The Influence of New Media on Conventional Media in Nigeria

The advent of new media has posed several challenges to conventional media. Some of these challenges, for example, can be clearly seen on the circulation of print newspapers world-wide, especially in the USA. However in Nigeria, the effect of the new media on conventional media is still manageable. Nigerian newspapers still attract advertising dollars even with the presence of online newspapers. The two complement each other. This paper, argues that the presence of the Internet will not replace newspapers, just as radio did not replace newspapers and television has complemented the radio. Also, it looks at the present situation of conventional media, especially print newspapers vis-à-vis the new media in Nigeria. The researcher believes that the newspaper outlook may change resultant of the Internet inception, but the news contents are still intact. Though the conventional media share online presence, yet they have not fully embraced the new technology. Furthermore, the paper argues that the drop in circulation as experienced by print media is as a result of the younger generation’s preference for the new media as they are more interactive compared to the online version of mainstream media. There are also television stations which have an online presence such as NTA and other national television. A considerable number of Nigerian citizenry have their own Internet connections, so that they can read newspapers online, thus suffocating the print media from advertising revenues at this time of global economic downturn. The paper concludes that in Nigeria, the new media and conventional media will continue to coexist and reinforce each other presumably beyond the envisaged year 2020.