Will newspapers eventually just disappear? If you think so, when do you think they'll be gone?

[Stinky The Clown]

Do you think this will be a good thing or a bad thing?

If you think it will be a bad thing, how do we increase readership?

[marmar]

1. It's a bad thing......but I do think they'll disappear.

NO ONE I know who's under 40 reads a newspaper, except for the weekly free alternative papers. They'll visit the newspapers' websites, but papers haven't and won't figure out how to make decent money on webvertisements.

The only possible hope I see is running newspapers as co-ops.

[Scuba]

2. They've been gone for awhile....

...from the sense that 'newspapers' had 'journalists' that 'investigated' stories.

They've been replaced with entertainment, propaganda, and propaganda disguised as entertainment.

The best thing we can do to replace this critical part of our Democracy is to keep the internet open for all voices.

[Donnachaidh]

3. I think the major ones will disappear, but locals will evolve

smaller papers, with ads for local content, will probably find themselves in a whole new ballgame. Some local businesses will not want to get *lost* in internet advertising, and will continue running ads locally. I still prefer the *real* local stuff in newspaper format. Just like I enjoy the local pennysaver.

But the biggies *are* dying, for a large part because they are *too big* and too ingrained in their ways. they don't know how to change with the technology. And (at least in my opinion) if they think people are going to pay the same subscription rates to view content on the web -- that's nuts.

DH works for the large paper in Atlanta, and they are going through the slow death rather painfully. :shrug:

[Statistical]

4. Increasing readership in the traditional sense is as futile as increasing buggy whip sales.

You have to look at WHY & HOW newspapers were popular for last hundred years.

1) low cost - compared to alternatives
2) for many the ONLY source of semi-current news
3) for local advertisers a way to target a specific region
4) classified ads & more importantly want-ads (employment ads).

None of those advantages exist anymore. Newspapers have huge printing, distribution, retail costs compared to internet. The information is rather dated in the era of google news, blogs, forums, and 24/7 news channels. In the 1980s cable networks made it possible for small business to micro-target (no need to advertising on CBS for entire state but rather ability to do limited buys down to the zipcode). The internet has utterly anhilated the classified ads business for newspapers (huge source of revenue with little overhead).

So newspapers in the traditional sense will cease to exist. I think eventually devices like Kindle & iPad will allow news content. Likely the source of information won't be traditional newspaper companies but rather multi-faceted "news" companies like CNN (news channels, online news, magazines, and eventually digital news).

Many newspaper companies will get folded into existing news companies and/or the talent simply harvested.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I think your scenarios make the most sense

I can also see us being able to subscribe to specific news outlets and maybe even specific reporters.

[pipi_k]

6. What would people use to line the bottom of the birdcage?

Or wrap the plates and glasses in when they move?



:cry:

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Yes, there's that, too. Right at the top of the list.

I can't imagine that not everyone has the right priorities.

[pokerfan]

8. Never disappear

People said that television would kill print media and it didn't. And I like to think that the Intertubes has actually increased reading or at least it did until broadband came along. Still, speaking for myself, I can consume more information via the printed word rather than watching a video. I don't think I'm alone.

[rock]

9. I'm happen to agree

Books have not disappeared nor has radio.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Books

The financial model for selling books is very different than for selling newspapers.