The Disruption of Traditional Media: Streaming Services and Social Media

Due to the shift in audience behavior from scheduled programming to on-demand viewing and individualized content consumption, social media and streaming services have radically upended traditional media. Traditional television and print have seen a decline in audience as a result, which has forced legacy media to change by making investments in original content and digital tactics in order to stay relevant. Despite the flexibility and personalization that streaming provides, there are drawbacks, including the possibility of a loss in traditional journalism and news integrity as well as the disruption of advertising models.

Many people find it difficult to manage the complex media landscape of today. Although both new and traditional media are essential to daily life, they both add to this challenge.

Both new and traditional media are vital channels for corporate advertising and are important sources of news and entertainment. The world’s information consumption has also been impacted by the quick advancement of technology.

Print, radio, and television are examples of traditional media. Globally, these platforms have long been the main source of entertainment and news. New media, by contrast, typically refers to newer online mediums, such as social media, blogs and email. New media has changed the ways information is created, shared and consumed throughout the world.

Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each form of media and how to effectively use them is crucial in an era where false information is spreading more widely.

What is Traditional Media?

Channels that have been in operation for decades are usually referred to as traditional media. They are reputable and often adhere to a methodical, expert editorial process. A top-down communication model is a common characteristic of traditional media. A group of experts creates the information, which is subsequently disseminated to a local or national audience.

Traditional news sources are preferred by older age groups, according to Deloitte research. 77% of people aged 55 to 75 and 72% of people aged 45 to 54 said they prefer to watch TV news and other TV shows for news. Of those aged 18 to 24, only 39% agreed.

Traditional media examples include the following:

• Television.
• AM and FM radio.
• Newspapers.
• Magazines.
• Direct mail.

Accordingly, companies have traditionally relied on conventional media to advertise. Traditional media advertising, which includes things like billboards, television advertisements, print ads, and newspaper inserts, usually comes with a high price tag. However, with the rise of new media, old marketing strategies have become less popular. An organization can more effectively target audiences with new media at a lower initial cost. Additionally, this disruption started to indicate a change in consumer preferences.

What is New Media?

Digital communication channels that first appeared with the internet are referred to as new media. The ability of new media to allow users to be active participants is one of its distinguishing features. Users have the ability to produce and share their own content in addition to consuming it. They have the ability to share posts, provide comments, and, in certain cases, engage with the information in real time.

Here are some instances of new media:

• Social media.
• YouTube.
• Email.
• Podcasts.
• Blogs.
• Netflix.
• Spotify.

Since many platforms are not limited to a particular medium, accessibility is another common characteristic of new media. For instance, devices like smartphones, PCs, smart TVs, and game consoles can access the video-sharing website YouTube.

Targeted advertising through new media is also becoming a more and more successful strategy for companies. These can include social media marketing, email marketing, banner ads, and video ads.

Traditional Media vs. New Media

Both new and traditional media have linked benefits and drawbacks that set them apart from one another. The following are some obvious distinctions between new and old media.

Reach

Traditional media generally reaches a broad but limited audience. Limitations are often confined to regional or national boundaries.

New media, by comparison, has a global reach that enables instant global access by anyone with an internet connection.

Engagement

Traditional media is typically limited to one-way communication channels, where audiences are mostly restricted to passively receiving content without many opportunities for direct interactions.

New media is commonly characterized by providing ample opportunities for user engagement. This can include posting comments, sharing content with others and promoting users to create and share their own content.

Cost

Traditional media can be expensive to produce and distribute. Newspapers and magazines, for example, need to pay for an enormous amount of paper, ink and employees to run the printing press plus costs to maintain antiquated equipment.

New media, by comparison, is generally more affordable. Online platforms typically let creators publish and share their content at a relatively low cost. For example, producing and distributing a video essay or documentary can be considerably less costly on a new media platform such as YouTube than it would be on a traditional media platform such as television.

Delivery medium and format

Traditional media typically relies on physical and over-the-air broadcasts, though television is now broadcast digitally. Traditional media is typically accessible through mediums such as paper, television and radio.

New media relies on digital technology in various multimedia formats. New media is typically accessible on devices such as desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets and wearable technology.

Accessibility

Access to traditional media is often dependent on an individual’s physical access to that media. In some cases, this access might be limited to subscriptions and cable packages.

New media is widely accessible to anyone with internet access. Like traditional media, access might sometimes be limited to subscriptions, depending on the media and platform.

Targeting

Traditional media lacks a lot of the in-depth marketing tactics that new media can typically take advantage of.

New media takes advantage of the use of available data analytics and algorithms, making it possible to advertise to select target audiences.

Economic models

Traditional media commonly relies on subscription fees, sales and advertisements.

