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Writing for New Media

• MM214, Module 1, Lesson 1 is about writing for new media.

Traditional and New Media

• Traditional media describes mass media tools like television, radio, billboards and print.
• New media refers to newer channels such as search, e-mail marketing, and social media.

What is Traditional Media

• Traditional or "old media" involves non-digital advertising and marketing methods.
• These are marketing methods businesses have relied on for years.

Traditional Media Examples

• Television advertisements
• Radio ads
• Direct mail ads
• Billboards and off-site signs
• Banner ads

What is New Media?

• New media, also known as digital media, mainly uses online methods or the Internet.
• It uses digital channels that have become popular in the last decade.

New Media Examples

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Content marketing
• Social media
• Email marketing

Traditional Media vs. New Media

• Both new and traditional media differ in access and distribution.
• Traditional media is distributed and accessed through channels like television, radio, or print.
• New media is distributed and accessed through digital channels like social media, search engines, or email.
• New media marketing is known for its cost-effectiveness.
• Digital media advertisements are often cheaper than traditional methods.
• It is more affordable to acquire new leads and customers through digital channels.
• Traditional media channels make understanding audience interaction with ads challenging.
• New media makes it relatively easy for the audience to interact and communicate with a brand
• New media makes it easier to track campaign results and see which ads drive leads, sales, and revenue in comparison to traditional media.
• New media offers audience-targeting features which are better than traditional media.

Features of New Media

• Social media networks are examples of new media.
• New media is digital, interactive, hypertextual, globally networked, and sometimes based on simulation.

Digital Characteristics of New Media

• With digital technology growth in the 1990s, most information is converted, stored, and transmitted as binary code.
• Digitalization allows much information to be stored on compact hard disks or micro memory cards and allows instantaneous transmission of information via cable and satellite.
• Analogue is the opposite of digital, it is stored in physical form.
• Examples include print newspapers, records, and old films and T.V. programs on tape.

Interactivity of New Media

• "Old media" tended to be a 'one way' medium, with audiences on the receiving end, passively watching the media.
• Increased interactivity can be seen by liking a Facebook post or commenting on a blog.
• Some users create their own blogs and videos and actively upload their own content as 'prosumers'.
• New media has fostered a more participatory culture, with more people involved and the roles between consumer and producer of media content becoming more blurred.

Hypertextual of New Media

• Hypertext, or 'links' are a common feature of new media.
• Allows users more freedom of choice over how they navigate the different sources of information available to them.

Global Network Characteristics of New Media

• Digital media has also facilitated cultural globalisation as humans interact with the world much more globally and via virtual networks of people rather than locally.
• The networks allow 'collective intelligence' to increase by pooling resources easier.
• A wider range of talents and sources of information are available.

Virtual Worlds of New Media

• New media presents us with a very different reality from face to face, or 'lived reality'.
• Most people experience a very fast-paced flow of information with numerous products and people wanting attention.
• This has only existed since the mid 2000s, and can be remembered as new media virtual reality

Simulation of New Media

• Simulation goes a step beyond the 'virtual' nature of new media.
• Simulation happens using computer games delivering an immersive experience for users into a "virtual life” simulated through digital technology.

Evolution of Communication Technology

• Pony Express, mid-19th century emerged as revolutionary in the United States.
• Riders on horseback traversed vast distances, delivering mail and messages with unprecedented speed.
• Telegraph, developed in the early 19th century.
• Allowed messages real-time over distances through electrical signals.
• Telegraph facilitated between distant locations and industries such as journalism, finance, and transportation.
• Telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and marked a watershed moment in technology.
• The telephone interpersonal communication between individuals in real-time across distances.
• Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought mass communication to the airwaves.
• Radio played a pivotal role in shaping American culture and identity, from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats to rock 'n roll.
• Television, emerged as the dominant medium in the mid-20th century.
• Television offered both audiovisual entertainment and news programming across the country.
• Television transformed not only entertainment but also political campaigns, advertising, and societal norms.
• Internet, began in the late 20th century.
• The internet heralded a new era of connectivity, and information exchange.
• Originally for military and academic purposes, the internet rapidly expanded into a global network how content is accessed and shared.
• Mobile phones in the late 20th-early 21st centuries ushered is unprecedented in mobility and connectivity
• Mobile phones transformed communication by making it portable, it has allowed individuals to stay connected while on the go.
• Smartphones advanced the trend, devices into multifunctional tools for communication, productivity, and entertainment.
• Social Media rise revolutionized how how people interact, share information, and form communities online in the 21st century.
• Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram enable instant communication, content sharing, and social networking across billions of people on a massive scale.
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) reshapes how people experience and interact with digital content.
• VR immerses users in virtual environments, while AR overlays digital information onto the real world.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) enhances innovation in technology.
• AI-powered chatbots, virtual assistants, and recommendation systems are enhancing personalized communication experiences,
• IoT devices are connecting everyday objects to the internet, enabling seamless communication and data exchange of devices.
• 5G networks promises communications evolution and speed, less latency and greater connectivity.
• These will fuel the development of the Metaverse and the physical and digital reality space combined.

Online Journalism

• Online journalism refers to news reporting on digital platforms such as websites, social media, blogs, and other online outlets.
• Online journalism has flexibility, speed, and immediacy unlike traditional journalism which has physical and time constraints.
• Online news can be presented interactively or in multimedia format.
• Digital journalism distributed via the internet is contemporarily known as netizen or online journalism,.
• Product of such journalism: news and current affairs in text, audio, video, or forms like storytelling and news games.
• Disseminated through media technology.

Key Characteristics of Online Journalism

• Immediacy: The ability to publish stories instantly.
• Accessibility: Worldwide audience reach.
• Interactivity: Readers can engage with news in ways that traditional media can't offer.
• Searchability: Archived stories are easily searchable.

Features of Online Journalism

• Online journalism has unique characteristics and is immediate and interactive.
• Immediacy: News is immediate as events occur.
• Interactivity: Readers can interact with content by commenting, reacting, or even sharing it.
• Hypertextuality: hyperlinks relate content to other contexts.
• Multimediality: Attaching images, videos, and data visualization enriches content.
• Shifted time: Online content is always available, even if archived.
• Real-time: Offering updated breaking news and events as they happen.

Principles of Online Journalism

• A compelling online story must give readers control over time and space for content consumption.
• Online journalism must allow audiences to engage by commenting, reacting, or exchanging information.
• Articles must have:
  • Unambiguous headlines
  • Sub-headings
  • Bullets or number lists
  • Hyperlinks
  • Highlighted words
• Brevity is essential for influential online journalism.
• Techniques include wWriting concise articles and focusing on a single point in each paragraph.

Online Journalism in Communication Tech

• Technology made journalism interactive.
• Online journalism uses texts, videos, images, audio, and data visualizations.
• Each media type has its usage and impact.
  • Text stories:
    • Analyzing complicated topics
    • Clarifying figures and facts that are difficult to understand
    • Provides background/history to a subject from various perspectives.
  • Well-captured pictures:
    • Gateway to delivering human emotions, eg, fear and triumph
    • Convey ideas faster and easier. - Videos:
    • For stories with action
    • Establish connection with the story hero
    • People prefer video content
  • Data visualization:
    • Sorting complex topics with visuals in informative content.
    • Audiences extract/gain insights.
    • Combines effectiveness of engagement of photos, videos, and facts of texts deliver information.
    • Decision-maker audiences make decisions quickly.
  • Multimedia story package means many media (text, graphics, animation, video and sound) working together to present information, its human interactivity.