Traditional mass media like newspapers, magazines, radio and television had a conventional format. A reader was required to buy or share a newspaper/ magazine to access the content. The emergence of internet has revolutionised the transmission of information. An internet user can access either fully or partially the content of the conventional media from any part of the globe. To think of conventional media without their online versions are almost impossible in the present day context.
Anyone connected to the internet through their computer can be deemed to be online. Journalistic activities through the internet are described as online journalism. It is becoming increasingly a mass medium. The World Wide Web version of a newspaper is said to be the online or web edition. An online reporter or an editor of a news based website should know that the web is neither about writing as in the print media, nor purely about visuals and sounds as in television. It is a combination of writing with various types of visual elements plus audio. Online reports should also provide a dimension of interactivity. As Jonathan Dube notes, “Online journalists must thinks on multiple levels at once : words, ideas, story structure, design, interactivity, audio, video, photos and news judgements. TV is about showing news. Print is more about telling and explaining. Online is about showing, telling, demonstrating and interacting.” Most print/electronic media maintain online versions. The online editions of conventional news media offered little more than written text and pictures at the initial stage , but many of them currently offer audio and video content. Some of them provide access to the entire content at a fixed monthly subscription ( Eg. NDTV, The Hindu etc.)
Online editions generate advertising revenue for the media. Online journalism is going to create ripples in future especially with the increased access and reach of internet in the country. Internet has revolutionised journalism in many ways, changing what is reported and how it is reported. The net has become an endless source of information and a far reaching communication medium which can present all kids of content in different formats.
Online journalism facilitates the use and application of multimedia and interactivity. Newspapers are not the only media that get published on the internet . There are hundreds of magazines and other journals by various publishing companies. Besides these , there are various in house magazines too.Broadcast media also follows suit with an equally frantic speed. Almost all major TV channels run their websites.
