The impact of digital media on traditional media

 The ever-growing digital world affects almost every aspect of our lives. A growing number of digital communication platforms, such as social media, blogs and websites, are quickly and easily accessible. We’re beginning to be dependent on them in business, education, personal lives and other areas.

Local media now compete at a global level, and domestic consumers have access to international content and services. Convergence is changing established investment patterns, as well as competition in, and the structure of, the media market. Media distribution is no longer tied to one specific network, which increases the availability of these services and products.

This changes the relationship between content creator and content distributor. Content creators have more opportunities to distribute their content, and can contact readers and viewers via various platforms. Distribution therefore ceases to be a barrier for the content creator. Traditional distributors have less influence on media consumers’ habits, because these consumers can choose between various distribution methods.

The manner in which content is created is also changing. Audio-visual content is no longer produced only by large professional media companies. Platforms such as YouTube and Stream are gaining popularity, which means that everyone can create and share content very easily and quickly. 300 hours of content are added every minute on YouTube alone

Another change is that jurisdictional boundaries also play a smaller and smaller role, because digital data is potentially accessible anywhere.

 If we look at the Czech media landscape, we’ll find that the Czech media market is a relatively small one. According to the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, the television market is moderately concentrated, while according to this index the newspaper market is highly concentrated. Nevertheless, the market is stabilized, and it also appears to be saturated. Therefore, the question is whether there is more permanent room here for digital media, or whether it is a momentary fad and media consumers will return to newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Digital media combine the advantages of tertiary media, i.e. mass media, with those of secondary media, meaning everything that multiplies the possibilities of interpersonal communication, because they can also serve as a social network.

Moreover, no serious newspapers such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung have ever appeared in the Czech Republic. This is due to market size and language, as well as the small size of the middle class and its need to still devote most of its time to maintaining its social status. News websites that are not linked to large publishing houses do not exist, or have little reach. The role of serious newspapers is therefore replaced by niche websites.

For a long time, the idea reigned that the internet is an extra legem environment, and that it is therefore a kind of shield against legal regulation. Cyberspace is a social space, and therefore subject to the same rules as any other social space, including legal rules. Conduct in cyberspace is no different from conduct that we are familiar with from other media. There is no reason why cyberspace should be immune from classic regulation. However, the diffRapid technological development in information technologies has also introduced new topics within the area of copyright. A digital file that contains a copyright work can be very easily copies and immediately distributed worldwide, which reduces the copyright holder’s income from royalties. The question is therefore whether copyright is finding the right balance between the interests of creative activity, and the social benefits that the dissemination of these works brings. Where copyright goes will have a major effect on the sector of the economy that deals with hardware manufacturing.erence from other media is evident and undeniable.

Copyright is based on territoriality, while the internet is a global media environment, and this causes an incompatibility of law with technology. Also, because it is out-dated, it is an obstacle to customer choice.

 The economic efficiency of copyright works is an illusion. Efficiency in the market requires that the cost of producing the last unit be equal to its social value. But if a copyright work has been created, its reproduction and distribution involves relatively low costs, particularly in the case of works in digital form. In order to support authors’ activity, copyright traditionally enabled licensing, which allowed for prices above the cost of reproduction and set limits for the number and duration of the licenses. Therefore, copyright accepted static inefficiency in favour of dynamic efficiency.