More media, less news
1. The first thing to greet a visitor to the Oslo headquarters of Schibsted, a Norwegian newspaper firm, is its original, hand-operated printing press from 1856, now so clean and polished it looks more like a sculpture than a machine. Christian Schibsted, the firm’s founder, bought it to print someone else's newspaper, but when the contract moved elsewhere he decided to start his own. Although Schibsted gives pride of place to its antique machinery, the company is in fact running away from its printed past as fast as it can. Having made a loss five years ago. Schibsted's activities on the internet contributed 35% of last year’s operating profits.
2. Unfortunately for the newspaper industry. Schibsted is a rare exception. For most newspaper companies in the developed world, 2005 was miserable. They still earn almost all of their profits from print, which is in decline. As people look to the internet for news and young people turn away from papers, paid-for circulations are falling year after year. Papers are also losing their share of advertising spending. Classified advertising is quickly moving online. Jim Chisholm, of iMedia, a joint-venture consultancy with IFRA, a newspaper trade association, predicts that a quarter of print classified ads will be lost to digital media in the next ten years. Overall, says iMedia, newspapers claimed 36% of total global advertising in 1995 and 30% in 2005. It reckons they will lose another five percentage points by 2015.
3. Even the most confident of newspaper bosses now agree that they will survive in the long term only if, like Schibsted, they can reinvent themselves on the internet and on other new-media platforms such as mobile phones and portable electronic devices. Most have been slow to grasp the changes affecting their industry- ‘remarkably, unaccountably complacent', as Rupert Murdoch put it in a speech last year-but now they are making a big push to catch up. Internet advertising is growing rapidly for many and is beginning to offset some of the decline in print.
4. At first, from the late 1990s until around 2002, newspaper companies simply replicated their print editions online. Yet the internet offers so many specialised sources of information and entertainment that readers can pick exactly what they want from different websites. As a result, people visited newspaper sites infrequently, looked at a few pages and then vanished off to someone else's website. Another early mistake was for papers to save their best journalists for print. This meant that the quality of new online editions was often poor. Websites hired younger, cheaper staff. The brand's prestige stayed with the old medium, v/hich encouraged print journalists to defend their turf. Still today at La Stampa, an Italian daily paper owned by the Fiat Group, says Anna Masera, the paper’s internet chief, print journalists hesitate to give her their stories for fear that the website will cannibalise the newspaper.
5. For the past couple of years, however, newspapers have been thinking more boldly about what to do on the internet. At its most basic, that means reporting stories using cameras and microphones as well as print.
More newspaper companies are likely to treat their websites as a priority these days. ‘Before, newspapers used their second- and third-rate journalists for the internet,' says Edward Roussel, online editorial director at Britain's Telegraph Group, ‘but now we know we’ve got to use our very best'. Many companies are putting print journalists in the same room as those who work online, so that print writers are working for the website and vice versa. Some insist that this is a mistake. ‘It is completely wrong not to separate web and paper operations,’ says Oscar Bronner, publisher of Dor Standard, a daily paper in Austria. Print journalists don't have time to reflect and analyze properly if they also have to work for the website, he argues.
6. How impressive are the results of these online experiments? At lots of newspaper companies, internet advertising is growing by at least 30% a year, and often more. At la Repubblica in Italy, for instance, the paper's website gets about 1 m visitors a day, nearly double the circulation of the printed paper. The value of online ads grew by 70% in the first half of 2006. For the first three months of 2006, the Newspaper Association of America announced that advertising for all the country's newspaper websites grew by 35% from the same period in 2005, to a total of $613m. But to put that in perspective, print and online ads together grew by only 1.8%, to $11 billion, because print advertising was flat. At almost all newspapers the internet brings in less than a tenth of revenues and profits. At this point, says Mr Chisholm, 'Newspapers are halfway to realising an audience on the internet and about a tenth of the way to building a business online.'
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: Detail question - asks why newspapers are losing income
Correct Answer: C
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage clearly says newspapers still earn most of their money from print, and print is in decline. Because they rely on print for profit, their income is falling.
