The News is just not News anymore...

Remember the days when we would grab our morning papers to see the latest front page story. Or eagerly await our next copy of Heat magazine to see what hideous outfit Jordan has been recently snapped in?

Await no more.

I dont think there is a day that goes by anymore where i DONT know what the front page of the following days paper is going to be or the latest celeb gossip. And that is all thanks to New Media.

I love that i am now able to access immediate news via my mobile phone by either looking on news sites or simply just following the newspapers via Twitter, but i do wonder the longterm impact this may be having on the good old fashioned Newspapers. Does it make me more determined to go and buy tomorows paper when i get a snippet the night before online? Or do I wonder whether I will be paying for old news?

Obviously demographics is a bit part of this debate, as there will remain to be a wide group of people that will purchase hard copies of the news because they do not avidly use the internet. But in terms of the younger generation and particularly students who cannot afford to buy a daily Newspaper & Professionals who lead a very busy lifestyle, checking online news is a very convenient option.

As an example of how powerful online news can become, just recently we saw the riots in the UK get extreme publicity way before they made the front page of the papers - and that was all down to the dominoe effect of Twitter. As people Tweet, the news obviously spreads. In this particular circumstance we saw the massive impact this had. People were effectively using this site to encourage one another to impair more damage.

It appears to be the way forward in terms of spreading stories whether they be good or bad. And newspapers will need to embrace this if they wish to have breaking news on the front page the following day.

I am obviously not insinuating that i believe the sales of Newspapers and Magazines is in massive jeopardy and will suddenly plummet because everyone will start getting their news online - of course not.
Newspapers will still serve a purpose, as you just cant beat a good old copy of your daily Sun. But i do believe that in time Newspapers may become less effective as people will be able to receive the news quicker and easier elsewhere.

It all boils down to moving with the times, and if in such a short space of time sites such as Twitter can play such a huge part in breaking news stories to the world, who knows what the situation could be in another five years? Everything is becoming electronic and i think it would be naive to ignore that this could be the future in terms of how we receive our news.