This is a subject that has fascinated me over the last couple of years. I remember several years ago, someone suggested to me that someday newspapers may go by the wayside. I laughed. I liked reading the newspaper.
Then my husband worked for a newspaper. One of his clients cut back on advertising, because he was sure the internet was the way of the future. I began to think twice about my position.
Recently our local Christian radio station did a morning program on newspapers. There was much debate as to what the future of newspapers would be. By now I was convinced newspapers were on the way out.
Then yesterday I received a press release from Cheap Tweet, saying that fewer coupons are appearing in the Sunday papers, and more are available online. I haven’t noticed the newspaper coupon trend yet, but I’m not real consistent in my couponing, either.
So, that leads to the question of the week. What is the future of newspapers? Thinking back to the radio show, one point of view was that newspapers would always be around. They’re social (as in you read them in coffee shops and leave a copy…then someone else picks it up, and you discuss the day’s news).
The other point of view was that you can do all of that online, so a newspaper becomes unnecessary. People share links on Twitter and Facebook all the time. The social aspect of newspapers is moving online. Furthermore, the news online is more up to date than what you find in a newspaper.
A third opinion that I’ve heard is that newspapers will continue to exist, but their form will change drastically (to what, I’m not sure).
I know this is a stretch for a frugal topic, but as a Sociology major in college, it’s interesting to me. And newspapers have historically had a lot to do with finance. Companies buy ads. People look for jobs. People sell things in the classifieds. Coupon inserts provide an avenue for saving money.
My family hasn’t subscribed to the newspaper since my husband got let go from his newspaper job. Besides the fact that we were angry at the time (we’re over it), paying for the paper when my husband was unemployed seemed like an unnecessary expense. When he finally landed another stable job, we were so used to being without the paper, we never subscribed again.
So do you subscribe to the paper? Have you seen it changing? If you could speculate, what do you think the future of newspapers is?
Photo by Lara604.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I actually wrote a blog post on this (http://www.moneybeagle.com/200.....e-dinosaur) just a couple of weeks ago, as the Detroit newspapers are now offering home delivery only three days a week, instead of the traditional seven that we’ve known since, well, forever.
I think it’s inevitable that the market will change. Unfortunately, it looks like you’ll see more of pulling stories off the wire services and less ‘original spin’. This is a trend that I think any newspaper reader has to have noticed.
Money Beagle’s last blog post..Deciding On Our Baby Monitor
I subscribe to the Sunday paper, and honestly I never even read the newspaper. I get it solely for the ads and the coupons. I could probably save myself some money by looking up the ads online, but I enjoy the routine of sitting down and looking through the stack of them.
My husband also worked at a newspaper, for the better part of ten years. He watched as ad revenue and subscription revenue slowly went down, and in spite of various programs they had to try and beat that it came to the point where the paper was sold to someone who thought they could turn it around. My husband was let go in the third or fourth wave of layoffs…that was in 2007. They are still performing periodic layoffs now. We immediately canceled our subscription–like your husband mine did not want to feed the hand that bit him after he’d been loyal so long. We recently subscribed to a different newspaper from a larger city in the next county only so that I can get coupons. I’ll be canceling that one too if I notice a drop in the coupon rations, and I’ve heard that paper is struggling too. I would not be surprised if local newspapers fell to the side and only giants like the New York Post or Wall Street Journal stuck around.
I happen to live in the area of the country with the #1 per capita newspaper subscription. Uncle Warren also owns the paper so you can bet if it wasn’t profitable it would be downsized until it was. This area is also elderly. 11% of the region is over 65. I think the older the region the more likely to see semi-profitable newspapers, as more subscriptions equals the ability to charge more for ad revenue.
The same way TV was going to kill radio is how the internet will kill the newspaper industry. In other words, the newspapers will survive there will be just less of them and they will need to reinvent themselves into something a bit different to remain profitable. Whether that means there will be 12 companies owning all the newspapers (very bad), newspapers develop niches, or some other scenario, is the question.
I get the weekend/holiday Columbus Dispatch. I read about 1/3 of it but truly just get it for the print ads and coupons- although some stores have online ads, it’s not always as easy, and if you want to price match something most stores require that you have the ad in hand.