New media commonly relies on a mix of subscription fees, advertisements and sponsorships as well as a mix of direct and indirect monetization options, such as crowdsourcing.

Credibility

Traditional media typically follows more strict editorial standards, historically increasing its perceived credibility over new media.

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New media typically has less oversight and guidelines regarding user-generated information, historically decreasing its general credibility.

Impact

Traditional media typically has a longer-lasting societal impact on public opinion partially due to its historical role of shaping public opinion over time.

New media commonly has a more immediate and high-impact societal impact when compared to traditional media. However, this impact can be short-term due to how fast information and trends change on the internet.

Trustworthiness and Fake News in Traditional and New Media

It has been said that both new and old media disseminate false information, or “fake news.” Since the problem doesn’t have a single overarching root, it is a complex and multifaceted issue. Similarly, there isn’t a single, comprehensive solution to the issue.

Traditional media

Traditional media has a long-standing sense of trust due to traditional journalism practices of fact-checking and editorial ethics. However, people increasingly feel that some networks lean too much toward specific viewpoints and agendas, making the reporting seem more biased. This perception of bias is a big reason some find it harder to trust traditional media news sources.

Traditional news sources also commonly face commercial pressures that can lead some organizations to promote attention-grabbing stories to attract and hold the attention of more consumers. Certain stories might be presented in such a way where an issue is exaggerated or a more important but less eye-catching detail is neglected. While this doesn’t mean a story is innately false, it can shape how an audience perceives the information and the news source.

A good way to visualize this growing perception of bias and accuracy is by using a news source political bias chart. These charts visually organize news outlets based on perceived political leanings and reliability. The goal is to help people identify where traditional news media fall on the “left” to “right” spectrum and how factual or opinionated they are.

The level of trust the public has in traditional news sources also depends on party and age. A survey from Pew Research Center found that people who lean right are less likely to trust national news outlets compared to those who lean left. However, younger left-leaning audiences are also less likely to trust national news outlets compared to their older counterparts. Another study from Gallup found that 54% of those who lean left and just 12% of those who lean right say they either have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in media.

Hyperlocal news sources — such as local news stations and small-town newspapers — have maintained more trust in the public over time. A separate report from Pew Research Center found that perceptions of local news don’t have the same political divides. The study cites that 85% of adults in the U.S. believe that local news outlets are at least somewhat important to local communities and that 71% of adults believe that local news is reported accurately.

New media

New media faces its own difficulties. One of the largest but more subtle changes that new media brings is in how news is communicated. Traditional media relies heavily on a broadcast model, where one person speaks to many people. New media — in particular, social media — users receive their information through an algorithmic model. Initially, this form of communication reaches a much smaller audience, as it depends on virality.

But the more a post is shared and the more interactions it receives, the more people see it. Because of this, more extreme opinions commonly perform better online because they are more likely to receive interactions. A large negative to this model is that more polarizing content is normalized, and it can exaggerate the spread of disinformation and misinformation.

A Forbes interview with Dr. Julianna Kirschner, a lecturer at the University of Southern California, said social media platforms are more interested in viewership and engagement, which is why they typically prioritize news content that users already support. This is, in part, what creates an echo chamber for users, further exacerbating political divides.

Like how traditional media might exaggerate stories to capture more viewer attention, new media practices include another concept called rage baiting, which is where a news or opinion piece is framed specifically to invoke user outrage and increase interactions.

People commonly consume their news from new media platforms such as social media, blogs, podcasts and mainstream news websites. News content could be created by sources such as mainstream news brands, smaller independent news sources, online personalities, ordinary people, politicians and activists. An issue here is that, depending on the source, news on new media formats lacks a centralized editorial oversight. This creates more room for misinformation and unchecked claims.

Everyone is biased, intentionally or not. That bias, in one way or another, leaks into news sources. What’s most immediately important going into the future is being able to recognize and navigate those biases.

How to Navigate Media and Fake News

It requires a lot of personal effort and an acute eye to navigate the media and bogus news. However, the first step in the process is to be receptive to new knowledge and prepared to modify one’s position in light of more recent, unbiased data.