Passage Reference: For most newspaper companies in the developed world, 2005 was miserable. They still earn almost all of their profits from print, which is in decline. As people look to the internet for news and young people turn away from papers, paid-for circulations are falling year after year.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'earn almost all of their profits from print, which is in decline' = Option: 'they still rely on print to make a profit'
Tips: Always check what is given as the main cause. Look for phrases like because or explanations after statistics.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Students may choose this because the passage mentions old machinery. However, this is about history and image, not income. This is a Context shift trap.
- B: It is tempting because people are turning to the internet, but the passage does not say people stopped reading news completely. This is a Extreme language trap.
- D: The passage says internet advertising is growing, not causing losses. This is a Contradiction trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- decline = become less
- circulations = number of copies sold
Question Focus: Detail question - asks about the trend in print advertising
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: Overall, says iMedia, newspapers claimed 36% of total global advertising in 1995 and 30% in 2005. It reckons they will lose another five percentage points by 2015.
Why this is correct: This option is correct because the figures show a fall in percentage share of advertising. Print advertising is clearly losing its share of the market.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'claimed 36% ... and 30% ... will lose another five percentage points' = Option: 'lost its percentage of the advertising market'
Tips: When you see numbers across years, check if they go up or down before choosing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: This sounds logical, but the numbers show a decrease, not an increase. This is a Contradiction trap.
- B: The passage shows print is losing ground to digital media, not maintaining its position. This is a Contradiction trap.
- C: Young people are mentioned in relation to reading newspapers, not advertising. This is a Wrong section trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- claimed = had
- percentage points = amount of share
Question Focus: Inference question - asks what newspapers must do to survive
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Even the most confident of newspaper bosses now agree that they will survive in the long term only if, like Schibsted, they can reinvent themselves on the internet and on other new-media platforms such as mobile phones and portable electronic devices.
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage explains newspapers must move into new-media platforms like the internet and mobile devices. This means expanding into the multimedia market.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'reinvent themselves on the internet and on other new-media platforms' = Option: 'expanding into the multimedia market'
Tips: For survival questions, look for words like only if. They usually signal the correct answer.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Mobile phones are mentioned as platforms, not products to sell. This is a Context shift trap.
- C: The passage says newspapers were slow before but are now acting. This is a Contradiction trap.
- D: Copying print editions online was described as an early mistake. This is a Time/tense trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- reinvent = change completely
- platforms = systems used to deliver content
Question Focus: Detail question - asks why using novice writers was a mistake
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: As a result, people visited newspaper sites infrequently, looked at a few pages and then vanished off to someone else's website. Another early mistake was for papers to save their best journalists for print.
Why this is correct: This option fits because the passage explains readers quickly left newspaper websites and went to someone else's website. This suggests the content did not keep them and benefited other sites instead.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'vanished off to someone else's website' = Option: 'their articles were copied onto other websites'
Tips: Be careful. Sometimes the test expects you to link cause and effect, even if the wording feels indirect.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: There is no mention of experienced journalists sharing ideas. This is a Not Given trap.
- B: Although quality is mentioned elsewhere, this option does not match the specific outcome described here. This is a Partial truth trap.
- D: The passage never says novice writers copied material. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- vanished off = left quickly
- novice = inexperienced
Question Focus: Detail question - asks how newspapers show online editions are important
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Many companies are putting print journalists in the same room as those who work online, so that print writers are working for the website and vice versa.
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage directly says print journalists and online staff now work together. This shows websites are treated as a priority.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'print writers are working for the website and vice versa' = Option: 'making print journalists work with online writers'
Tips: When a question says these days, ignore examples described as mistakes in the past.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Using cheaper staff describes the past, not what happens these days. This is a Time/tense trap.
- C: Giving reporters time to think is mentioned as an argument against mixing roles, not a current practice. This is a Context shift trap.
- D: Keeping departments separate is one person's opinion, not the general trend. This is a Wrong section trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- vice versa = the other way around
- priority = something treated as important
General Tips:
- MCQ questions follow passage order, so use the location of the last answer to help find the next.
- Do not choose an option just because it sounds logical in real life. Always match it to the passage.
- Watch for time signals like 'at first' and 'these days'. They often separate wrong and right answers.
- Eliminate options that clearly contradict numbers or trends in the passage.
The rest of this explanation is for members. Sign in free to read why the other options are wrong, key words and tips.
Sign in to read the full explanation