Print Media vs Electronic Media

The ancient cave paintings, hieroglyphs, symbols, maps, and drawings are all the examples of how human being communicated from time to time. The major forms of media used all around the world today are print media, electronic media. In this article an attempt has been made to compare print media and electronic media. Print media contain materials that are available to us in printed form and which we can carry with ourselves or we can simply say they are portable. The major types of print media are books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, posters, brochures, press releases etc.Books are the oldest medium among all the print media and they re still one of the most widely used among all. These were the books that contributed to the development of libraries in medieval times across Asia and Europe. Magazines and newspapers are relatively new form of print media which gained popularity and became common in the 20th century all over the world, thus becoming leading medium of mass communi cation. The advent of newspapers and magazines greatly helped in the communication at the local, national as well as global levels during the last two centuries.It can also be said that these acted as agents of globalization to a large extent. They also helped in anti-colonial movements across the world. Electronic media imply to that form of media which can only be accessed by an electronic device. The largely used electronic media are radio, television and internet. Radio is no doubt the oldest of electronic media. It came to the public in late 19th and early 20th century and within few years it became one of the daily items of use for millions of people worldwide.It became one of prime sources of entertainment, knowledge as well as information. Radio was also used as an effective medium to transmit messages during the world wars. The mid-20th century saw the rise of television as an electronic media and it very quickly became the most fascinating all over the world. The reason fo r the success of television is very simple. It appeals to our visual as well as hearing senses. The visual appeal of television is perhaps unparalleled to any mass media. Till now it remains the most popular mass media.With the introduction of World Wide Web (www) the internet Stats there were more than 2. 4 billion internet users on June 30, 2012. The internet's popularity as mass media is because of the fact that it enables one to access any and any information by Just click of a button. It is also a two way communication medium as it helps interacting face to face by the use of appropriate instruments and internet connection. Thus we can say that both print and electronic media have contributed greatly in the process of mass communication. Both have their respective advantages as well as disadvantages.But to neglect or ignore one for another would not be the ideal way because each form has its own significance. The books, for example, cannot be replaced by television, while the a ttraction of internet and web cannot fully overtake the charm of newspapers and magazines. Moreover people working in different media fields and their livelihoods would be affected if any media suffer a setback. But at the same time one must also be ready to accept the reality that with time it would become difficult for old media to survive in the new â€Å"digital† age.So, for its survival the old media must make use of new techniques and technologies to upgrade itself and also try to keep intact its genuineness which by no way is an easy task. But still we can try. The production of the e-books, e-newspaper and internet radio are some of the successful efforts to assimilate the old with the ew. The Future of Newspapers Newspapers have been concerned about their future for some time now. While the number of adults reading newspapers and the number of papers sold each week are higher than ever before, the growth of newspaper readership has not kept up with the growth of popu lation in this country.Young people, especially, are not turning to newspapers. Young people who seek news for years have turned to television, which has done a superficial Job, for the most part. And now comes along the Internet. The Internet gives us up-to-the minute news the way radio has been ble to do, but the Internet lets you filter out the news you dont care about and only receive the news you do care about. This certainly begs the question: Are the print media dying? University professors and professionals ask the question at their conventions and conferences.But by some definitions, the newspaper is one of the most interactive media around. That paper product Just isn't electronic. You can start reading them at the beginning, middle or end. You can stop anytime you want, and start again when you want. There are indexes to help you Jump around to the spots you want. You can take it almost anywhere. You don't need batteries. Thirty years ago the experts were predicting that newspapers as we knew them would be dead â€Å"in 10 years. † We'd all be receiving news from videotext machines (a primitive form of computer).Well, today, the experts are not predicting that newspapers are going to go away, but they will change. Readers will look to both the Internet and print editions of the paper for news. Newspapers have strong brand recognition when it comes to news and readers who want reliable news will go to the media they trust. But print media that go online will not succeed simply by shoveling their old content onto the World Wide Web. To make money they will have to provide value added ads, and original Web content.In actuality, there is a greater demand today for news and information. Those who are trained to reliably gather information from a variety of sources, synthesize or make sense of it, and repackage it for dissemination in a variety of formats will be in great demand. New media, which includes the World Wide Web, is one of the fastest g rowing and highest paying career fields for the news media. The vast majority of newspapers in the country now have web sites, though most of them are stuck in the paradigm of creating content for their