Around the world, most major newspapers have developed an Internet presence, which has enabled most people in different parts of the globe to access their papers and know what is happening worldwide at the swing of a mouse.
Everybody loves news regardless of its form. Hence, it is not necessary to compete with each other, but rather complement each other since the audience is different.
Newspapers are cheaper for those who have to pay for Internet usage especially in the third world countries where connection is often very slow due to many factors including slow Internet connections/modems or using one line for both Internet and phone.
There are a few pluses of print media, which include reading while commuting, while having breakfast at a restaurant even though it is irritating to some people to hear a sound of a turning page.
Online, however, it's most efficient because everything is always a mouse-click away and with just one click one gets the news while the papers are still in print. Online is more publications are often updated, with sometimes hourly updates while the paper can only update the reader a day after.
In an interview with a colleague, he prefers online media because it is very convenient to him and he can also take a print out which he can refer later or read at the comfort of his home later without paying.
Most working places are now connected to the Internet, which makes it even easier for almost everyone to access the global media. The pictures are also very clear and colourful compared to a paper and they have archives if a reader has missed an edition.
He also added that online media is convenient because he can now get to read newspapers in different parts of the world, access local papers when he is in another country which was not the case before. "It's fast, simple, and convenient. All you have to do is start downloading."
It is really difficult to foresee whether or not the print media have future in the modern technological era or be able to maintain its presence in the future decades because what they have is accessible on the Internet.
The newspaper readership is also declining due to the rising costs of buying and producing. The increasingly complex and high cost of distributing a paper is also taking readers online.
Most of the awards have gone to the online publications because most of the journalists have demonstrated many of the potentials that they can achieve.
They have shown the consistency of the Net as a global platform for communication and had underscored the new leading role of online media. The strengths of the online newspapers have shown that it's a global medium, and a new multimedia format of news.
Online media, especially the Sunday Times of South Africa is one of the few South African papers to blow a whistle on corruption during the arms deal in which a government official (the then ANC Chief Whip) was involved. The Zimbabwean Minister of Finance's misuse of funds and illegal dealings were also unearthed. All in all, most of what the print publishes also goes to the Net.

Thandiwe Solwandle is the Editor of NGO Web in Lesotho

Copyright © 2004 Third World Media Journal A Quarterly Publication of Third World Media Network (TWMN)