East Kilbride News and the changing landscape of news organisations

 

Where do people find their sources for news these days? Gone are the days when the print industry ruled, with many magazines and newspapers now struggling and finding the circulation shrinking rapidly. Many publications have even shutdown printing and have moved solely to being online traders. Worst hit are the smaller printing publications, with many of them going out of business completely.

It can take a large budget to launch an online site with all the content and updates you would need - with many publications not having the outlay budget to support that. The harsh reality is many companies can only support one format to publish the news. There are still many sites that publish local news. For example the East Kilbride News publishes daily updates from the likes of Linda Fabiani MSP, or events in the community. Many of these community sites are great portals for a targeted audience to interact with those around them in the area. Many are even run by locals, people with a charitable nature who are willing to publish stories for the benefit of the community.

The rise of social media has also transformed the way we read news; with so many people now relying on the new source from the figure Facebook or Twitter feeds. This can also be bad news for big news agencies since often this news comes second-hand through friends rather than the person visiting their own website. Many of the new sites are kept alive through online banner advertising, parallel to adverts in the print newspapers.

Many people would argue these changes are for the better, with people having a larger than ever selection of sources for the news. Years ago you could never imagine the average person in the West able to see Eastern news agencies like Al Jazeera in such a positive and open manner. Many more places have to be more transparent with the news story, ensuring the source is correct due to the large availability of information on the Internet. This can only be seen as a positive development, however many critics also claim there is still nowhere near enough transparency in media news organisations today.