INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The emergence of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed the way we interact and carry out our businesses. ICT for short has been incorporated in our everyday activity and the newspaper is no exception. Owing to the advent of ICT, readers of news have varied options to choose from i.e the hard copy news papers or the online copy especially since the Internet came to provide online functionalities and possibilities far beyond what the newspaper could offer: instant and free news, interactive and multimedia features, and easy accessibility through very simple handheld technologies like mobile phones and personal computers (Adejumo, 2014).
Chukwu, (2014), asserts that online copy news publication is simpler and cheaper and according to Hasan, (2014), the online copy news is evidently a more superior way to distribute and read news. However, by astronomically increasing news sources, the online copy new inadvertently threatened the newspaper’s traditional stronghold on the news business. This proposed study seeks to examine the online versus hard copy news: a comparative analysis of news sources of Abuja residents.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
With rising globalisation, stiff competition and technological development, the newspapers industry is not new to changes; it is witnessing transition from analogue to digital and more recently it is undergoing the transformation from delivery of contents on papers (Hardcopy) to delivery via the Internet (online copy) (West, 2015). However, there is a growing concern of the authenticity of the online copy news, while on the other hands, the hardcopy news has its own challenges of not giving breaking news since news are printed at night against the following days. These challenges have left news readers in a state of dilemma on either to opt for online copy news or hardcopy news and it is against this background that this study seeks to examine the online versus hard copy news.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The main objective of this proposed study is to examine the online versus hard copy news. The specific objectives are to;
i. Evaluate how authentic is the online copy news compared to hard copy news
ii. Comparatively analyze the features of both online copy and hard copy news
1.4 Research Questions
i. How authentic is the online copy news compared to hard copy news?
ii. What are the features of both online copy and hard copy news?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
H0: Online copy news has no better features than hardcopy news
H1: Online copy news has better features than hardcopy news
1.6 Significance of the Study
This proposed study will be of immense benefit to both Media houses and government agencies saddled with the responsibility to regulate the media houses as the findings from the proposed study may be adopted by newspaper companies to improve on their publishing and government agencies in regulating online news contents.
Finally, the proposed study will be added to the body of knowledge and serve as reference material to other researchers, scholars that would love to embark on a similar topic.
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study
This proposed study is limited in scope to online versus hard copy news: a comparative analysis of news sources of Abuja residents. The proposed study will sample some residents in Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria.
