1) Convergence – Thanks to a continuing series of mergers and acquisitions, there are very few standalone newspaper publishers anymore. Think of the Time-Warner conglomerate or Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp empire. Dr Stephen Quinn of Australia’s Deakin University and advisor to Australian media company Fairfax Media Limited spoke eloquently of the results of having diversified media under one roof. Basically, journalists are now expected to file stories that may be told using more than one form of media depending on suitability and ability to reach key demographics. Did you know that most radio audiences tune in in the morning, for example? A single piece of news may be transferred between company’s divisions so it can be aired on TV, fill a column in a newspaper or be the subject of a magazine editorial.
2) Speed – In today’s digital world, reporters no longer bother with the newsroom. The Sydney Morning Herald reporters capture stills, video and interviews with cameras and other recording devices, transfer them to their PDAs and file stories in 4-6 minutes. A story can be copy-edited and out on a webpage in another 6 minutes.
3) The Rise of Citizen Journalism – This is probably no surprise to anyone, but citizen journalism has become increasingly important. Newspapers & news broadcast channels all over Asia now have email addresses and telephone numbers for user-contributed content. The Sydney Morning Herald receives more then 100+ user-contributed bits of news a day and many go on to become news stories. The youth-oriented user forum STOMP in Singapore has seen huge success with some STOMP stories going on to air in the mainstream news.
4) The Changing Role of the Editor-in-Chief - Several speakers told us how the traditional Editor-in-Chief/CEO figure had changed. He or she is no longer simply a yes-no decision-maker, but has become the conductor of a very complex symphony orchestra of journalists, editors and even citizen-journalists etc etc.
5) Old Books Never Die, they just go online – With an increase in digital printing and print-on-demand, traditional print-runs and dusty book inventory have become a thing of the past. Future consumers will be able to order books on the web, have one or two copies printed to order and shipped, and receive the finished item in a few days. Both publishers and consumers win with increased access to the “long tail”.
6) The iTunes written library – Some book publishers have started doing this already either on their own or with aggregators. You can now login to some of these sites and assemble your own books, usually for classroom needs. Mix and match chapters the way you would music tracks and read the resulting textual remix.
7) DigitALL - Steve Garton, Global Head of Media at Synovate gave an excellent overview of the changing world of digital media. In 2006, Synovate conducted a PAX survey which tracked media, affluence and influence in 11 Asia-Pacific countries. Respondents ranged in age from teens to 60+. Some interesting facts revealed by the survey include the fact that the average respondent spent 2 hours a day on the Internet; this is more than they spend reading, listening to radio or watching TV. Asia in particular is embracing the digital world rapidly, 39% of global broadband users are in Asia, higher than any other country, including the USA. The survey also reveals that “Women blog, Men download” – hmm, this reminds P of an Avenue Q song…
8) Social Networking is King – It is estimated that 40 billion videos a month are viewed on Youtube and let’s not talk about the number of Facebook users worldwide. Consumer groups are now taking power for themselves through blogs, travel sites and shopping recommendations. Apparently 70% of social networking (esp Facebook) is done during “Work Time” aka 9-5pm. Practically everyone in Advertising is now desperately trying to reach this demographic.
9) Perpetual Partial Attention – Everyone is now multi-tasking in a media-saturated world. Today’s youth try to fit 38 hours of activities into a 24 hour day. Primetime is dead, now it’s “My time” as everyone wants their news and information on tap.
10) The Third Screen –According to Steve, after TV and the PC, comes the mobile screen, either a mobile phone, PSP or iPod. 43% of global mobile sales are in Asia as compared to 8% in North America. It is estimated that there are 550 million mobile internet users worldwide. Furthermore, most survey respondents rated internet and mobile phones as “the most essential media”. By contrast, TV is looked at as a vehicle for leisure and entertainment. Advertisers are starting to reach out to the mobile platform with SMS and Bluetooth discount coupons.
11) Search, search, search – OK, everyone knows about Google’s dominance, but apparently social search is the next big thing. Think about your technorati, your del.icio.us. Search is also reaching out further than the internet. TIVO has now linked with Amazon in the US to feature related adverts. In an on-demand world, Search is the centre.
12) China – OK, everyone’s watched the Olympics and knows about China’s billion plus consumers. Did you know that China has 253 million Internet users versus the USA’s 218 million? Did you know that there are currently 12.2 million websites out there with the .cn suffix? 25% of Chinese internet users say that they shop online and 81% say they read online news. It is predicted that the language of the web may be Chinese in the not-too-distant future.
13) Big Brother is Watching You – The increasing use of mobile media means that web-trackers, cookies and other web-analytics are following you wherever you go. Mobile phone locations can also be traced easily nowadays thanks to satellite communications and GPS. Forget the CCTV, your mobile is the biggest invader of privacy.
14) Youth is wasted on the young – It’s not just the so-called Millenium generation (ie 15-24 years) that are embracing digital media and the internet, all ages go on the internet for search, email and web-surfing. Many 50+ executives are eager embracers of digital trends. Age is a mindset thing, at least in the digital media arena.
15) The Semantic Web – The next big thing are machines and web browsers that know what you want before you do. It’s begun already – search for a travel guide to Alaska on Amazon and get picture guides and cruise adverts flashed up on your screen next time you visit. Think about how it would be if all the companies integrated their info and threw in all those profiles you entered into Facebook and LinkedIn?
The times they are a changin'.....
Pretensions attended a convention for Asia-Pacific-based media last week. The focus was primarily on traditional print media, particularly advertising-driven newspapers and magazines, but with a few stray talks on books, broadcast media and personal development (aka presentation skills, time management, mind-mapping) etc.
