Is the era of the print newspaper over? Subscription numbers are steadily declining, and the biggest publishers are bleeding the most. Most cities worldwide have one or two major newspapers, and all are feeling the pinch.
The world's largest newspaper by circulation is now the Times of India, with over 2.4 million copies sold every day. This too, masks a change in how people get, and consume their news. Is the Masthead of the World now Google News, a post-9/11 creation?
Source: Editor and Publisher Yearbook data
Newspapers may be forced to adopt the approach of magazines in narrowing their focus, rather than the one-size-fits-all broadsheet approach. This might mean demographically focused papers, and smaller, faster editions.
Newspaper publishers are feeling a pinch both in terms of declining subscription revenues, and declining advertising revenues. They have blamed everything from the Do-Not-Call list to decline in a general reading habit. Although in total value, the advertising numbers have not much changed, their rate of growth is far below the desired.
Early techniques to boost circulation, like contests and giveaways have all but disappeared. Channel stuffing technique such as dropping more copies on doorsteps than actual subscribers, and fabricated circulation figures may mask a problem greater than it appears. The Audit Bureau also changed the way it counts circulation, including bulk free copies given to airlines, hotels, etc.
The quality of journalism is not much in question, at least for me. I find some of the finest columnists in the world's leading newspapers, although I read almost all of them online, rather than in print (Note: I subscribe to the NY Times Sunday edition only). At the same time, the web seems more effective at disseminating information, and the major newspapers do not seem to 'break' as many stories as they did. Not all web versions do well - Salon.com and slate.com have both suffered, although perhaps for different reasons.
Article comments
1 - Bryan McKay
Interesting thoughts, Aaman. Google News may be the wave of the future.
Enjoyed your little Dylan Thomas reference. this is my favorite villanelle, though. It's so sad, and it gets to me everytime. One of my professors last semester said she would cry everytime she read it.
That's way off-topic, but I got distracted by the poem.
2 - Dave Nalle
Without newspapers what would we use for our papier mache art projects?
Dave
3 - Mark Sahm
Aaman: Once they develop a way to make PDF's and eBooks more affordable and reader friendly to the eyes, newspapers will be hot on the heels of vinyl and cassettes. Although the disposability of them still has to be a good selling point for someone on the go.
Bryan: Great villanelle. I hadn't heard that Bishop one since college. Now I'm in a mood to write a pantoum!
4 - Tan The Man
I get digital subscriptions to a few magazines. They are too big and too slow to really read. Slow, meaning the navigation and flipping the pages. Maybe reading magazines/newspaper on a computer would be better on a tablet.
5 - Nancy
Somehow I can't imagine enjoying a rainy or cold, snowy day lying on my bed hitting a button on a computer. There's something about a physical printed word, maybe it's the smell of the paper...but I do think as more & more people grow up accustomed to computer books & news, papers & books will become archaic, if they aren't already. Still...walk into a book store, or an old library. Computers could never smell & feel like that.
6 - ochairball
The book is not in danger -- at least not for a while. people who like books also enjoy the intimacy of words on paper. but newspapers.... they're fading into oblivion, except for the trades and some of the prominent ones. newspapers are out of touch with their readers. plain and simple. Give it 10 years, I say. Gone!
....unless they can rescue themselves, win back their audience, win back advertisers.
7 - Aaman
Temple, your views from the frontlines of the War on Paper?
8 - Temple Stark
Complex, and yet simplistically so :). I will try and get into it later (as well as your quiz). Thank you for asking.
9 - todd
Yeah, but its hard to beat newspaper classifieds.
Online classifieds (like monster or especially the ones I have seen newspapers set up) suck if you are looking for a job locally or a used car.
Thats the only reason I ever buy a newspaper, except when I am stuck somewhere with nothing else to read.
Some enterprising soul will figure out a way to duplicate craigs list type thingee for towns and make it totally free and then do them in completely.
10 - Phillip Winn
Craigslist may finally replace newpaper classfieds, and if so, my last reason for ever looking at a newspaper will disappear. For right now, though, nothing beats the paper classifieds.
11 - mark
I'm not sure how Google News will replace newspapers when the source of most of the information at Google News is rewritten from mainstream media sources. Newsprint may be in trouble, but a number of newspapers are moving successfully to the internet. The Wall Street Journal, has more online subscribers than it does print subscribers. I don't think you can equate the disappearance of newspaper to the disappearance of the news-gathering machine that is behind it.
12 - michelle
i feel that my poster of my characteristic is very beautiful story and very inspirate love michelle