A model for successful co-existence of print and online media

For several years now traditional media companies (newspapers, television, etc) have been desperately trying to prevent the internet from undermining their massive profits and power. You would be hard pressed to find a media company these days that does not have its own website, yet some of these (such as ninemsn) are barely more than thinly veiled attempts to hook people into buying magazines and watching television programs. This, I feel, represents the backwards thinking that most media organizations apply to their online presence: “We won’t actually change what we do, we’ll just make a website that sells our existing products! Neat-o!”.

The reluctance to embrace the capabilities of the web is most likely due to the fact that the internet does not function according to the same straightforward revenue model as traditional broadcast media. As Jim Willse, editor of Newark’s Star-Ledger, put it to a conference of news media producers earlier this year, "the business model of newspapers that we all grew up with has blown up.” (For the full article click here).

People no longer have to pay for content, and can access a variety of global media within seconds. However, all is not lost as there are media organizations that I believe are working with the internet, resulting in a stronger media presence and greater engagement with their readers.

One of these media organizations is Ode magazine. The website describes Ode as “The online community for Intelligent Optimists”, and is a great example of how to effectively combine print and online media. The site makes use of the internet’s capabilities as a social networking tool: spaces are provided for blogs; exchange of ideas; information on members of the community; and various interest groups within the Ode community. The website does provide information about the magazine and opportunities to subscribe, but is more concerned with providing a space for users to share their thoughts and ideas. Ode magazine could possibly be seen as a realisation of Howard Rheingold’s virtual communities, which are detailed in Flew (2004, 62). Rheingold (in Flew, 2004, 62) was one of the first to muse about the potential for online communities to reinvigorate users’ sense of community value and foster greater interest, and therefore participation, in public life. He believed that for this to occur, three factors must be in place:

1. Social networks and social capital
2. The sharing of knowledge and information
3. The enabling of new modes of democratic participation in public life

Ode’s online community can tick all of these boxes quite easily. The magazine has managed to achieve what other print publications have not: establish a strong presence on and offline, both of which function independently but remain extensions of a single brand.

There are several aspects of Ode which may have contributed to its success. Firstly, the magazine was established relatively recently, in 1995. This means that rather than having to remodel an existing organization to suit web developments, Ode would have been able to adapt to the internet as both the magazine and internet technology took off. Secondly, the focus of Ode magazine is the sharing of ideas and linking people. This is at odds with the profit-driven motives of the majority of magazines (or any media product for that matter). Naturally, the powers that be at Ode gravitated towards the internet as a perfect vehicle hold open-ended discussions and exchange knowledge and ideas.

References

Flew, T. 2004. Virtual Cultures. In T. Flew, New media: an introduction, 61-82. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Queensland University of Technology: Course materials Database (accessed March 14, 2008).