Abstract

Increasing numbers of people read newspapers online. The shift from traditional print to online news sources implies media reform; an idea postulated in the theory of remediation. The current study explores the case of print and online newspapers to test the proposal that older media are reformed into new digital forms. The process of remediation is evident as online newspapers now absorb print newspapers into a digital space and are versions of print newspapers. This process, according to remediation theory, uses two strategies of representation: the logic of immediacy and the logic of hypermediacy. The relationship between the two strategies is a complex mix of contradictory characteristics that depend on each other to achieve one goal, that is, immediacy. This study suggests that the achievement of immediacy is manifested in online news media which could offer interactivity, multimedia contents and breaking news. These are the manifestations of media reform. This study, however, argues that the non-linear characteristic of hypermediacy impedes the process of orienting oneself in cyber space and elaborating online content. This study, therefore, posits that the interplay between the double logics of remediation gives a theoretical insight into the topical subject of online news consumption.