The development of digital technologies and online mass media sources has caused a significant decline in demand for print newspapers all over the world. The statistics state that only in the United Kingdom the expenditure on newspapers fell from almost 4.5 billion pounds in 2005 to 2.8 billion in 2020 (Watson, 2021). Though it seems that the decreased demand for print newspapers was caused by the expanding popularity of digital technologies and online media sources, there are many other factors that should be considered. They are related to the economics, changing interests and preferences of the audience, and the historical development of the society.
Print newspapers have been the sources of daily news for several centuries. However, with the emergence and growing influence of the internet, social media, and television, their popularity has significantly decreased because the digital sources of information are more precise and up-to-date (NewspaperLinks.com, no date). It is so because online media are constantly updating, which helps people find out about the changes in any field, while the printed newspapers usually contain information on what happened during the past day. In addition, online media, which constantly publish news articles, are perceived as more reliable sources than printed media (Dickinson, no date). People now do not look for additional complications in their daily routines. That is why they tend to use social media and online newspapers as primary sources of news and reliable information, which negatively affects the popularity of printed media.
Another factor that significantly influenced the decline in print newspapers is the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the decrease in their amount lasted for more than one decade, the pandemic and severe economic recession boosted the process (Adgate, 2021). Thus, many companies are now forced to minimize their marketing budgets which negatively impacts the advertising revenues. Since the global and local economies forced certain difficulties at the beginning of the pandemic and during it, printed newspaper distributors faced a severe decline in 2020-2021. The analysts predict that the majority of the large and financially successful newspapers which exist both in printed and digital formats are likely to rely on online publishing (Adgate, 2021). News websites become more and more popular every year because they contain relevant and constantly updated information and are easier to reach than print newspapers.
The next factor contributing to the lower popularity and distribution of the printed press is that the younger generation does not use these sources at all or uses them extremely rarely. If the older generation still has habits of reading a newspaper every morning or at the weekend, young people are more likely to find everything they need on social media or in online newspapers. Another important issue that relates to the extreme popularity of online sources is that the major part of the content there may be accessed for free (Purdy, Wong and Harris, 2017). Thus, people do not have to pay a certain sum of money to read about things that happen in the world around them as it is with the printed newspapers.
When speaking about the current trends in the news-related area, it is necessary to mention that more publishers have come up with a strategy of creating a subscription for their services. Thus, online newspapers will become more similar to printed ones, and people will have to pay in order to read certain articles and materials (Newman, 2022). However, despite this innovation, the publishers state that a significant part of their revenue is got from tech platforms.
Even though now it may seem that printed newspapers will soon face a complete disappearance, it is not true. When looking at the statistics of the number of readers of the print newspapers, it is clear that their number decreases which force small publishing houses to close and the big ones to go online. However, when analyzing the events of the past two decades, it is possible to see that print newspapers were predicted to disappear even in 2012, but the prognosis was wrong (Cole, 2018). Newspapers will exist while people are interested in getting up-to-date information from reliable sources. Moreover, since the economy slowly goes out of the recession, the newspaper business will face improvement.
Even though now, with the expansion of the digital means of conveying information and news, the successful existence of the print newspapers seems unreal, they are unlikely to disappear fully. First of all, many online media still have printed versions of their papers though their amount has significantly decreased due to the lack of financial security (The Johns Hopkins News-Letter editorial board, 2019). Moreover, though the number of people who read newspapers in print has significantly decreased, there are still a lot of them, which makes certain revenues for the business.
One of the most significant consequences of the complete liquidation of print newspapers lies in the fact that thousands of people will lose their occupations. It poses a significant threat to their financial stability and general well-being of the society (Adgate, 2021). That is why some billionaires and foundations buy the newspapers and do not let them disappear and help the employees save their workplaces and the sources of income. The situation escalated after the pandemic, and the economic recession that followed it erupted. It is also worth mentioning at this point that the large newspapers have almost the same risks of facing bankruptcy and layoffs as the smaller ones.
A lot of publishing companies now build their strategies taking into account only digital newspapers. It is explained by the fact that they are more financially stable, and it may be quite easy to calculate the possible revenue ratios. That is why the number of print subscriptions continues to decrease though the pace has slowed down (Houston, 2021). Thus, the national newspaper sales in the UK have fallen by nearly two-thirds over the first two decades of the twenty-first century (Mayhew, 2020). However, it does not mean that the historical significance of the print newspapers has declined together with their popularity.
Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that the importance and distribution of print newspapers in the modern world are decreasing. It happens not only because of the development of digital mass media sources but because of a number of factors. Economic recession, COVID-19 pandemic, and changing interests and preferences of the younger generation influence the process as well. However, the total disappearance of the print newspapers still seems unlikely to happen because many people are now interested in its development and stability. That is why some billionaires and foundations buy the newspapers and save their staff from dismissal.
Reference List
Adgate, B. (2021) ‘Newspapers have been struggling and then came the pandemic’, Forbes.
Cole, J. (2018) ‘Five years later: the prediction on the end of printed newspapers’, Center for the Digital Future.
Dickinson, R. (no date) ‘The newspaper: the rise and fall of a cultural form?’, University of Leicester.
Houston, P. (2021) ‘2021 in print: newspapers’ decline continues, but for magazines… it’s complicated’, WNIP.
Mayhew, F. (2020) ‘UK national newspaper sales slump by two-thirds in 20 years amid digital disruption’, PressGazette.
Newman, N. (2022) ‘Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2022’, Reuters Institute.
Purdy, S., Wong, P. and Harris, P. (2017) ‘Stop the presses!’, KPMG.
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter editorial board (2019) ‘Does print journalism have a future?’, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter.
Watson, A. (2021) ‘Newspaper industry in the United Kingdom – statistics & facts”, Statista.
Will technology cause the extinction of newspaper? (no date).