You Tell Me: Are Newspapers on the Way Out?
This is a subject that has fascinated me over the last couple of years. I remember several years ago, someone suggested to me that someday newspapers may go by the wayside. I laughed. I liked reading the newspaper.
Then my husband worked for a newspaper. One of his clients cut back on advertising, because he was sure the internet was the way of the future. I began to think twice about my position.
Recently our local Christian radio station did a morning program on newspapers. There was much debate as to what the future of newspapers would be. By now I was convinced newspapers were on the way out.
Then yesterday I received a press release from Cheap Tweet, saying that fewer coupons are appearing in the Sunday papers, and more are available online. I haven’t noticed the newspaper coupon trend yet, but I’m not real consistent in my couponing, either.
So, that leads to the question of the week. What is the future of newspapers? Thinking back to the radio show, one point of view was that newspapers would always be around. They’re social (as in you read them in coffee shops and leave a copy…then someone else picks it up, and you discuss the day’s news).
The other point of view was that you can do all of that online, so a newspaper becomes unnecessary. People share links on Twitter and Facebook all the time. The social aspect of newspapers is moving online. Furthermore, the news online is more up to date than what you find in a newspaper.
A third opinion that I’ve heard is that newspapers will continue to exist, but their form will change drastically (to what, I’m not sure).
I know this is a stretch for a frugal topic, but as a Sociology major in college, it’s interesting to me. And newspapers have historically had a lot to do with finance. Companies buy ads. People look for jobs. People sell things in the classifieds. Coupon inserts provide an avenue for saving money.
My family hasn’t subscribed to the newspaper since my husband got let go from his newspaper job. Besides the fact that we were angry at the time (we’re over it), paying for the paper when my husband was unemployed seemed like an unnecessary expense. When he finally landed another stable job, we were so used to being without the paper, we never subscribed again.
So do you subscribe to the paper? Have you seen it changing? If you could speculate, what do you think the future of newspapers is?
Photo by Lara604.
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Author
By Lynnae McCoy, on May 1, 2009
I'm Lynnae, wife of one and stay-at-home mom of two. I'm committed to getting out of debt by being frugal with my choices in life.
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I’m surprised how many people who get the paper don’t read it, or don’t get it at all. I’ve subscribed since I was living on my own and can proudly say I read the entire paper (except the sports and classified, those go right into the recycle) every day. If I miss some, I usually go back and read it the next day. I skip the ads usually, because that just entices me to go shopping. Except for the grocery ads, those are great for the loss leaders. But I truely enjoy reading the paper. I read stories aloud to my family, usually stories about science to my daughter, or stories relating to things we’ve talked about before. I love to show her the relevance of things she’s studied to real life. I can’t spend that kind of time in front of the computer, and if I did, I wouldn’t want to spend it trying to find the news. I cannot watch TV news – it’s usually nto relevant and useless. But I do read during breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s portable, too. They are also great for increasing vocabulary and critical thinking (some of the statistics can be so misleading – it’s fun to figure out why or how.)
Our paper (The washington post) has downsized since the new year. 3 comic pages have gone to two, business section was folded into the front page section. No more book world, no more Sunday Source. It’s sad and a shock to the system, but I hope they survive. Just today in the paper I read the Boston Globe is in jeoperdy too. I read them for 4 years while we were in Massachusetts, another venerable paper. My parents’ paper, the Reading Eagle, got smaller paper and a weird fold to convince you it’s not as small as it is.
I definitely think newspapers are changing. I would subscribe in my town’s paper offered a sunday-only option, but it doesn’t–and the added expense of all week is just too much for me, especially since I probably won’t read the thing anyway. (There is zero cost savings between buying it daily at the store and home delivery, so why?)
My local paper (afternoon edition only) has only just now started offering a companion online service, which is mediocre at best. The next town over, which offers a morning edition, does a much better job at complementary print-and-online stories, similar to what you see in magazines (different features online, etc). They encourage you to get additional info online, which I think is clever.
I think that eventually newspapers will be forced to change or die, like any company, really. But papers that do the best in the transition will survive, I’m sure of it.
Simply put, I think they will ultimately go electronic . . .
I can’t and won’t support the liberal BS of most newspapers, including our local ones. To PAY hard-earned money to willfully bring garbage into my home makes no sense. haven’t subscribed in years, use freebies and others old copies for fire-starter and animal bedding. Online sources are global-wide and in real time. Why would anyone buy a newspaper?
I definitely prefer a newspaper. Although the internet and computer are great and informative – I prefer being able to sit down and actually hold a paper in my hand and be able to read it.
I still work as a newspaper reporter, but I know of many who have been laid off in Michigan and Ohio.
My blog is sponsored by my newspaper.
I don’t mind the shift in media.
I do mind the fact that the Internet media isn’t bringing in as much income as the print media did.
Somehow, the payroll has to be met.
I think so – you can get all the news and more online!
I prefer reading at my computer, anyways, where I can listen to music and do other things.
I hope that newspapers will survive, but am not sure if they will. I like the way that a newspaper can go more indepth than most online articles.
And I hope paper coupons never go away. My grocery store seems to think that internet printable coupons are mostly fraudulent, and it is a pain to use them. I much prefer buying a couple papers every Sunday.
I was going to skip commenting, because most of my views have already been brought up but…
…we do get the local newspaper. It is a gift subscription from my dad to our kids. Why? We view the newspaper as the source of our first lessons in civic awareness our children receive. Yes, they run for the comics each morning, but the one who “loses” ends up reading some article that catches his/her eye while they’re waiting. Since we don’t live in a huge city, the article is usually about something they can relate specifically to. Viola, a lesson about what is going on in “their” world. Discussions result, awareness grows. Oftentimes, the internet is then used to dig deeper, get more information. It is a valuable tool.
Having said all that, I don’t think I’d be subscribing if I had to pay for it myself. I think I’d assign current events to my children and have them find internet articles that caught their eye. The newspapers have “dumbed” down their content over the years, the coupons don’t help someone who tries to cook from fresh and bulk items rather than prepackaged, and the funnies aren’t that funny.
As for the argument that journalists are needed, I agree, but if the last two years have taught us anything, it is that viral video can spread the word farther and faster than any newspaper and, for the younger generation, has far more credibility. I think rural newspapers that spread good news or narrowly relevant news will not go away, but won’t be dailies. I think the big city newspapers are dying because they aren’t providing value…it is simply a manifestation of the evolution of the medium.
Our hometown paper has reduced in size this year, not publishing classifies Monday through Wednesday. If it weren’t for the comics and ads (there are 2 favorites that don’t publish current comics online, you have to wait a month), I’d cancel and just get the Sunday paper like I do the for the nearest metropolitan area. It’s not much, $11 a month, but still hardly worth it.
I subscribe to my local newspaper. I get it every day and my husband and I read it every morning while we eat breakfast. There is a lot of local information in it that I know the online version either doesn’t have, or would be too time consuming to try to locate. Paper is convenient and I can (and do) recycle it many different ways.
I have noticed that there are less coupons these days and it really bugs me that I have to now spend more time on my computer hunting them down.
I also read newspapers online when I get a chance. I check out the NYC papers because that is the largest city near my home and find regional and state info on there that my local paper sometimes doesn’t have, but since I don’t need all the local city news, the online option is fine.
I hope newspapers don’t go away. It would be a real loss.