An analysis of the preference of online and digital newspapers over print newspaper in Nigeria

A PhD research proposal on: An analysis of the preferenceof online and digital newspapers over print newspaper in

Nigeria

2015

A PhD research proposal on:

An analysis of the preference of online and digital newspapers overprint newspaper in Nigeria

ByNaziru Alhaji Tukur

2015


Nigeria

2015

AbstractInformation and Communication Technology has brought about changesfrom traditional print to online and digital form of newspaperpublication as a means of delivering the content to the readers. Thisnew trend allows publishers to pass across information to the readers,easily, quickly and sufficiently; and this has also availed readers alittle more wider latitude as to prefer one finished product of thenewspaper over another, either of the soft copy or hard. Moreover,because these three varieties of the newspaper contain almost the samecontent, readers are not expected to read all the three varieties ofthe newspaper, hence the preference of one variety over another. Itis causing major changes to the publishing industry and stakeholdersin the publishing sector in Nigeria. This research work tries to findout the influence behind, fueling the preference and its attendantimpact on the print newspaper readership. The research will use surveyas a method and questionnaire as an instrument of data gathering. Theresearch also employs Uses and gratification and Medium is the Massagetheories in supporting its argument.INDEX WORDS: Digital Newspaper, Digital Revolution, NewspaperVersions, Nigeria, Online Newspaper, Publishing, Vendor ship,Readership, Revenue


Nigeria

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1.1 Introduction

Newspaper companies around the globe are being forced by ever

increasing new development in information and communication

technologies for changing their mode of producing and distributing

news content. Since 1980s, mass print production have changed

dramatically. The long lasting lead typesetting has now become

obsolete. Offset machine, desktop publishing and other digital


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technologies have completely transformed newspaper production

(Kasdorf, 2003 cited in Hillesund, 2005)The attendant effect of the

changes is a continuous decline in newspaper circulation, readership,

and advertising.

The decline is as a result of changing reader’s consumption,

which is caused by the Internet, changing times, changes in socio-

cultural traits in different societies, demographic changes which

inform new audience taste for news, economic challenges, as well as

the impact of new technologies (Smith 1980; Jones and Salter 2012 in

Aliagam, 2015 ). Internet has resulted in newspaper consumers

developing the habit of wanting internet news, free news, quick news

and interactivity i.e blog and user-generated content. The inability

of traditional newspapers to provide all these emerging perks has

prompted a prediction that many newspaper companies will be forced to

change in order to survive; adapting the style, the content, and the

design of the newspaper as well as adopting new technology, which

empower consumer’s involvement. Never before has the newspaper

industry been affected the way that it is today.


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The introduction of internet in the mid-1990s has affected and

changed the habit of reading printed newspapers. The major change is

seen in the digital natives who were raised with internet and

preferred the internet environment (Chyi, 2012). Online and digital

distributions are not restricted by time, space and material

limitations inherent in printed newspaper and is getting wider

acceptance (Downie Jr. & Schudson, 2009). The physical newspaper has

to be transported by car, airplane, human, etc, before it reaches the

audience, with hitches that have not yet been proffered accurate

solutions to, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. The

preference of online and digital newspaper over print is giving a wide

margin every day since the start of the first newspaper on the

Internet, The Columbus Dispatch on July 1, 1980 (Shedden, 2013).

1.2 Statement of the problem

Since July, 1980, newspaper readers were presented with a choice of reading

any or both of a soft copy or hard of a newspaper issue both of which

contain ‘similar’ number of news items and content (Flistrucchi, 2005). A

lot of research established readers’ inclination towards soft copy of

newspaper more than the printed in Europe and America (Nattermann, 2010,

Pew Research Center, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2015 & Simon, 2012); but

http://www.dispatch.com/


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other researches indicated reverse of the trend in developing countries of

Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America (Franklin 2009). In digital age,

newspaper content has to be converted only into electrical impulses (in the

case of telephones), light signals (in fibre optics), or radio waves (in

wireless networks) and reach the destination in seconds (Hellisund, 2005).

The newspaper vendor here is circumvented.

Circulation, since 2000, has been falling down drastically, and

reading habit of a printed newspaper is in full of hemorrhage across the

‘digital natives’, ‘digital immigrants’ and ‘digital settlers’ of newspaper

audience (Simon, 2012). Newspapers with a website were observed to have more

circulation than the others. This is the result of what a survey, in 2003,

conducted in France, has found (Harper, n.d.). “2013 marks the first

time that the majority of adults – 55% – have used the internet to

read or download news from sources including newspapers and magazines”

in UK (Office of National Statistics, 2013). A survey conducted by Pew

Research Centre in 2012 in America indicated the decline of news consumption

through print newspaper and saw the increase of its online content

consumption by 39%. Print newspaper readership has been down sized from 56%

to 29%, between 1991 and 2012 (Pew Research Centre, 2012).

Flistrucchi, 2005, has conducted a study in Italy on the impact of

Internet on newspaper market and found that online newspapers were a


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substitute to the print newspaper rather than complimentary or independent

goods. He further stressed that the increase in the preference of online

always is growing higher. In Australia, data released by Enhanced Media

Metrics Australia (EMMA, 2015) shows print media still being preferred

to digital though the level of the digital news consumption is

appreciating a near margin (3.7% print news readership decrease

against 3.2% digital news readership increase) to print news

consumption. EMMA proved that a research conducted by another

orgnisation – The Newspaper Works says print newspaper has 13.9

million readers while “digital” newspaper has 11.3 million readers –

shows similar results with its own – 13.9m readers against 11.7m

readers.

