The Future Of The “newspaper”
In Australia, one of the most read newspapers, “The Australian News Online” is available in both, online and hard copy. The online version has gained immensely over the past few years, as its online availability means it can be accessed any time of the day or night from almost anywhere with an Internet connection. Although a number of news publications have also attempted to provide online access to their print versions, such attempts have been unsuccessful in the sense that they have not been able to maintain a constant reader base.
With the increase in online readership for “The Australian News Online”, it is now perhaps more than obvious that the country’s largest medium sized newspaper “The Sydney Morning Herald” would also experience growth in the same direction. Although it was one of the first newspapers to introduce online versions, many readers questioned whether it had the attributes to become a successful e-newspaper. Its failure to attract a substantial number of readers in comparison to its competitors and the fact that it has been unable to sustain its position for more than a couple of years to raise questions as to the suitability of the e-newspaper as a viable competitor in the Australian newspaper industry.
Fortunately, there are a number of new e-newspapers that have emerged in the last year or so, including “The Australian Online Daily” and” Fairfax Digital” in Australia and “The Australian Online blogger” in New South Wales. Both of these publications have achieved widespread success in the area of providing online news and information, particularly in relation to the breaking news coverage. However, while they have a number of similarities, there are also a number of key differences between both publications. For example, whereas “The Australian News Online” includes breaking news stories as part of its regular news updates,” Fairfax Digital” allows its subscribers to get breaking news as well as topical updates. The latter allows its users to get real time information regarding state and federal elections, sport events, business news, celebrity news, education news, finance news, as well as the latest international news.