UNAIR NEWS – Recently, Kompas Gramedia (KG) publisher stopped publishing four of its print magazine, including Bobo Junior, Mombi, Mombi SD, and Nova.
Universitas Airlangga Communication Expert Dr. Suko Widodo Drs MSi believed that the phenomenon was bound to happen, especially during the digital era. “It’s a long time coming; it’s a digital transformation,” Dr. Suko said on December 28, 2022.
“The closing is the consequence of the digital transformation era, where everything that was manually done turns to be all-digital,” said the Communication lecturer at UNAIR.
Third generation
The mass media are currently in the third generation, which was marked by the plummeting use of paper in the media industry. The first generation happened around the 17th to 18th century with the rising of newspapers. Two centuries after, the second generation occurred with the emergence of broadcasting media like radio and television.
“Today, it reaches the internet level. The third generation is mostly online. The paperless phenomenon happens in the third generation,” he said. It causes a lack of connectivity between the culture of the print media industry and the current information society.
The digitalization trend causes people to read fewer books or newspapers, as they are able to gain the same information through gadgets. Besides, print media take up more space, which people deem impractical.
Adapting to people’s ever-changing tastes, Dr. Suko suggested print media transform their ‘product’.
“If the publisher wants to survive, like it or not, it has to switch to online. Launch some content creators and digital design. Transform it to virtual [products],” he suggested.
The New York Times has adapted the practice since 2015. “In 2015, The New York Times placed their digital products as the main one. Once it goes online, the print is unnecessary. It’s fine,” Dr. Suko said.
Lastly, he suggested media industry changes its content management to expedite content upload.
“Once, magazines might have taken a week to be printed, while newspapers needed 24 hours. Today, it is even faster than newspapers so they are not left behind,” he ended.
Author: Agnes Ikandani
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
