About my project

My term paper was on the Future of Old Media. With the new media craze, I was curious to see what was in store for old media such as newspapers, magazines and television. Using databases provided by Baruch library, I searched for articles and papers on the topic. I didn’t find a lot of research papers examining old media and its future that would be helpful to me. However, I did find one that discussed where old media went wrong. I thought this was very useful and interesting because I would think that new media would be the cause of traditional media industry’s struggle to survive. I mean it is PART of the reason but they aren’t entirely to blame. The paper titled “Facing the Fabulous Monster,” An Nguyen [the author] discussed what old media companies did when new media emerged. Because they were comfortable in their strive and maintence of stability, they weren’t quick to utilize the new technology which they had much potential for. When new media became increasingly popular, they weren’t prepared; so they devised defensive strategies, in fear of getting replaced.

I also did research just by using Google to search for articles on old media. I found survey statistics that show a decline in the old format’s use and increase in internet and new media use. Along with that, I found articles that spoke about the industry’s problems such as layoffs, buyouts and bankruptcies due to low advertising revenue and less spending.

My opinion on the issue is that I think old media will survive. They’ve been around for such a long time and have been a reliable source of information; that, I feel, can’t be replace. New media is great and so is the internet; however, sources on the web aren’t accurate or reliable. And, the accuracy of information now-a-days is important, not just timely. Both media has it own advantages which I think they need to learn from each other instead of trying to defeat one another.