of the print? The Researcher: The whole newspaper. The Sun: No, we have not. Whatever you think you are gaining in terms of copy sales is very minimal, too small. Copy sales can’t bring you revenue this country more than 3,000,000 a day. But in terms of adverts in the paper which a lot of people still insist on now is being on the up-swing. Especially, when people know your paper is being followed. What we are now doing is this. There are two angles to it. One is that the old newspaper as it is printed now is on the site. So you can click and view. Every page including advert pages appear. But now we can block out you advert page, if you went it online for people to see, you have to pay. That is one. Two is that when we send out our newsletters, in the morning for people to read, there are some adverts that would go with them. They are paid for. So if you want your advert to come in online from the print, you have to put in additional money. There are ways of loosing revenue on one side and getting it back from the other. The Researcher: Which of your newspaper- online or print-brings in the most revenue in terms of advertising revenue and to what extent? 264

The Sun: The print brings in a lot, more money because like I said, this technology is just evolving. So it is just evolving, you can’t run away from that for now. For the online the future is very bright. The Researcher: Can you put it in percentage? The Sun: I really wouldn’t be able but I can tell you that the print still generates more than 90 percent of the adverts; it is far more than 90 percent. The Researcher: Have you conducted any form of research (audience, media, etc) to ascertain your position in the online market? The Sun: It is readily available online. www.alesea.com. Google Analytics, they all provide data. Before we started redesigning, The Sun was number 3, Vanguard number one, The Punch number 2. So the aim of redesigning, evolving is to also go up and take the number one position. The Researcher: In terms of complexity of choice, does your website offer or plan to offer in the near future any of the following features, choice of language? The Sun: Anybody who is smart knows that there is a language translator that is provided free of charge. Just click and you get any language. The Researcher: How many languages? The Sun: I can’t say. I’m sure there would be over 200 languages. The Researcher: Why do you adopt it? The Sun: Because you want to appeal to everybody. The Researcher: Search engine or search engines? The Sun: Yes, of course. There is search engine. The Researcher: Why is it there? The Sun: It makes life easier even for you that work on the site. I want to search for a particular story even on the site not to talk of outside. It makes it easier. You don’t need to start looking at all the stories one after the other. Just for you to know the title of the story you are looking for. The Researcher: Are news stories prominently placed on the homepage? The Sun: How do we take the position? We placed news stories prominently. What we do is that at every point in time we have a way of reordering the stories in terms of prominence. 265

We have to determine what people see in the slider. We can’t just allow all stories to go there, so you just pick like 5 or 7. It is just like taking your lead decision in print version. The Researcher: Why? Is there any reason for adopting it online? The Sun: Yes, because we want to attract attention. If somebody is visiting your website and you are not careful about your choice of stories, the person would be put off. Even your kind of stories must reflect your coverage area. The Researcher: Are links available from the first page? The Sun: Everywhere. There must be a link that would take you to where you want to view and there are two links. One will take you to similar stories in that category. Yes there are links. The Researcher: What is the function? The Sun: Like I said it helps you in deciding where to go at a point in time. The link also helps you not to crowd your opening page. Just put the title of a story and you put the link, the person would click then it takes the person off the homepage. The Researcher: Are there link within the news site? The Sun: Yes there are links there. As I said, it helps take pressure off the site. It takes them to the main site where readers can access the materials. It is just the news that would be on your site. The Researcher: Hyperlinks? The Sun: Why not, they are there. The Researcher: Why? The Sun: Virtually the same reason. Ensure that the site news stories are linked effectively. The Researcher: Do you take into account users’ browser and connection speed? The Sun: Exactly, that is why we have been redesigning the site. You need to keep working on these so that people can access your site with more speed and less problem. The Researcher: Do you have desktop and mobile version of the site? The Sun: Yes of course. The Researcher: Please, feel free to add any pieces of information that have to do with online journalism. The Sun: Basically, like I said when we started where the online is going now, though the print would still exist, but in terms of the prominence and usage is going to get reduced over 266 time. And the reason is this; you need news on the go. All I have to do is create an alert on my BB on the news and send it. It takes me to the site; and also when you want to be up to date. If anything happens in the country, it is just a matter of seconds, once somebody posts it you will get it. And as a newsman I only need to verify it. There have also been many panic alerts, downside of the online. Generally, we just don’t have the basic training that can assist in effective online journalism.