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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Since the predictions of Marshall McLuhan about the global village phenomenon, there has been an unequalled surge in the introduction of new and better information tools, which, are increasingly complementing and replacing older traditional tools of mass information. New media delivery systems, new information processing, storage and retrieval systems have become the vogue. Currently, newspapers and magazines make use of the World Wide Web (www) among other services of the net to create and maintain web servers in which they publish contents of their papers. The flourishing of newspapers and magazines online may not be unconnected with some possible secondary reasons- including enthusiasm for new technology and the general sense that one wishes to be part of the new wave at the moment not minding the adverse consequences.

Therefore, if these speculations and assumptions are true, then the production and distribution of the print editions of newspapers may be hampered thereby impinging on the revenue profile of some newspaper organizations. Above all, this phenomenon may signal an attempt at subsuming and fusing the Print Newspaper into the fast-paced communication technologies which are daily bestriding the communication space.

In the colonial days, tavern readership of newspapers was marked by interaction and argument, in which news stories served as what one historian in America described as “gambits, provocative first moves in a game the reader would then play”. Newspapers of the 19th century were usually read to the family and interpreted by the man of the house. Twentieth-century news saw the TV anchor assume that role, and some observers believe that today’s Internet news returns us to the spirit of the tavern as people discuss news items in forum of various types(Rodman, 2010: 109).

Rodman further states that, “changes in readership naturally affect the structure of the industry. Over the years, for example, readers moved from the cities to the suburbs, and the industry followed as the city papers died and new suburban papers were born”(2010: 109).

However, the advent of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the patronage level of the mainstream media (Newspaper, Radio and Television), especially the Newspaper, which has been the oldest among the trio.

At the moment, newspaper publishers make use of t he World Wide Web (www) among other services provided by the ICT to create and maintain web servers in which they publish contents of their papers. This is a departure from the traditional hard or print copy that has lasted over centuries.

The flourishing of newspapers online may not be unconnected with some possible secondary reasons- including the urge for new technology and the general sense that one wishes to be part of the new trend at the moment not minding the adverse consequences. And if these assumptions are true, then the readership of the print editions may be hampered thereby impinging on the revenue profile of some newspaper organizations.

Therefore, this phenomenon may signal the possibility of low patronage by readers who may be technology savvies. From the newspaper industry’s point of view, an alarming trend among changing patterns of readership is

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