John M. Setzler, Jr. Life in Black and White

What’s News?

Untitled

Originally uploaded by John Setzler.

I have been reading a lot recently about the decline of the printed newspaper. It all started with a post I read on Nathan Armes' Camera Obscura blog several months ago.

I am a firm believer that newspapers will cease to exist as we know them at some point in the not-so-distant future. There are several powerful factors that will make this prediction come true. The question is when...

I enjoy reading the newspapers occasionally. I don't do it often though. Usually if I'm reading a newspaper it's because there is something specific in that issue that I want to read. I find newspapers to be cumbersome. Who invented the page size? It's hard to sit down and manage a newspaper. If I'm at the dinner table with it, it takes up too much space there too. The paper they are printed on are just one grade above toilet paper. If it gets wet in the driveway before you go out to get it, just drop it in the garbage on your way inside. I just find them inconvenient most of the time.

What's killing the newspaper?

Obviously, the internet is the main source of problems. I can find the stories I want to read at any of many sources. If a story is just breaking, I may not want to wait until tomorrow to read about it in the newspaper. If I do read it in tomorrow's paper, It's the exact same content I have already read online since most papers are getting non-local news from the same wire services. One thing I find most interesting about online news services is that video clips are becoming quite popular. If video is available, which it is in many cases, it replaces the still photos that accompany a news story. Another killer of the newspaper is the cell phone / PDA combo. Most of these gadgets can be programmed to receive news stories at the moment they become available.

I do prefer simply checking into a website for news. I have my favorites too. Some news websites are so 'ugly' and hard to navigate that I just avoid them. Lots of the ugly sites are so packed full of advertising and pop-ups that it's just annoying. The sites I visit regularly DO have advertising on them, but that is to be expected. Someone has to foot the bill for the site and its content. I just choose the sites that are easy to navigate and 'pretty' in general. I don't like having to spend a lot of time digging for a headline. Some web developers could use some training in graphic design and the KISS method.

I believe that newspapers should be free. The fifty-cent cover price at the newsstand doesn't come close to covering the cost of compiling the news, printing, and distribution of the paper. Newspapers are funded by their advertisers. I think additional advertising of some type could also fund the printing and distribution of the free newspaper. The circulation numbers of any particular paper seem to be a key figure in selling advertising to businesses. The more papers distributed, the higher the advertising cost also. If a newspaper is free, I wonder if the distribution would increase? I also believe that, with proper thought and planning, the free newspaper could still be delivered to our homes and businesses at no cost to the consumer.

The other alternative is to take the completely digital route. What if the newspaper was only available online? 98% of the news I read is online. The only disadvantage I can see with this idea is that I can't take my computer to the toilet with me very easily. I could setup a wireless configuration so I could take the laptop to the bathroom with me probably ;)

I think that selling advertising in a completely online newspaper would be difficult. I wonder if advertising buyers are having a difficult time giving up the printed ads in favor of electronic? I guess this idea is reminiscent of that 'paperless office' concept that people kept discussing in the late 1980s as PCs proliferated. People DO have a difficult time letting go of a printed page in favor of viewing it on the computer screen. I know this first-hand from my 18 years working in the I.T. industry. I personally oversaw the printing of multi-hundred page reports where the only pages actually viewed numbered less than five. Maybe our personal fascination and love of the printed page will keep printed news media afloat for a while longer...

If you have read this far, I would love to have a comment from you. Tell me where you get your news...