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E-NEWSPAPERS: REVOLUTION OR EVOLUTION?
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By Deniz Bokesoy
During the last two decades e-newspapers have been cautious
about drawing a clear mission regarding their role and design. In spite of
their increasing use of digital technology, they have followed the

traditions of print newspapers for defining their boundaries in design,
purpose and use. This paper examines the progress of e-newspapers
focusing on their impact on the news industry and determines if the
development is a revolutionary or evolutionary process. First, their

origins and growth are summarized. Then, their current position is
examined with special focus on design, interactive elements and content.
Finally, an overall assessment of their identity is offered to answer the

question above.
A Short History of E-Newspapers
Although newspapers in electronic format first appeared in 1970s,

online delivery of news emerged in the 1990s (Greer & Mensing, 2006).
In these early versions, the content was text-based, and was delivered
from online services such as America Online (Li, 2006). In 1994, less

than 10 newspapers were available to the public through the World
Wide Web. However, online newspapers demonstrated rapid growth by
the end of 1990s and by mid 2001, more than 3,400 newspapers were
online (Li, 2006).

The reason for this accelerated emergence of online newspapers
was not only the potential offered by Internet. The profit of the
newspaper industry was in decline since the end of 1980s, and the

publishers were looking for new ways for their business (Bockowski,
2004). Ironically, online versions did not bring the quick profit
publishers were looking for. Rather, the revenues showed a stable, but
slow increase (Greer & Mensing, 2006). Nevertheless, the negative

impact on the circulation of print newspapers has also been less than
expected (Cao & Li, 2006). During the first decade of online
newspapers, they were seen mostly as complimentary to the print

medium, often as an advertisement introducing the print newspaper as
the main merchandise (Krumsvik, 2006). Gradually, as more and more
newspapers appeared online, publishers felt pressured to have a web

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Bokesoy D. E-newspapers: Revolution or Evolution? / Deniz Bokesoy. – Available at:
http://fdt.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/fdt/article/view/4902