State of the American Newspaper
Demand for Internet News Continues to Rise
Nov 11, 2008 Patricia Faulhaber
Outdated, out-of-print, or just out scooped by Internet news sources, the American newspaper readership is on the decline. Or, is it?
As with any other topic, you ask ten people for the opinions and each will be different from the other. That holds even truer when you ask about the state of the American newspaper. Generation X and younger will respond “What is a newspaper?” while baby boomers will say, “I can’t go a day without reading a newspaper’. So where does that leave the state of the newspaper?
Oldest Consumer Product in the United States
The daily newspaper is one of the oldest produced consumer products still available today. The Boston News-Letter started in 1704, was according to Archiving Early America at www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/firsts/newspaper, the first newspaper. John Campbell, a bookseller and postmaster in Boston, MA was the editor. It was printed in columns on both sides of a single sheet of paper and was issued weekly.
One of the biggest stories reported in the newspaper was the death of Blackbeard the pirate and how he was killed in a hand-to-hand battle on the deck of a sloop that had challenged his ship.
According to a historical perspective at www.historicpages.com/nprhist.htm, two more newspapers appeared in the 1720s in Philadelphia and New York. By 1783, there were forty-three newspapers in print and 11,314 by 1880.
The Beginnings of the Demise of the Newspaper
The role of newspapers in society began to diminish when radio and television appeared on the scene. Today, the Internet (more than any other medium) has greatly affected the role of the printed news in American’s lives.
Internet news is considered free, it is immediate, easier to update and can include audio and video-on-demand.
Experts Predict Further Demise of the Printed News
Writer Eric Alterman wrote in his article, Out of Print, for The New Yorker (March 31, 2008), “Few believe that newspapers in their current printed form will survive. Newspaper companies are losing advertisers, readers, market value and, in some cases, their sense of mission at a pace that would have been barely imaginable just a few years ago.”
The writer also suggested that the advent of web sites such as Craigslist have diminished the need for printed classified advertising.
The Plain Dealer out of Cleveland, Ohio made big changes this past year. As reported in Crain’s Cleveland Business magazine, the newspaper offered buyouts to one third of its workforce, increased the daily rate from 50 cents to 75, they are printing fewer pages, devoting more newsroom time to writing online content and in general are trying to figure out how to keep putting out a great local newspaper all the while putting up news 24/7.
Ten Years to the Final Printed Newspaper?
Some experts predict that in ten short years the printed form of newspapers and magazines for that matter will no longer exist.
Katharine Weymouth, the granddaughter of the famous Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham, is the latest in the family to publish this long-time newspaper. Weymouth also happens to be trying to determine the direction the newspaper should take to ensure its survival. The Washington Post has seen similar trends to that of The Plain Dealer, declining newsstand and circulation sales, decreased advertising revenue, reduced staff and the only thing rising is the cost of printing.
Internet News
While the printed newspaper may be struggling to find its way, Internet news has skyrocketed both in news outlets and readership. In February 2008, The Huffington Post (published online by Arianna Huffington) drew 3.7 millions unique visitors. The Huffington Post is an online news source only with no printed version.
Not only has Internet news sites and classified ad sites such as Craigslist reduced the need for printed newspapers, digital technology is also taking shape in other forms that will limit the need for print for items such as coupons.
There is technology in the works that will deliver retail coupons to cell phones so that consumers can take show the coupon to the retail clerk at checkout via the cell phone.
Internet and digital news resources are overshadowing the printed newspaper for the upcoming generations or until the next generation of news sources comes along.
What is the Fate of Printed News?
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