Print Media Survival in the Era of Digital: The Transformation of Thai Comic Magazine’s Kai Hua Roh

Abstract

Traditional media, especially print media, has been affected by the information technologies that appeared after itself. The industry is facing the sharpest decline ever. Publishers are struggling to survive in the world of communication and are forced to transform. Digital publishing, or an e-book, has long been hyped as the solution for publishers to survive. Nevertheless, whether or not e-books will eventually usurp printed books in the marketplace, publishers must recognize the vast opportunities created by digital technology. This is the main reason this paper investigates the survival strategies adopted by Kai Hua Roh (Laughter for Sale), the longest-running assorted humor comic magazine in Thailand, to deal with the decline and see how it survives in the digital era. Gathering data through academic research and literature provided by the media firms, the study identified both the successful and the failed strategies adopted by Kai Hua Roh. The thorough interrogation leads to the conclusion that, to survive, the media should emphasize its distinctive character and creatively blend that with current media consumption without losing the character itself.