Jessica’s last blog post..Frugal Friday: Updates
I only get the Sunday paper, for the coupons. I almost wish that they would just do everything online because it takes me a fair amount of time to cut and organize my coupons. But, some stores are still resistant to taking internet printable coupons (like Rite Aid, and K-Mart on Double Coupon days). The other problem would be that internet coupons limit you to how many coupons you can print per computer- usually to two. Some people (like me) buy as many as 10 papers on weeks when a great coupon comes out, so that would definitely change and upset a lot of avid couponers.
My husband worked for a newspaper for several years also and he always said he thought that newspapers would eventually be gone. We have not gotten the paper since he quit because we can find any information we’re looking for on their website.
I think with all the handy gadgets now for browsing the internet, eventually nobody will want to bother with a big bulky newspaper. For instance, we now have phones that we can browse the internet pretty much wherever we’re at.
Also, with so many companies now are going to paperless billing and payments, why not the newspaper going paperless too. Just think how much paper could be saved.
I don’t think coupons will be an issue either eventually. Now you have companies like Cellfire, where you can download coupons right onto your grocery savings cards for some grocery stores. With this kind of convenience and technology, I think we’ll be going in this direction for the future.
Amanda @ Mommy’s Idea Book’s last blog post..Tips for Family Vacation Planning, Part 3: Don’t forget to take…
In our town we have two papers, one is a free publication. Both are offered completely online as well. The subscription one….is cheaper for the online version than paper version. I definately see more and more papers going online vs delivery. In addition, I get the Sunday paper for coupons, but most of those same coupons are offered printable online already. Online papers would not be a big deal to me and could save many tree.
I have a subscription to one of the local papers but honestly, I never read it any more. I pick out some coupons on Sunday. The money I save from the coupons don’t pay for the subscription so I will not renew when my subscription is up.
I’ve been involved in computers since 1984 so my guess is some newspapers will survive but will morph like radio has.
Dave Campbell’s last blog post..Planning a Camping Trip
I’m thinking that, yeah, they’re on their way out or they’re gonna have to drastically retool in some form. We haven’t subscribed in years. The rates kept going up and we can get up-to-the minute news online or on TV.
I do miss the Sunday routine of reading through all of the parts that interest me but I don’t miss it enough to spend the $$.
Interesting topic, thanks!
Shelby, the midlife mama’s last blog post..The Spaces In Between
I think the sort of newspaper that you subscribe to is on its way out. I’ve never subscribed to one, though my mom did when I was a kid. I always found them such a pain to read. Unfolding and refolding them, finding the end of the story, not getting ink all over your fingers, not having the inserts fall out unexpectedly — well, it’s an art I never mastered. I prefer reading my news online, mostly through RSS subscriptions.
There is still a use for the paper, though, at least until everyone can read their news from their own portable device. In college, I enjoyed picking up the campus paper to read at the bus stop or between classes even though I also read news online. It helped that the campus paper was free, but also that it was folded magazine style and smaller in size, thereby making it easy to read even on the bus.
Overall, I do see online news replacing paper — and I don’t see that as a bad thing. It is, after all, cheaper for both reader and news company and there’s less paper waste. It also has features unavailable in paper: it can be updated throughout the day, readers can comment on stories and ask questions, ads can be tailored better to the readers, readers can share links to stories, many readers can now read the news from their phones from just about anywhere, etc. etc. etc.
While newspapers may go the way of the dodo, news companies don’t have to. We still need good journalism, and while there are some great citizen journalists, there are some stories that take resources beyond the average blogger to cover. But companies have to adapt — and focus more than ever on quality, and I think most have been very slow to step up their game because they have been too busy fighting and dismissing blogs instead of working with them and learning lessons from them. Bloggers aren’t the enemy! In fact, I usually end up at news sites BECAUSE they were looked to by bloggers.
Anyhow, just my two cents!
Meg from FruWiki’s last blog post..Experimentation
I agree with Meg- I haven’t bought a paper in years; I dislike reading them as they are cumbersome and as Meg points out the ink gets all over your hands.
