the decline of print journalism

7/28/2019 The Decline of Print Journalism

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The Future of Print Journalism

In the fourteenth century, Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the world by inventing the

printing press, which would become one of the most important inventions in history. Before the

printing press, books were handwritten and had to be carefully and meticulously transcribed to

avoid mistakes. This resulted in the scarcity of books among the public due to its expensive price

and slow production of the product. After the printing press came along, books were able to be

manufactured at a quicker and cheaper pace, resulting in a sharp increase of literacy among the

public and efficiency of the distribution of ideas. The printing press was a tremendous success!

Humanity rejoiced and its culture flourished.

And then technology came along. The Internet widened the territory of accessible content,

made it easier to search for material, and presented fast breaking news. One can now find out and

receive updates almost immediately after an event has happened, instead of waiting until the next

day to learn about the details in the newspaper. It became only a matter of finger clicks to find

and read several articles by different organizations instead of being limited to one on paper. The

Internet is rapid, simple, and cheap. It became no longer necessary to go out and buy a paper in

order to read about current events, as a computer and internet was enough to receive news fast

and free. Sharing information and gathering knowledge became acts in speed and abundance.

The Internet was a tremendous success! Humanity rejoiced and its culture flourished. Except for

the printing press, which did not flourish nor rejoice.

In 1894, a visionary named Arthur Blackcross predicted that the future of the print

industry would be overrun by inventions that were combinations phonographs and kinescopes, of

which he dubbed phonographotecks (Lienhard). He wasnt far off. Nowadays, we witness the


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gradual assertion of technology into our daily lives. A cell phone now accomplices the self

wherever it goes and rarely does a day go by when one doesnt use the computer for a significant

percentage of the day. And with these new methods of acquiring news, the print industry has

taken a hit from stunted newspaper production and ad sales from low cost online marketing. This

progression became clear around the year 2005 and led to disinterest from investors, which

diminished the stock value of newspapers. This in turn, caused a decrease in newsroom

employment and newspaper circulation, marking the start of the gradual downwards spiral of the

print industry. In 2007, over 13 thousand jobs have been exterminated, rounding off to about a

25% loss in 3 years (Meadors). In 2009 in America, the Christian Science Monitormoved its

publications to weekdays online but with a weekly print version with "special" content. Seattle's

Post Intelligencerhas moved its entire operation to the web exclusively. Two Detroit dailies, the

Free Press and theNews, ended home deliveries on all days except Thursday, Friday, and

Sunday and directed the readers to their Web sites. In one month in England, nine local

newspapers closed, and South Africa's oldest independent paper, Grocott's Mailended its

production (Zirin). As ones content absorption starts to derive from technology rather than paper,

it becomes apparent that print journalism must adapt to the new circumstances if it wishes to

survive.

It is undeniable that print journalism is a source of in-depth analysis, information for the

public and a critical aspect of society that should remain so, but how would journalism be able to

survive in the future? The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA

Today, and Financial Times have already turned to online subscriptions, but at heavy discounts

off the newsstand price (Zirin). Its profits from online subscriptions cannot match up to


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newsstands sales and print ads have been undermined by online marketing strategies and

websites such as Craigslist which allows users to post their ads for free.

This is a huge problem, for a business cannot continue without the prospect of profits and

the print industry is a business worth well into the billions, which will surely flail if a solution

cannot to be found for its decreasing profit margins.


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Works Cited

Lienhard, John H. "No. 2009:."No. 2009:. N.p., 3 Mar. 2001. Web. 083 Apr. 2013.

Meadors, Hannah. "The Future of Print Journalism." Candor News. N.p., 5 Sept. 2012. Web. 08

Apr. 2013.

Suddath, Claire. "Chicago Ideas Week 2011: Intelligence Squared." Time. Time, 12 Aug. 2011.

Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

Zirin, James D. "News Content on the Internet: Will There Always Be a Free Lunch?" The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 July 2009. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.

the decline of print journalism

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