Will Cell Phones Become Newspapers?

The Future of Cell Phones as Newspapers
By: ROBERT A. BURNS, II
Edited by: ANNE CONNAUGHTON

A decade ago, the Internet was where the journalism industry was headed. But ever since the birth of the "smartphone," the industry has veered into a new direction: your pocket.

Mobile platform journalism, or news broadcast to cell phones, is quickly gaining popularity with both newspapers and consumers. Many major online publications have adopted the cell phone as a new media channel of reaching readers.

Eli Wendkos, 38, social media product manager at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, manages the newspaper’s use of new media channels. Since 2006, AJC.com has expanded their use of mobile platforms such as cell phones, as a response of the shift towards new media in the journalism industry.

“I think you’re going to see mobile platform journalism continue to be a distribution mechanism for content, especially as technology continues to push forward,” Wendkos said. “Readers want to be able to choose the content they view, and with cell phones, news papers can do that.”

Mobile platforms are certainly being streamlined from print and online forms for concision and content at newspapers nationwide. The AJC.com, for example, offers a “text message alert system” on a variety of story types, including local and national breaking news, entertainment, lottery, sports and weather.

Readers can subscribe online to the text alert system, and are updated instantly when there is new info on the story types they have selected. Several major cell service providers support the system, making it even easier for readers to subscribe to stories. They need only indicate who their provider is and which story types they would like to receive text alerts for.

AJC.com is not the only online newspaper to offer a text message-based news service. CNN.com also offers similar features to the AJC, in addition to multimedia options such as photos, and electronic polling.

According to Wendkos, although AJC.com has yet to see drastic increases in revenue from the switch, the program has been very successful at building a following of readers that prefers reading the news on their phones. He said that even though advertisers are lagging behind the cell phone industry, many readers are still interested in mobile platform journalism.

Wendkos said that mobile platform journalism is fast becoming a big industry, and that AJC.com will continue to expand its program in coming years to continue to serve readers. “In the future, you’re probably going to see a move to smart phones, as well as an increase in focus on video submissions from readers," he said.

It is a common generalization that younger aged demographics embrace technology, but many college students still haven't yet jumped on the cell phone bandwagon, so to speak. In spite of all of the benefits that mobile platform journalism offers consumers, many readers are simply uninterested in reading the news from their cell phones.

Michelle Pope, a junior from Roswell, Ga., admitted that her lack of interest is the main reason she doesn't read the news from her phone. "I don't really care about reading the news in general," she said. "I don't read the news on my phone, but I don't even watch it on TV."

Brittany Vandemark, also from Roswell, offered a similar sentiment. "No, I don't read the news on my phone," she said. "There's so much everywhere about health care and the war, you really don't have to go far to get the news. And I don't even watch it on TV so my cell phone is really unneccessary."

Aleksi Reid, from Columbus, Georgia, reads the news, but simply sees no use for a phone as a newspaper. "I use my phone mostly for texting, and occasionally for calling people," she said. "'Text message alerts' on the news would just be annoying to me."

Some consumers see no need for mobile platform journalism. Still, others see a use for it, but do not have access to it.

Antonio Holliday, a senior from Roswell, Georgia, admitted that he does not read the news on his phone because he can't afford the cost of the internet, but he once did. "I don't have internet on my cell phone," he said. "I used to. If I got it back again, I would continue to read the news from my phone because it's quick and easily accessible."


Tags: cell phones, journalism, future, text message