Newspapers are Closing Down

People Get Their News in Ways That Threaten Traditional Publishing

Jul 22, 2009

The newspaper business has been suffering for several years; the economic recession is causing some publications to close their doors permanently.

Time Magazine has published a list of the ten most vulnerable newspapers in the United States. The March 9, 2009 article lists such storied journals as The Miami Herald, The Detroit News, and The Boston Globe as being among those in trouble.

Steady Decline in Readership

According to the Newspaper Association of America there were 1,878 daily newspapers in the United States in 1940. By 2008, this number had fallen 1,408; that’s down by 72 newspapers since 2000. Today, there are about 49.1 million daily newspaper readers, that’s about the same number as in 1966, when the country’s population was 196 million. But today the population of America is 305 million.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that in 2008 39 percent of the U.S. population had read a newspaper (either print or online) the day before taking its survey. That’s down from 43 percent in 2006. The Pew study also reported that the readership of print newspapers had dropped from 34 percent to 25 percent between 2006 and 2008.

Many Reasons for Newspaper Decline Put forward

Writing in The Globe and Mail (June 13, 2009) Ryerson University journalism teacher Suanne Kelman said there is no single cause for the troubled times hitting papers: “There’s the stampeding flight of advertising, the public’s loss of trust, the decline in literacy, blogging, a reluctance to pay for news, a market fragmented into shards...Take your pick.”

At the same time, classified advertising revenue has been siphoned off by the advent of such online services as craigslist, kijiji, and ebay.

What Does an Absence of Newspaper Mean?

“I believe that the loss of the mainstream media would constitute an irreparable blow to our society.” That’s journalism teacher Suanne Kelman speaking. She, and others, worry that if newspapers go who is going to keep the politicians’ feet to the fire.

The broadcast media were supine in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq; they accepted the White House lies and did little or no investigative reporting. Some print media behaved the same way, but others did raise questions about the truth of claims of weapons of mass destruction.

Writing in The Globe and Mail (June 17, 2009) John Ibbitson states: “Those who lack the means or interest will depend on blogs, social networking, and whatever information they choose to look for online. How does democracy survive on that?”

News for the Privileged Few

Ibbitson quotes The Pew Center for the People and the Press as reporting that, “a new Washington media have evolved, but they are far from the more egalitarian or citizen-based media that advocates of the digital age might imagine. Instead, this new Washington media cohort is one substantially aimed at elites, often organized by industry, by corporate client, or by niche political interest.”

These publications have a very narrow focus and charge subscription fees beyond the reach of the average consumer. They have titles such as Traffic World, Government Executive, and Energy Trader.

As Ibbitson points out, “Those who know the power of information will pay to obtain it, and use that knowledge to influence the agenda.”

The copyright of the article Newspapers are Closing Down in Newspaper Industry is owned by Rupert Taylor. Permission to republish Newspapers are Closing Down in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.