Among the tactics are the following:

• Media bias charts. Referencing charts such as the Ad Fontes or AllSides media bias charts will help you understand the general political leaning of a source and its accuracy. You can use this to look for more objective news sources to follow or use it as a starting point to better identify potential biases presented by these sources.
• Aggregation apps. There are some applications out there, such as the Apple News app, that collect and show news from a collection of different traditional news outlets. Other apps, such as Ground News, aggregate similar stories from different outlets to compare biases and gaps in coverage.
• Fact-checking tools. Fact-checking websites such as FactChek.org or PolitiFact specialize in checking the validity of different stories and public statements. They also provide evidence-backed ratings to each.
• Be wary while using social media. Because social media algorithms commonly push for engagement, more polarizing content is typically pushed to the front. You should be wary of who is posting information, identify their biases and cross-check their claims.
• Cross-check sources. Don’t rely on a single news source. When following a story, check how other reliable outlets are reporting on it. This will help you spot potential biases and coverage gaps. It is also important to note that developing stories might contain conflicting information and are not an immediate indication of bias, as developing stories might have quickly changing numbers or facts as the story unfolds.
• Look for primary sources. Reliable outlets will commonly cite studies, reports and primary documents that point to where information was initially obtained. Assessing where primary information comes from can provide additional context to the story and might also help you identify different biases.
• Close reading on titles and word usage. Words and phrases used in titles, bodies of text or audio by news outlets might reflect some of their subtle biases. For example, the same event could be called a conflict, war, clash, occupation or crisis by different sources. Each word carries its own connotations that could denote a potential bias.
• Remain critical. If someone claims something is fake news, no matter who they are, it is important to remain critical. Question where conflicting information comes from and how it was sourced.
• Be wary of tech advancements. Audio and video can be manipulated to mislead an audience. And the tech behind this is only getting more and more convincing. Through the use of AI, malicious actors can fake convincing audio and video of someone. Even without the use of AI, malicious actors can still make convincing edits. Detecting these practices can be challenging and requires a keen eye.
• Challenge yourself. If you find yourself in an echo chamber where you are surrounded by a single community or consuming the same news sources, it is important to challenge yourself by looking at more diverse ideas and listening to other news sources.

How Social Media Has Changed Traditional Media

Since the advent of social media, the way people communicate and absorb information online has changed significantly, and this has led to a significant shift in public relations and business communications.

Schumpeter’s theory of “creative destruction” is somewhat applicable here, as social platform innovation upended long-standing PR methods, bringing with it both fantastic new opportunities and difficult new problems.

Direct-to-audience Communication

Businesses have traditionally used the press to convey their tales, and nothing compares to earned coverage (whether from a podcast, industry trade, business source, or focused email). However, social media has reduced the media’s gatekeeping function in terms of messaging and audience reach.

LinkedIn, X, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms have made it possible for you to tell your own story and expand your audience, which will increase awareness of the product you sell and the vision you support.

Information Movement and Barriers

Real-time access to news and information via the internet has been made possible by social media. A lot of folks start by checking social media to see what’s happening and what’s popular.

It is a blessing to have access to this sizable built-in audience, whose usage is frequently frequent. However, the reach of content can be somewhat limited because listeners can build their own feeds by following particular accounts, and algorithms will then deliver more of the type of information they are already engaged with. In order to help their content be seen and their ideas heard by target audiences, businesses must use strategies like influencer marketing, paid amplification, and staff advocacy. They cannot rely on their target audience to find them.

Furthermore, the news isn’t always first reported by the official source. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook enable the public to control and contribute to the news, reaching a receptive audience frequently faster than any traditional news outlet can publish a story. This is evident in live events (sports and entertainment), natural disasters, and political announcements.

Bite-sized Content and High-quality Creative

People who (almost) continuously scan their social media feeds have learned to quickly scan and filter information, focusing only on the headlines or images that truly capture their interest.

Attention-grabbing information presentation is crucial. This entails excellent storytelling and text combined with original or superior creative.

Additionally, it gave rise to micro-storytelling, which is the practice of promoting a narrative or product through brief moments or imaginative content. As long as the narrative is of a good caliber, there is no news hook too tiny, and social media platforms have genuinely made it easier for businesses and their leaders to create and share information.

Influencers

Social media’s ability to provide a platform for anybody with an opinion or something to express is arguably its greatest impact. This has led to a true surge of voices and influencers on social media, but it has also produced an overly saturated social climate.

It has given advertisers the chance to view real-time campaign interaction and discover useful audience insights, habits, and trends. A vast amount of user-generated content has been produced for mining. Naturally, it has also been replaced by influencer marketing and the booming creator economy.

However, social listening and community management have become crucial to PR and brand management because of all these active voices.

Finally, social media has increased the longevity and reach of material. Depending on the number of followers and how others interact with it, earned, owned, and shared content can (and should) be repeatedly promoted to reach hundreds to thousands of fresh eyes. This will also make it visible to their followers.

High-value messages and material can receive far more airtime from those who truly understand social sharing and engagement strategies (i.e., how the algorithms operate, how to produce exposure, and how to drive engagement).

These are but a few examples of how social media has improved traditional media. When developing communications strategy, think about how these two platforms can complement one another to create a more innovative and, eventually, effective program.