Ro
En
Рy27 May 2015
1661 reads
Slava PERUNOV, editor of the independent weekly “СП” published in Balti, and of the site www.esp.md
An almost global collapse
The development of Internet and of the new information sending and receiving technologies by smartphones, tablet computers etc. – media experts forecast the slowly but sure disappearance of the written press in the following 10-15 years. This tendency is partially confirmed by certain events on the media market of the US, Europe and the CIS countries.
According to some data published on the Internet, the demand of printed media products has been continuously decreasing during the last decade. From 2000 until 2012, this index decreased in the USA by 62% and in the Western Europe by 26%. If it is to compare the decrease in the advertisement sales in the written press, then the figures are almost the same: the same sales went down by 60% in North America. This phenomenon does not only affect the developed countries. It is a global tendency – the demand of written media products decreased by 23%. There are, however, some exceptions in Asian countries (India and China) or Africa, where written press sale rates are still growing, but this is due to the alphabetisation process, which is currently growing, and to the low rate of Internet penetration in some countries.
According to the Pew Research Centre, the rate of Americans who read printed newspapers decreased in the last decade from 41% to 23%.
Moldova is a small country, therefore we cannot dream at huge newspaper and magazine printing. This is why the cost of newspapers and magazines is higher. The production costs in our country are the same if not higher than in other countries. Many possible readers left the country – some of them emigrated forever, others work in Russia and in the West. Many of those who left the country are socially active citizens, who care about the life in their native country and place. We could say they are the educated readers from the countryside that we lost.
A weak economy leads to poor advertisement market. Because of the low income newspapers and magazines obtain from advertisement, they are forced to increase the price for their products, which, consequently leads to reduced runs, audience, and, therefore, reduced income. The lack of newspapers profitability was caused not only by the country’s low economic indicators as a result of the embargoes imposed in the last two years, but also by the sudden devaluation of the national currency in February this year. Since the paper and other materials newspapers and publishing houses need are bought in euros and dollars, this inevitably affected the cost of the written press. Thus, in 2014, some of the national and local publications increased their prices by 1-2 MDL for retail sales. The constant economic recession also affected the providers of advertisement in the written press. Some of them disappear from the newspaper and magazine pages during winter and summertime, others disappear forever. Because of the instability on the monetary market, we lost one of our best providers that has ensured us with advertisement for 10 years, while another provider cut the volume of its advertisement by a half during wintertime.
Neither central, nor local authorities support the written press, neither by means of subsidies or grants, nor by providing local producers some privileges, or by protecting the local market from the import products. Unfortunately, the government representatives often treat the written press as a propagandistic tool. This is why part of the written press in our country serves certain politicians or even belong to them. Politicians and the present government are not interested to develop an independent press, based on principles of professionalism, probably because they do not understand that a democratic society is based on an independent press. In this respect, it is more and more doubtful that they truly want to build a democratic country.
Some newspapers had to reduce their runs, number of pages, give up colour, and even to dismiss some of their staff. Besides, some publications increased the price to subscriptions and to retail sales. Many publications that do not belong to politicians and oligarchs are currently bankrupt – they have to pay back salaries, back rent and publishing services payments etc.
Judging by the current situation, the future of the written press in the Republic of Moldova is quite dark, even if publications in the countries of the world started to adjust to the constantly changing reality and publish their newspapers and magazines both on paper and online.
The development of Internet and of the new information sending and receiving technologies by smartphones, tablet computers etc. – media experts forecast the slowly but sure disappearance of the written press in the following 10-15 years. This tendency is partially confirmed by certain events on the media market of the US, Europe and the CIS countries.
According to some data published on the Internet, the demand of printed media products has been continuously decreasing during the last decade. From 2000 until 2012, this index decreased in the USA by 62% and in the Western Europe by 26%. If it is to compare the decrease in the advertisement sales in the written press, then the figures are almost the same: the same sales went down by 60% in North America. This phenomenon does not only affect the developed countries. It is a global tendency – the demand of written media products decreased by 23%. There are, however, some exceptions in Asian countries (India and China) or Africa, where written press sale rates are still growing, but this is due to the alphabetisation process, which is currently growing, and to the low rate of Internet penetration in some countries.
According to the Pew Research Centre, the rate of Americans who read printed newspapers decreased in the last decade from 41% to 23%.
Moldova is a small country, therefore we cannot dream at huge newspaper and magazine printing. This is why the cost of newspapers and magazines is higher. The production costs in our country are the same if not higher than in other countries. Many possible readers left the country – some of them emigrated forever, others work in Russia and in the West. Many of those who left the country are socially active citizens, who care about the life in their native country and place. We could say they are the educated readers from the countryside that we lost.
A weak economy leads to poor advertisement market. Because of the low income newspapers and magazines obtain from advertisement, they are forced to increase the price for their products, which, consequently leads to reduced runs, audience, and, therefore, reduced income. The lack of newspapers profitability was caused not only by the country’s low economic indicators as a result of the embargoes imposed in the last two years, but also by the sudden devaluation of the national currency in February this year. Since the paper and other materials newspapers and publishing houses need are bought in euros and dollars, this inevitably affected the cost of the written press. Thus, in 2014, some of the national and local publications increased their prices by 1-2 MDL for retail sales. The constant economic recession also affected the providers of advertisement in the written press. Some of them disappear from the newspaper and magazine pages during winter and summertime, others disappear forever. Because of the instability on the monetary market, we lost one of our best providers that has ensured us with advertisement for 10 years, while another provider cut the volume of its advertisement by a half during wintertime.
Neither central, nor local authorities support the written press, neither by means of subsidies or grants, nor by providing local producers some privileges, or by protecting the local market from the import products. Unfortunately, the government representatives often treat the written press as a propagandistic tool. This is why part of the written press in our country serves certain politicians or even belong to them. Politicians and the present government are not interested to develop an independent press, based on principles of professionalism, probably because they do not understand that a democratic society is based on an independent press. In this respect, it is more and more doubtful that they truly want to build a democratic country.
Some newspapers had to reduce their runs, number of pages, give up colour, and even to dismiss some of their staff. Besides, some publications increased the price to subscriptions and to retail sales. Many publications that do not belong to politicians and oligarchs are currently bankrupt – they have to pay back salaries, back rent and publishing services payments etc.
Judging by the current situation, the future of the written press in the Republic of Moldova is quite dark, even if publications in the countries of the world started to adjust to the constantly changing reality and publish their newspapers and magazines both on paper and online.
________________________
The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values and integration project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values and integration project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Photo: http://esp.md