In Malaysia, online news media is taking lead in the quench of

news thirst of Malaysian newspaper readers, which fronted a call in

2008 by the then-Home Minister in Malaysia, Syed Hami Albar to regard

“the alternative media the mainstream” media. A yardstick Albar used

was that even “main stream papers are trying to emulate them [the

online papers]” (Straits Times, October 22, 2008, in Salman et’al,

2011).


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This research work tries to find out the influence behind, fueling

the preference and its attendant impact on the print newspaper

readership, vendor ship, revenue of newspaper, circulation of

newspaper and publishing as an industry in newspaper. Most studies, in

this area in Nigeria, give emphasis on the impact or changes that are

brought with Internet on print newspapers circulation and or

readership, but felled short to identify factors at the rear of the

surge of the preference of one over others (either online, digital or

print).

1.3 Objectives and scope of research

The main objective of this research is to assess the preference of

the online and digital newspaper over print among newspaper readers

in Nigeria. Explicitly, it looks forward to:

1. Determining the influence behind readers’ choice between online

or digital newspaper over print in Nigeria.

2. Determining the impact of the preference of online/digital

newspaper on print newspaper readership in Nigeria.


newspaper on print newspaper vendor ship in Nigeria.


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newspaper on print newspaper revenue in Nigeria.

5. Determining the impact of the preference of online or digital

newspaper on print newspaper circulation in Nigeria.

6. Determine the survival strategies employed by print newspaper

with the presence of online or digital newspaper in Nigeria.

7. Exploring the revenue source of online or digital newspaper and

viability of the source in Nigeria.`

8. Determining the possibilities of the extinct of print copy of

Newspaper in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Method

The study involves using quantitative research method of the survey

approach with questionnaire as instrument with a view to providing

‘empirical data’ obtained from the sample population of the

respondents, thereby providing a unique instance of a real community

in a real situation (Hansen et al, 1998; Cohen et al, 2011).

Cohen et al (2011) are of the opinion that the survey method

enables researchers to collect data related to a particular point in

time in order to describe the nature of the existing conditions, the


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standards by which they might be measured and the relationships

existing between specific events. In this study, therefore, to find

the existing relationship between the online/digital newspaper and

print newspaper, a survey of major newspaper with national coverage in

Nigeria will be conducted. The data obtained through the survey

research method is expected to provide simple information on people’s

existing behaviour.

Basically, because of its suitability for the collection of data

pertaining to current issues or attitudes, such as the impact of the

preference of online and digital newspaper on print newspaper and to

test the applicability of the questionnaire, as well as the opinions

of the population under study, the research finds it appropriate to

use the survey method. In fact, this type of research seeks not only

to collect data but also to investigate individuals’ opinions,

behavior and attitudes towards certain issues, like the one before

hand.

1.5 Data collection

Questionnaire


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Taking into consideration the nature of this study, the study decides

to use questionnaire containing both open and close-ended questions as

the basic tool and instrument for the data collection, because it

provides structured, numerical data, as well as helping to

standardised and organize the collection and processing of the

information (Hansen et al, 1989; Randolph, 2008; Cohen et al, 2011).

The basic advantage of using the questionnaire for this study is that

it has fewer financial implications and is appropriate to use with

descriptive data, employing simple procedures to analyse them using

computer assisted statistical applications. Most of the questions were

closed, and the respondents can select their response from a fixed set

of responses (Randolph, 2008), so the questionnaire would be designed

based on the outcome of the pilot study conducted with the help of the

supervisor of this research.

In addition, the personal approach system of questionnaire

administration, otherwise known as a self-administered questionnaire

without the presence of the researcher (Cohen et al,

2011), would be used with a view to attracting a high response rate,

as it is the best way of administering a self-completion questionnaire


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(Hansen et al, 1998). The questionnaire can be filled in by the

respondents in the presence of the research assistant or in his/her

absence, but the system will give the participant room to complete the

questionnaire privately, devoting much time to answering the questions

(Cohen et al, 2011). However, it is decided to use the personal

approach system rather than the online system because of the

inadequate internet service, insufficient power supply, and the

inability of the research to refund respondent the cost incurred of

accessing the questionnaire on the internet, in Nigeria

15.1 Data analysis

The data collected for this study will be analysed using

quantitative content analysis and qualitative thematic analysis,

taking into consideration the research questions underlying the study.

1.6 Research questions

1. What does influence readers’ choice between online/digital

newspapers over print newspaper in Nigeria?

2. What is the impact of the preference of online/digital on print

newspaper readership in Nigeria?


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3. How is the impact of the preference of online/digital newspaper

on print newspaper vendor ship in Nigeria?

4. What is the impact of the preference of online/digital newspaper

on print newspaper revenue in Nigeria?

5. To what extent is the preference of online or digital newspaper

is impacting on print newspaper circulation in Nigeria?

6. What are the strategies of survival being employed by print

newspaper with the presence of online or digital newspaper in

Nigeria?

7. What is the revenue source of online or digital newspaper and

viability of the source in Nigeria?

8. Are there possibilities of the extinct of print copy of Newspaper

in Nigeria?

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Information Science Department of Publishing in partial fulfilment

of the requirements of the bachelor of science honours degree.

An analysis of the preference of online and digital newspapers over print newspaper in Nigeria

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