It is frequently cited in discussions about newly emerging forms of media in the scientific community in German-speaking countries.
[citation needed] Riepl, the chief editor of Nuremberg's biggest newspaper at the time, stated in his dissertation about ancient modes of news communications (original title: "Das Nachrichtenwesen des Altertums mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die Römer") that new, further developed types of media never replace the existing modes of media and their usage patterns.
The principle forms the basis for Niels Ole Finnemann's analyses of the five major matrices of media, stating "the general principles in the transition from one matrix to another as follows: The emergence of a new medium is accompanied by: a) a restructuring of the whole matrix implying b) a refunctionalisation of older media c) which often results in the development of new functions, eventually utilising hitherto un-used or even unknown qualities and functions of old media, — functions which may be as important as the new medium itself.
Support for the continued validity of Riepl's law came from the highly regarded CEO of the Alex Springer publishing group Mathias Döpfner who, in May 2006 wrote in a leading German newspaper Die Welt "I believe in Riepl's law...Books have not replaced storytelling.
It follows that the Internet will not replace television or newspapers" This social science-related article is a stub.