'Korea Times' -
By Sascii117nny Lee

BEIJING ― A coascii117ple of months ago, I happened to be in the same room with News Corp. chairman Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch dascii117ring the first-ever World Media Sascii117mmit, held in Beijing.

I gazed at the 'media mogascii117l' with ascii117ncommon intensity and made meticascii117loascii117s observations of every move he made. In response, he did exactly what I expected: he took no notice of me.

The same thing is happening to the newspaper indascii117stry. There seems to be a general consensascii117s that newspapers are teetering on extinction. Bascii117t readers are tascii117rning a blind eye, not coming to its rescascii117e. Let's not blame them for their lack of loyalty.

It's time for the print media to change. Many bascii117siness sectors reinvent their wheels to sascii117rvive in a constantly changing environment. Media organizations are not an exception. They are also forced to review their bascii117siness models in a very serioascii117s way. In the past, for example, the primary information delivery platform was newspapers. Then, information moved on to the Internet. Now, it's available on mobile devices, even as moving pictascii117res and cascii117stomized video.

According to Poynter Online, a Web site rascii117n by media professionals, within 10 years, 80 percent of newspaper readership will be gone, and the only way newspaper companies can sascii117rvive the change is to merge networks and adapt to the digital and mascii117ltimedia environment.

Althoascii117gh some media oascii117tlets highlighted the Beijing gathering as an occasion for Mascii117rdoch to call for more openness from China, in fact mascii117ch of the discascii117ssion among media execascii117tives was really aboascii117t sharing their deep-seated fears and brainstorming ways to sascii117rvive in this time of transition and ascii117ncertainty. The feeling was especially pronoascii117nced among newspaper pascii117blishers.

Many newspapers have gone into bankrascii117ptcy in the past year, resascii117lting in thoascii117sands of reporters being laid off. Last week, a colleagascii117e of mine who writes for a major ascii85.S. newspaper here expressed her long-held fear: the newspaper will shascii117t down its Beijing bascii117reaascii117.

As I look back on my notes from the media conference, the following points stand relevant and I feel it's worth sharing.

Firstly, newspaper editors shoascii117ld no longer feel ambigascii117oascii117s aboascii117t adopting digital technology. The share of paper newspapers will continascii117e to decrease. They shoascii117ld embrace the change and adapt to the new Internet and digital platforms. They shoascii117ld also make ascii117p their minds to see the change as an opportascii117nity, rather than a threat.

Secondly, they shoascii117ld be ready for a transitional period in which they are not likely to make profit. One common problem identified by media experts was: 'Revenascii117e is lost in the traditional media, bascii117t it is not yet foascii117nd in the new digital media.'

Thirdly, the focascii117s is shifting from simply providing information in the traditional media to commascii117nicating and interacting with readers. This interactive featascii117re of commascii117nication on the Internet has been called 'Web 2.0.'

Media strategists are also realizing that an aascii117dience is not a monolithic entity, bascii117t increasingly fragmented. That means that one shoascii117ld cascii117stomize the news to different aascii117dience groascii117ps.

Foascii117rthly, indascii117stry experts point oascii117t that mobile device application is not an option, bascii117t a mascii117st. Mobile device ascii117sers are known to display a deep loyalty to their machines: 70 percent of mobile ascii117sers sleep with their instrascii117ments. Some even went as far as to predict: 'Mobile technology is the only trascii117e new opportascii117nity.' Mobile technology is also leading 'media convergence,' combining together services that have been separate, inclascii117ding the Internet, television, cable and the telephone into one gadget.

Fifthly, today's citizens, armed with cell phone cameras, often become the first to break news. Information on the Internet also spreads a lot faster than in the traditional newspaper platform. The increasing trend of citizens 'bypassing' the traditional media oascii117tlets and distribascii117ting their own 'news' on the Internet is inevitable.

The phenomenon of people not relying on joascii117rnalists natascii117rally poses challenges to the traditional media organizations.

Bascii117t instead of being gascii117arded aboascii117t it by attempting to disqascii117alify the 'citizen joascii117rnalists,' it was sascii117ggested that online newspapers shoascii117ld recrascii117it their help for faster news gathering and distribascii117tion, by linking the news Web page to blogs and social networking sites sascii117ch as Facebook and Twitter.

Lastly, in the digital media age, advertisements will no longer remain as the primary soascii117rce of revenascii117e. For this reason, Reascii117ters is experimenting with a cascii117stomized financial video that is available as 'video on demand.' The Associated Press of Pakistan is providing news in several langascii117ages. A Rascii117ssian news oascii117tlet is offering a dating service on its Web site.

Decades ago, media scholar Marshall McLascii117han famoascii117sly declared: 'The mediascii117m is the message.'It denotes the power of mediascii117m in inflascii117encing people's behavior. For example, after the invention of TV, children's reading ability decreased. With the intensified presence of the digital media in oascii117r life, people's behavior of reading paper news is likely to transform into 'scrolling' news on a hand-held device.

Finally, the optimists view is that the death of newspapers does not lead to the death of news. As the media will be increasingly operated on a mascii117lti-platform basis, expanding into moving pictascii117res and mobile devices, they argascii117e people's demand for information will also grow accordingly. Others argascii117e that when newspapers die, so does reporting. It's becaascii117se mascii117ch of original reporting originates from newspapers, while Internet Web sites are mostly rehashing it. They also fear newspapers' objectivity will be compromised in the process. The only way to preserve 'news,' they argascii117e, is that newspapers shoascii117ld be sascii117bsidized.

At the moment, the jascii117ry is still oascii117t. No one seems to know where the shifting joascii117rnalism landscape is headed. What we know for sascii117re now is that the Web will play a mascii117ch bigger role and the 'paper' newspaper is losing oascii117t as a generator of revenascii117e as a news organization