The distribution of print and published material

What this chapter covers

Introduction: the print industry

Distribution

Classic vs new distribution techniques

Podcasting

Blogs and blogging

Telecommunications

The European postal system: the post office

Press agencies and distribution in the print industry

Distribution: European policy

Online and the economics of new distribution

Distribution: national policies – a comment

Learning objectives

When you have completed this chapter you will be able to:

Reflect upon the development of new pressures changing the distribution system within the EU media environment.

Outline new models of distribution impacting upon the press, publishing and print market.

Link the press and print industry distribution network to other related distributive practices such as postal services and press agencies.

Analyse press and publishing policy developments at an EU and national level.

Themes

Below you will find a simple statement or series of statements around the six themes. They should not be read as a given fact. They are more like hypotheses (see Chapter 2) which need to be proved, discussed, debated and then used in your own analysis of the subject. The ideas and approaches in this book are always to be considered with an open mind; this is important in university study and is what makes it distinct from pre-university study.

Diversity of media

Print and publishing industries around the world have been governed by technological development from the printing presses of the past to the digital age of the present. Even so, traditionally the distribution network of paper and its produce has been national and often fragmented in Europe. The result has been a diversity of media to fit the various markets and the distribution network that feeds them.

Internal/external forces for change

The digital age in the EU appears to be advancing through the twin pressures of globalisation and even Europeanisation. This is reaching a point where national distribution systems are under increasing pressure from these external forces and are altering as they adapt to cost, price and competitors. Internally, EU societies too are converging as they use the new technology for distributive purposes in an era of continued urbanisation, technology impact and increased press and other media competition.

Complexity of the media

The forces for change upon the press and print distribution systems do not mean necessarily a similarity of provision. The distribution network may be converging, but it also feeds into an already-existing complexity of consumer behaviour. As with production, the traditional distributive network is in private hands, but complexity of distributive practice in the EU remains.

Multi-levels

Whilst the press and printing industry does not have a significant public sector, its role in civil society remains very important. The levels of interest in the EU in the latter are rising as the EU investigates national and even regional levels of activity. The industry operates within a multi-level framework: collectively, a mix of global, European, national and local interests.

European integrative environment

Being in private hands, the forces of market competition in the press and print industry have been traditionally national in form. Equally there has not been a dedicated policy development at EU level within the market, but this is changing. The media industry is so important for the ‘information society’ that, coupled to the growth and outreach of the European Single Market, the press and publishing industry is beginning to react to ‘productivity’ issues, mergers and takeovers in the distribution field that are important at a EU comparative level. This will continue into the future and is proof of the pressure of ‘Europeanisation’ in the market.

Cultural values

Many could argue that the diversity of cultures within the EU is not fundamentally threatened by the new digital age. The EU even has a declared policy of encouraging and supporting diversity of cultural values. Yet, the development of a comprehensive framework of telecommunications and EU-wide rules on competition in the distribution system will have an impact upon our cultural assumptions.

Essentials

Within the EU at present there is a vast array of differences in the distribution network and, like so much in the media industry, this is linked to a whole series of factors: the economy, relocation of production, research and innovation in product development, shopping habits, political control, transport systems, and role and speed of technical change. Even so, over the past few decades, change has been occurring apace, linked to increased competition. Driven by the EU single market, EU nations are becoming more alike in their trade and shopping practices, including the publishing industry, even though in a community sense Europe remains diverse.

Along with internal EU developments, the distribution systems within Europe are being touched by corporate global competition and new forms of technology which are also impacting upon the industry.

There is a divide between the past and new methods of distribution: between the classic (nostalgic) systems based on physical forms of transport and the new, that is electronic, digital systems. The former remains in the dominant position, but this is likely to change in the years to come.

Convergence is therefore a result of changes within distribution as well as production and consumption. In many respects, the EU like the rest of the globe is standing at the door of a new age of distribution that could change the print industry fundamentally.