It has been for everyone to see that the world is, well, online. Yep. The rapid evolution of technology has accelerated the digitalization of every single aspect of daily human life. Think about it – today, we can not only shop online for pretty much everything we need but also make payments, send money, and more online. Given the inroads the internet and the concept of digitalization have made into our lives,

it only makes sense that we also get our news online. One of the most significant changes has been the shift in how we consume information today when you think of it. We no longer rely solely on the idiot box or newspapers to update and news about the latest developments in the world around us. Don’t get us wrong – these mediums of accessing news are still very much alive and kicking, but there has also been a noticeable inclination towards a new medium – online news portals.

What drives people to give up on the conventional means of accessing news and turn to these newer mediums? More reasons than we can count, frankly. But there’s another factor that has driven the popularity of online news portals – their benefits for the news industry.

You see, the business of news is not easy by any means, but with online news portals, the task at hand has been rendered significantly easier. How? For starters, they are much, much faster than the traditional means. Then there’s also the environment-friendly factor – you don’t have to worry about all that paper used for newspapers. There are plenty of other reasons as well, some of which have been discussed below.

Easy access: One of the most significant benefits of online news portals is that you are no longer restricted to a particular geography. This means you can reach a substantially bigger audience, which is pretty much anyone with an internet connection all over the world. This, then, enables the possibility of the company’s news product being accessed by millions and millions of people worldwide.

Freedom to diversify: Yet another critical advantage of news website development with Drupal or any other tool of your choice is that you don’t have to limit your coverage to a particular sector.

So, even if you are a traditional news outlet, you can expand your horizons and foray into other segments. It includes sports, entertainment, technology, automobiles, and so much more. This, too, serves further to expand your coverage in terms of the audience. Additionally, it allows you to engage with people with varying interests.

Live coverage: Among the most significant impediments of conventional news mediums, especially print, is the inability to offer live coverage, i.e. by the time you can get a particular piece of news out to your audience, it has already been covered and rendered stale. Say, a cricket match – with online news portals; you can provide ball by ball updates instead of being compelled to offer merely an overview of the game at a later point.

Use of different media types: Now, the thing about traditional and archaic means of delivering news is that one can only use so many types of media even though the world now has a plethora of options to offer in this regard. There are pictures, videos, audios, GIFs, podcasts, and so much more. With print, you can only use just one, i.e., images, though your list of options is slightly bigger with TV. However, with online news portals, the possibilities are virtually endless.

Online is the Future

Online news portal design is so important as the future belongs to the online and not to the print. The explosive growth in the usage of smartphones for information and news during the past few years persistently boosted the newspaper online audience. According to surveys and studies, this trend is only going to increase in the future and there is no any sign of decrease.

The publishing industry is clearly at a crossroads. With the mass of free content of varying quality online, the industry is looking for new ways to cover the significant cost of high-quality journalism.

The subscription model, as we have seen, has met with not-so-encouraging results, but it’s still early days and a shift in consumer behavior is possible in the near future.

Trust is a key issue. Increasingly polarized politics and a high-profile backlash against ‘fake news’ make it a hard environment in which to build trust. Loyalty and direct communication with audiences will be most crucial – so we can expect a slow but steady build-up of more immersive experiences like live events, podcasts, and native apps.

With the younger generations turning to podcasts as a way to stay informed while on public transport, at the gym, or while relaxing in their homes; audio, in particular, looks promising.

The industry needs to think hard, at the same time, about how to counter increasing news avoidance in key markets – and the road ahead there is not yet clear.

The road ahead will be a thoroughly challenging one – with publishing one of the key industries disrupted by the digital revolution – but there is surely a pathway to sustainable, quality, and profitable journalism within reach with so much talent working towards such a vital goal.