Technology and the Future of Print New Media

         Over time, businesses have experienced the need to forecast the future of their respective markets, their industry, and the effects of technological and other innovative developments on their organization’s sustainability.  In the late 1960’s, American auto manufacturers predicted the Japanese auto industry would not obtain a substantial amount of the U.S. automobile market; however, as of 2008 Toyota has emerged as the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. (Stansberry, 2011).  Unlike businesses in the American auto industry, print news organizations began to see widespread acceptance of technology and forecasted the potential impact on their traditional new format (Frum, 2013).

Forecasting the Future of Print News

  With the emerging technological advances and increased acceptance of digital devices, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) embarked on a study to assess how advancement in technology and the proliferation of electronic devices would have on the traditional print media markets (Wade, 2012).  In 2009, the WAN merged with the IFRA, an international research and service organization for the news publishing industry in a move to facilitate the study of technology’s impact on traditional print media (World Association of Newspapers (WAN), 2008).  

Through a collaborative effort consisting of representatives from newspaper organizations across the world, WAN developed a series of four (4) scenarios to project how technology and digital device proliferation might impact traditional news media (Frum, 2013).  Wade (2012) noted the intent of the effort focused on maintaining solvency for newspaper organizations while assessing the risk of a digital transformation and future uncertainties facing traditional news organizations and publishers.  Through the analysis of the four (4) identified scenarios, WAN representatives developed courses of action and recommendations for traditional print news media to adjust, adapt, and survive the digital transformation of information dissemination (Frum, 2013).

Factors Influencing the Future of Print News

As predicted by the WAN analysis and scenario planning, the forecast of the future of traditional print media materialized from technology’s saturation of mobile digital devices and the social acceptance of the population (Frum, 2013).   WAN predicted the disruptive behavior of new, mobile technology and devices along with the availability of endless sources of information to the daily publications of print media.  Through acknowledging the potential threat of technology and the risk of social acceptance to the new ways of obtaining instant access to information, the news publishing organizations proactively altered their business model to embrace innovation and technology as a core supporting medium for dissemination of their content rather than fighting the movement or hedging bets on the future of print news and media and the impact on income and revenue opportunities.    

Blogsite: Innovations & Solutions (intrinsicinnovations.blogspot.com)

References

Frum, D. (2013, August 6). World Association of Newspapers Scenario Planning. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from http://personalexpertsystem.blogspot.com/2013/08/world-association-of-newspapers.html

Stansberry, G. (2011, November 10). 8 Legendary Business Predictions That Missed the Mark. Retrieved December 18, 2020, from https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/8-legendary-business-predictions-that-missed-the-mark/

Wade, W. (2012). Scenario Planning: A Field Guide to the Future. John Wiley & Sons. 

World Association of Newspapers (WAN). (2008, April). Scenario planning for newspaper companies (STRATEGY REPORT Volume 7 N°5 APRIL 2008). Retrieved August 2, 2013 from http://www.wan-press.org/IMG/pdf/SFN_7_5-Final.pdf 


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