Doing a little deeper digger reveals a lot of great things going on in the newspaper business - some new and some very old. Like this from www.stateofthenewsmedia.org "On an average day, roughly 51 million people still buy a newspaper, and 124 million in all still read one."
That's not bad. Reports will often also show as a business, newspapers are making money. Like many businesses in the midst of our difficult economic times they are not making as much profit as they did five years ago and they often are not meeting projections. Does that mean they are not good businesses in the long run?
I don't dismiss the fact many newspapers are ailing. Just look at the Detroit Free Press, which is cutting home distribution to only three days a week. This is a 177-year-old newspaper that produces great investigative reporting. But is it the newspaper that is the problem or the business operations? I'm not convinced the product is the biggest issue. I believe many people still want their local paper to read good, well reported news about local issues. And newspapers are still the most reliable place to obtain that information.
Of course, newspapers have evolved over the last few hundred years and they must continue to do so. That does not only mean online. It also means in print. Many newspapers across the country continue to pay the bills with the print edition. For a decade or more many of those same papers have been sinking money into online ventures of all sorts hoping it will pay off one day. To date, it is not paying off for the vast majority of them. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to find a paper that has come close to a return for every dollar it has invested in online products. It can be argued that most papers would have been better off business-wise to continue operating as a print edition, investing the money in more graphics artists, more investigative reporting and the tools to do that work.
Stopping there would be ignoring the demand for online news. I don't believe that is wise. However, the format for online news that will be successful with consumers is really still evolving. It may require joint ventures between news outlets, better presentation and improved involvement with consumers. Those are just some of my ideas.
In the mean time, I propose we stop pushing print newspapers under the bus while they are struggling due to some extenuating circumstances: online products that have not paid off and tough economic times. Let's look at print media on its own merits. There still are many positive qualities to strong, traditional print journalism.
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I think it would be a good idea for the newspaper to reinvent its self. Just a the author stated by creating better news, joint ventures, and better graphics. If one news paper has survived 177yrs then it is a pretty good bet on history that it will continue to last longer. If on-line ventures are not paying off then the content should be reduced to save money. I usually don't buy newspapers, but I may start in the future, such as the Sunday Edition, which usually has more then the standard weekly edition i.e store ads.
I still believe there is a great value to local newspapers. The larger newspapers are the ones that are competing the most with online and televised news and therefore have the most competition. I know for my local newspaper almost all of the contents cannot be found online and only the biggest stories have a chance of being shown on television and even that is a rarity. The problem is local newspapers have a very small area they can sell to and if the area doesn't purchase the publication then the paper will die.
This information is very informative as I do not know anything about newspapers. I always wondered how they made money because I see alot of newspapers that are free and sometimes people seem to not be interested in purchasing. I agree with the comment about the more national and global newspapers competing because they only have the broad information to work with. Local newspapers do not have to compete simply because there are not many different newspaper companies in one area. It would be nice to still see newspapers around after years have gone by. It would be interesting to see how the graphics and content change, so purchasing and saving newspapers of today can be beneficial.
i think eventually newspapers will be weeded out of existence like many other things for example analog radios. but i think for atleast the next 50 years it will remain as it is now, with a fairly large band of people that still buy it as well as it being available online in digital form
Marc,
You commented that "eventually newspapers will be weeded out of existence like many other things for example analog radios." However, if history of mass media has shown us anything it is the ability to adapt. Radio still exists, just in a different format than it once did. Same with books, movies, magazines, TV, etc,...
Media history is one of evolving and adapting far more than disappearing.
there are merits to both electronic and traditional print news. maybe it's just my generation talking, but i can identify more merits for electronic news. one can easily compare stories quickly, one can read how other people feel about the story, and one can do additional research easily (thank you, google).
personally, i would be sad if newspapers went away if not for the only reason of: i prefer hard copy crossword puzzles over electronic.
I believe print newspapers will eventually become a thing of the past. Most news now is transmitted through use of the internet. Though, there are people who still prefer the traditional print journalism, i feel in the future those individuals will be replaced by a generation of people who grew up off online information.
I think that newspapers would never completely disapear. I think a lot of people just like the old-school format too much. News to me seems more credible when it's written on a page verses online which could be more easily fabricated and manipulated. I did think it was an interesting point that you brought up in class Steve that local newspapers are thriving. I guess people want more of a small town connection verses national...maybe because hearing about a sale at a local shop is less depressing than being reminded about foreclosures and the economy.
Newspapers seem to be somewhat of a generational issue in my opinion. I'm 23 years old and I get my news via internet or television. My parents, however, are still very much dependent on the newspaper for their news and advertisements. I do know plenty of people my age that read the newspaper, but I know more that don't. With mobile devices, you're able to get news wherever you have a cell phone signal. The downside to this currently is that there are limiting factors to these devices. Two of the major limiting factors are that they have limited battery life and small screen displays. The newspaper is not limited by any of these factors, which is why I still see it being a major source of news for a while longer. However, with the increasing popularity of mobile devices that provide the user with the same ease of readability as a newspaper, the newspaper will continue to decline unless it can reinvent itself.
Amazon's Kindle is a good example of an efficient mobile reader.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/20/amazon-kindle-is-back-in-stock/
I don't see the newspaper ever disappearing and businesses resorting to the online business, I can't see it happening. When I go online to find news, it just seems like too much work, scrambling to find the article you want, because the format is different from an actual newspaper, which has been around for so long, we're all used to it. I'm sure, in the future, the internet will provide a much more efficient way of viewing news, but personally, I'd rather much get my news from the newspaper, seeing as it's so reliable, and has been for a really long time.
I believe newspapers have been digging their own grave by skewing the news to fit an agenda rather than just reporting the facts. If I get my news from an online source I can instantly compare a liberal source to a more conservative balanced source.
That may be your problem in believing that things evolve! Things become endangered and extinct, like biased newspaper reporters. I can find another source for paper in litter boxes.
Evolution is inevitable. That may include the end of newspapers - but news will remain.
okey-dokey
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