ABSTRACT
It is clear from this study that the longest running teletext and viewdata systems in the world are not yet unique journalistic media—(1)they do not provide much new information previously unavailable from existing media; (2) the choice and volume of news are quite limited as compared to newspapers; (3) journalists working for teletext and viewdata do very little original reporting; (4) the news that is carried on these systems tends to be superficial and event-oriented; (5) the systems themselves are not dramatically new in their appeal to different senses; (6) they have not had significant impact on other media in Britain and the Netherlands; (7) they are more difficult and expensive to use for casual reading than printed media; (8) and they (especially the more expensive viewdata receivers) are not diffusing among the public nearly as quickly as many had predicted they would.
