Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry

Case Study Introduction

News Institution Research

The Guardian-

• The newspapers online edition was the 5th most read paper read online in 2014, whereas it produced only 180,000 print copies of the paper.
• Right wing news paper
• Demographic is 40-80 years of a male dominated gender with a 60% male and 40% female.
• Owned by Scott Trust Limited
• Founded in 1821 and replaced the times famous paper known as "Manchester Observer"
• Sister newspapers include: The Observer and The Guardian Weekly
• Any profits made from The Guardian is reinvested into journalism rather than the shareholders. 

ITV-

• It is an independent TV under the ITA (TV Authority)
• Audience share: 13.27%
• ITV was first launched in 1955 and replaced the Channel 3 button on remotes
• Broadcast channel exclusively to broadcast
• Hold TV's most famous celebrities as well as duo's such as Simon Cowell as well as, Ant and Dec

BBC-

• It is known as the older national broadcasting station
• It is also the largest in the world by holding over 21,000 employees
• The BBC has established itself under The Royal Charter and is under the agreement with secretary of the state
• Makes over £5.1 Billion
• Non-bias system
• Funded by the TV licence in which the entire country should pay for in order to access the internet and watch BBC programmes
• Founded in 1922 (nearly 100 years ago)
• Has a public remit that it ensure to follow: Educate, Inform and Entertain

Metro-

• Is a free news paper, given to workers who go through the underground (trains)
• Has gained a constant number of people to read the news paper
• The third most used paper in 2016
• Has over 1.5 million readers

The Sun-

• Audience had declined by 300,000 people during 2015, likely cause of this could be the end of page 3
• The paper had received a daily proportion of 5.5. million daily readers
• The demographic is very much male dominated with a 59% male and a 41% female audience (this could show that page 3 had made the male figures slightly more higher than female ratings)
• The most ranked news paper in the UK
• The Sun is a tablid news paper that is sold in th UK and in Ireland since 1964
• The Sun had sold over 2.2 million copies in 2014 which was slightly under The Daily Mail
• Audience has declined dramatically over the years
• Has under 2 million readers

The Impact of Google:

1) Why has Google led to the decline of the news paper industry?:

One of the reasons as to why there is a decline of the newspaper industry would be because of the ways that businesses can be promoted through Google.Google is an innovative experience that is homed by the internet. Google has allowed the possibility of user interaction and data transferring. This makes it easier for data and information to be delivered to a wide audience much quicker, by typing what you are looking for. Due to the huge user base on Google, there is over 50 million different pages, each holding new information for other users to get hold of. People can now search for information they require without having to go into their local store to buy a news paper. In addition, information on Google is free, meaning that the hard work and effort journalists do to find a story, can already be on Google before the paper has even been published, which has led to avast decline in the newspaper industry.

2) Statistics:

• "$60 billion plus of potential annual ad sales that print publications seem to have lost, Google had grabbed about $44 billion by 2012, from virtually nothing in 2000". 

3) Personal autonomy of Google to blame:

In 2004 was the year that it had gone into its steepest. This could be because of the rise of smartphones at the time which has had convergence as 2008 also saw a slight dip in advertisement investment into print. This would've probably explained why there has been more advertising online than on print.I don't think Google is to blame for the downfall of the newspaper industry. Like the article said, it is the sites that have been developed within Google that are to blame. Google is simply a house that holds all these sites in place, anyone can make a site and share information. Google is just allowing for a wider user interaction hub.

4) Comments of other people:

"You can’t single out Google just because it’s the largest digital company. Patch, for example, invested hundreds of millions into journalism in the US and continues to search for the model that will work going forward. There are many who are investing in the future of journalism".

In my opinion I believe that majority of people are taking a stab at Google simply because they are a multi-million business that operates under a lot of power. I don't think that google is to blame for the loss of occupations from the newspaper industry. Google have found a phenomenal way to ensure that advertisers can promote their businesses. Since the internet is a widely accessed platform, then advertisers would want to use this to their advantage. Because of this, more and more people are likely to see the adverts online. Most People attempt to downgrade businesses that are doing extremely successful and tend to criticise them more than praising them.