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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
subscribers. The sales of single copies continue to fall. One reason is free Internet
content.
Apple launched iPad, its new e-reader or tablet, in April 2010. The device looks like an
iPhone but is bigger with its 9.7” colour screen and also provides battery life of 10
hours. iPad comes with WiFi Internet access and devices equipped with 3G can be
used as a mobile phone (Palser 2011; Dougherty 2010; Tonkery 2010).
In two months Apple sold more than two million iPads. iPad 2.0 was introduced about
year later. According to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffrays, almost 70 % of the
buyers of the new device were first timers (Elmer-DeWitt 2011; Schroeder 2011).
There are also other e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s Digital Reader, Barnes &
Noble’s “nook” and Samsung’s Galaxy, each embracing different business model and
conceptions of how magazines and newspapers are published (Dougherty 2010; Matsa
et al. 2010; Tonkery 2010). Matsa et al. stress that the evolution of the e-tablet may
alter the interaction that consumers have with digital journalism and may make the
concept of an electronic magazine easier to imagine. But it is still quite early to judge
how important iPad is to magazine publishers. First, there are not enough subscription
options for iPad users – magazines are mostly subscribed – the normal newsstand
accounts for less than a percent of total sales. Secondly, Apple’s business model does
not please everybody. Magazine publishers are required to provide Apple with 30 % of
sales income when purchased through an Apple Store. (Matsa et al. 2010; Tonkery
2010.)
There is plenty of debate about whether the iPad and other digital magazines will kill or
save the magazine industry, as well as about possible earnings logics for digital
content. According to Jansen (2010), 65 percent of Internet users have paid for online
content and 18 percent say they have purchased content from a digital newspaper,
magazine or journal.
A survey by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute shows that iPad could have a
harmful effect on print newspapers and magazines. The survey, which covered more
than 1,600 iPad users, reported that nearly 80 percent said they spent at least 30
minutes a day reading the news on the iPad, and 81.5 percent said they used the
device to read books, newspapers or magazines. The reading experience with iPad
was rated better or about the same as the reading experience with printed newspapers
or magazines. An alarming finding was that 58 percent of those who had print
newspaper subscriptions and spent at least an hour a day accessing news on their
iPads said they were likely to cancel their print subscription in the next six months.
iPad is a new and interesting device and more information is needed to understand its
possibilities and threats to journalism, newspapers and magazines.
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