Media Economics & the Era of Social Media

When reading about media economics and how media outlets are able to function in terms of money it reminded me of the hands on experience I had when interning with the news station. Advertising has a big impact on the news industries. The marketing side of the news is constantly searching for advertisers. During my internship, I helped the marketing side make a Twitter and Instagram page so they could reach more people, especially those of us who are younger and may not like to watch the news. Posting news updates on Twitter is a great outlet of getting news out to those of us who use social media constantly. Without advertisement the newsroom would not be able to function. Every month the marketing side has numerous events in which they put on through their advertisers which helps bring in money for the newsroom. Nowadays more news stations are writing articles about the daily television stories and posting them on their website. I do not think the role of advertising will diminish even though the advertisers could find other ways to reach their customers. I believe advertising through television is a great source for these companies. Even though people can now fast forward through what they do not want to hear, I feel that it is much easier to bypass advertisements on the internet. I for one immediately exit out of advertisements when they pop up on my computer. Even when I listen to Pandora and the commercials come on, I end up muting it until the advertising is over because it becomes annoying. Another way in which the station brings in revenue is by adding subscriptions. Some stories are not available in the full length unless you subscribe to the station. Shockingly, there were many people who did have subscriptions because on air they would always add that more information would be provided online as they gain that information. Also, in order for them to gain more subscriptions they put out an Ipad giveaway. If you were to subscribe to the station then you would be automatically entered to win the Ipad. I think this is a great way of advertising. Not only does this bring in more revenue for the station but it also ups their ratings. The news industry is so competitive especially when it comes to how many followers the have on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and subscriptions. The broadcast industry may be facing new challenges with declines in advertising but I believe it is a way for them to take news into a bigger and newer direction. They can now start to use all of the newer social media sites to their advantage. It is obvious that some news outlets are struggling such as newspapers but if they could transform into today's modern technology they would be more profitable. Some newspapers are starting to not even have a daily newspaper printed anymore because they are struggling financially and because most people would rather turn on the television or just go onto social media to get the scoop.