The Decline of Print

Americans love the news. They cannot get enough of it. We read up to minute polls, minute-by-minute stock charts, and international columns. However, while that trend is steadily increasing, the source of that news is moving strongly to the electronic form.

Newspapers used to be gold. They were the source of information for busy Americans eager for news from war fronts, from Wall Street, and from Washington. Papers were peddled on the street and sold in bundles to companies for distribution. The subways, busses, and trains were filled with commuters holding broadsheets. Morning editions and evening editions ran splashy headlines, and fierce competition among the major outlets made for interesting, engaging reads.

With the advent of the Internet--and more recently Web 2.0 media--the population is abandoning this source--favoring the click over the leaf. Blogs have intensified this movement. When news stories are breaking, some websites offer minute by minute updates on blogs. News junkies couldn't be happier.

This change is forcing drastic change. Major news outlets like The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times are cutting their workforces by as much as 30%. Reporters are being laid off in droves, copy men and women are dropping off, and editors are slashing paper sections in favor of online coverage. This decline is two-fold: first, the collapse of the economy has led advertisers to tighten their budgets and prioritize their efforts. Second, the need for immediate sources of news is growing exponentially. Daily news is no longer current.

The advertising problem is major. Papers have relied on strong revenues from major companies that push their products and services. Ad executives have realized the strategic advantage the Internet has over traditional media sources. Banners on websites are interactive, lively, and flat-out fun. With the use of cookies and Internet marketing, consumers are targeted with breathtaking accuracy. Site-specific marketing and email campaigns have ramped up profits for ad companies. In a complex and demanding market, the black and white ad has lost its appeal.

The immediacy problem is cultural. News is getting faster, ads are getting smarter, and consumers are losing time. Many Americans now work over 40 hours per week and are unable to sit down and read an entire newspaper cover to cover. Instead, they rely on RSS feeds to prioritize their interests. RSS feeds are the grim reapers for newspapers. Instead of relying on professional, engaging journalism customers are more interested in the sound bite, the flashy headline, the quick fix. In order to reverse this issue, newspapers are going to have to go against the grain and continue to promote progressive and intelligent journalism as king.

In a way, newspapers will not be able to recover fully from this transition. All major papers are available online--a measured response to this transition. But, in order for the presses to continue running, Americans are going to have to slow down in general, not just in their consumption of news.