Newspaper - Will it dissapear?

[amg55]

I haven’t bought newspapers in years but I still enjoy reading it whenever I’m in cafes. Sadly, the day will come when it no longer makes financial sense to print them. That will be a sad day.

[Peter99]

I much enjoy reading a daily printed newspaper.
For me and my Wife it beats internet newspapers absolutely hands down.

My newspaper of choice is the Daily Telegraph, Monday to Saturday inc and the Sunday Telegraph. Still broadsheets, thank goodness.
If pushed, the London Times, which is comic sized.

The day the printed newspaper fades away will be a very sad day indeed.

[brandrea]

The really sad thing is that with the decline of newspapers, so to is the decline in good journalism.

Maybe it’ll filter over into digital platforms, but so far the newspapers are struggling to achieve this.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

My first job was a paper boy. Logistically, it’s hard to justify all the resources a paper needs to deliver the same information as an electronic device. It is inherently wasteful and will likely be gone in the not too distant future.

^This

[MrTwi]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

A daily habit of mine is reading the local newspaper at the coffee shop, I do it at home and when on the road. I find it informative, but also relaxing. I was wondering if anyone (besides myself) still reads the newspaper? Will it eventually disappear? Replaced by electronic instruments?

Back in the day the common folk would gather round the town center, hit the local pub, and listen to the Town Crier dispense the news of the week. It was a social event. Since most people couldn't read anyway, it was enjoyable to spend a some time with one's pals, listen to the gossip, knock back a pint, and find out what was going on in the local hamlet.

Seen any Town Criers around lately?

[Rock]

Originally Posted by SemperFi

I read the newspaper every day of the week and look forward to that hour or so each morning with my coffe.
It would be a sad day indeed if it were no longer available as I don’t enjoy reading magazines or newspapers online. For that same reason I’ll never own a book reader.
There’s just something about actually physically holding a newspaper or book that appeals to me. I don’t consider myself to be old fashioned but in that way I guess I am.

Yep, that's me too, but I am appalled by the level of obvious bias in the print media in Australia due to virtually everything being owned by ex-pat Rupert Murdoch. The standard of journalism is pathetic with everything an "opinion piece" and scant regard for reporting "facts" and allowing the reader to form their own opinion. Our governments have aided this process with their 'Media Laws' raising concerns about business control of politicians.

[Bigblu10]

Fact of the matter is by the time news gets printed on paper and you read it, it is old news already. I am in my mid 50's and when my wife subscribed to the Washington post Sunday paper I thought she had flipped her lid as I haven't read a newspaper in literally years. Ultimately I made her cancel the subscription shortly after it started. Between news online and cable news outlets on TV, I see no need to waste money on newspapers.

[landroverking]

So called National Papers like NY Times, Washington Post along with small town weeklys have the only chance.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by landroverking

So called National Papers like NY Times, Washington Post along with small town weeklys have the only chance.

This is an excellent point

Community newspaper still provide relevant information because of the niche reporting. I suppose Facebook posts is another source for community information

[MrTwi]

Originally Posted by Bigblu10

Fact of the matter is by the time news gets printed on paper and you read it, it is old news already.

When the Town Criers ruled the day, the news was already a month old. As print became more prevalent AND as the population learned to read, news might have been a week old. Eventually the daily newspaper became a reasonable invention. This is ancient technology and as the non-tech savvy baby boomers die, so will print media. As early as 2000, newspapers knew the end was coming, it was only a matter of time as to when PCs became popular. They had no way to know the mobile devices would eventually mean the end to PCs.

And so they built digital newspapers. Print newspapers revenue stream did not come from circulation but from advertising. The digital version threw up ads, ads that started to change, then be animated, then targeted you via cookies. Finally consumers of the news got fed up and block ads. Newspapers have started to rebel and put up paywalls. That won't last. We are a society that demands free access to news. This is especially true in that "newspapers" are no longer just news but many are tainted with bias in one form or the other putting opinions in WITH the news. Thats not news, its propaganda. They are selling their opinions in echo chambers. Finding pure news is difficult, but it does exist.

The new Town Crier is instant news. Flipboard, one app, allows one to curate the news but it still gets news from biased sources. Few companies do original research. They just point to another news source who in turn won't even tell you their source, its just "from an anonymous source familiar with the situation" which means nothing. But you can go to the source and get the news instantly. Its in the form of a little blue bird. Find a reporter or source providing instant news. For example, during the Boston Bombings, the Boston PD was tweeting live what was going on. No filter, no bias, just the news. No need to wait until some newspaper or TV station told you what was happening. Instant, true, and unbiased news. Today, there are producers of news tweeting what's going on as they talk to actual human beings, and not "someone familiar with the situation". Find them and you have instant, unbiased news.

Paper newspapers? They will die with the non-tech savvy baby boomers.

Digital newspapers? The will die behind paywalls where only those in the echo chambers willing to pay.

Instant news is twitter from multiple sources, curated by ... yourself.

BTW, local newspapers are also dying. Many have already moved to digital versions. At least they tend to be more objective.