How long before Newspapers die?

I used to love waking up in the morning and running down to get both papers to see if they'd gotten what I had or not.

 

A century ago, when print was the only medium, newspapers (in big cities only) resembled the Internet news of today. There were morning and evening papers, and each paper published multiple editions, as many as seven or eight for big news stories. What we see today is a reversion to that form but souped up beyond imagination by digital technology. Television and the rise of the suburbs killed the evening paper, and not enough advertising to go around led to the 1950s-1990s model of one daily per town with its three editions and a monopoly on some forms of advertising. In retrospect, that era was the anomaly. Except for that time, most newspapers have been financially precarious.

 

If newspapers die, who will TV stations steal their stories from?

 

I used to think that about blogs, too, but the sports ones would do just fine.

 

The advent of JOAs destroyed intra-market competition in the industry and ultimately affected the quality of products across the country.

 

All depends on your market. Markets an hour away from big cities where you are the news will survive more than 10 years, likely a lot longer. What small papers provide can be found nowhere else

 

Oh, Craigslist and eBay can certainly provide a big part of what they provide.

 

I agree with Henry. I think we'll see newspapers die in big cities where tablets and laptops and cell phones will be the way people get their news. But back in my old hometown of 5,000 (give or take), a newspaper will always have a place in that kind of community.

 

I'm in a market three hours away from the nearest big city. The population is dominated by seniors. We're the only paper in town.

I don't see us shutting down the press until that older generation dies. And I don't see us going away unless the TV/radio folks (who have done a far better job than us of transitioning online) buy us out and it's one giant conglomerate.

I keep hoping for a golden goose local businessperson to buy us and forget about trying to make money for stockholders, and instead focus on serving the community. Pipe dream, I know.

 

A print paper? That will die in 10 years or less.

People working at a "newspaper?" I don't think that will ever go away. People still want to know news from schools, local gov., obits, etc...

 

I work at a free suburban weekly that is distributed via the US Postal Service to more than 70,000 of the most affluent homes in my county.

While my paper is only about 20 years old, it is a throwback that truly defies every bit of conventional wisdom about what journalism is supposed to look like in the digital age.

Our website is mediocre at best -- although that's a vast improvement over what it was when I started there 3 years ago. We still only post major "breaking news" type stories on the site first; most of the time, stories go in the paper first and then to the Web.

Our social media presence is low, but slowly growing as we focus on it more and more.

But we have more loyal advertisers than we know what to do with. The print product generates enough ad revenue to pay USPS $750K a year in mailing costs, cover salaries/bennies for a staff of 20 (plus freelancers) and is now even subsidizing our two new glossy monthly magazines until we can get them (hopefully) standing on their own after a couple years. I occasionally hear from readers complaining that we have too much advertising. Imagine that.

We are different from most weeklies because about 80 percent of what we cover is local government and schools. No garden clubs or knitting circles. No weddings or obits. No TV guide or comics. No editorials. And very little Sports. We focus on giving readers important local information they can't get anywhere else. For whatever reason, it's a model that works.

I do wonder what's going to happen in another 20 years or so when our core audience -- which is 50-and-up -- starts dying off. We've had many conversations about it in the newsroom. Most of my coworkers seem to think that as today's 20-somethings become 30-somethings, start having kids and buy houses in the 'burbs, they'll get interested in the information we provide and become our next generation of readers. I don't know about that.

Fortunately, I am now of the age that if we can make it another 20 years, I won't have to care if newspapers continue to survive. If I'm still vertical by then, I'll be retired and hopefully living near sand and water.

 

I'm not sure I've "learned" anything completely new, but I read something I otherwise wouldn't have on a daily basis in the paper. I would guess I'm in the minority, but it's my favorite thing about the paper -- the fact that there is a wide range of topics. I suppose a digital version would provide the same, and I do check the local news websites on my phone, but I am stodgy in really enjoying reading the print version. Especially on a lazy Sunday. I'll be sad to see it go away, but I'm sure I'll adapt quickly.