Then you are left with a stack of paper you have to recycle.
I don’t think they’ll disappear entirely; but I don’t think they will survive at their current level.
I took the Sunday paper for years and my husband read the sports section and used the coupons and the sale ads. Then after I began to really use coupons and started reading blogs I realized I did not always get all that was available in my area. I called and complained and it happened a time or too again. So I cancelled and then with in a couple of weeks I learned it was not available for delivery anymore anyway. I can still by several on my way to church every Sunday but I suspose they will someday end.
Denise’s last blog post..Huggies Pure and Natural
In the past, I was a huge newspaper reader; it was a part of my morning routine. For a long time, though, we have only subscribed to the Sunday/holiday paper, for the coupons like other commenters here. I do think newspapers are on their way out. I have had some issues using online, home-printed coupons, because some stores refuse them (over concerns about fraud). I believe more and more stores will begin accepting the home printed coupons, though, in order to remain competitive.
I get most of my news online, and I feel it is much more current and it is frequently updated.
Angelsong’s last blog post..Finances are looking up
I was a reporter at a daily paper for 8 years. I left just before my paper started mass layoffs. I don’t think newspapers will cease to exist, but I do think they need to get some younger, more innovative thinkers to help them morph into what they need to be to stay in business.
One thing that concerns me that I really don’t think the public understands is the great importance of a local newspaper. Bloggers – while they can be informative and entertaining – are not journalists. There is a huge difference. It’s important for local reporters to keep an eye on their local government. Let’s face it, few members of the public show up to school board or city council meetings. Without reporters keeping tabs, these people can run amok, and who would be there to notice? Television and radio news largely “borrows” its content from newspapers. The loss of newspapers would drastically change how TV news operates.
I could go on forever because I’m very passionate about this issue, but I’ll stop now.
@Kristen – You have a really good point. Though, newspapers don’t always motivate the public the way they should. A couple of days ago the newspaper broke the story that a neighboring school district was considering going to a 4 day school week. There was a public meeting last night to discuss it, and only 70 parents out of the whole district showed up. This is a district with two high schools, two middle schools, and 14 elementary schools. Only 70 parents.
However, without the newspaper, the attendance probably would have been far less.
I saw a news story on this (maybe on 60 minutes) a month or so ago. It was about how the face of news is changing. They were showing the pattern that has existed in how newspapers started. They went back to when people like Benjamin Franklin were writing papers and mass producing them on current issues and events. As those became more and more common people started consolidating this ideas into a single newsletter/newspaper and there were TONS of them. Then they started buying each other out and consolidating down to just a few newpapers. But as those papers started not reporting both sides of the news or catching new readers, things like blogs appeared. It is kind of a return to writers like Franklin and their ideas. They anticipated that this is just cyclical and will continue to evolve and return to where we are now with fewer newspapers, blogs, etc.
I only get the Sunday paper. I pull out the coupons and toss the paper. I get all my news online and on TV.
Someone Being Me’s last blog post..The first day of the rest of my parenthood experience
@Kristen
“Bloggers – while they can be informative and entertaining – are not journalists. There is a huge difference.”
Nothing personal, but I think the “bloggers vs. journalists” arguments, while oh too common, are exactly the wrong way to think about things.
There is a huge difference between bloggers and journalists but in that it’s comparing — and confusing — medium and purpose/genre. We might as well compare journalists to newspaper columnists or book authors. But how silly it would sound to say “Book authors – while they can be informative and entertaining – are not journalists.” That would certainly insult a lot of journalists who have authored great books on current events!
Like books and newspapers, blogs are just a medium. Journalists can write books or blogs or newspaper columns (or do something entirely different), but not everyone who writes in any of those is a journalist.
Why is this all important? Well, not only is it rather insulting to paint all bloggers as non-journalists, but I think news companies need to look at the medium that is blogging and try to understand the appeal, which for one usually includes the ability to comment on the piece and expect replies back from the author as well as from other readers. People want a chance to form online communities and truly interact (“interact” not meaning just pressing buttons on a slide show *rolls eyes*). Fortunately, some companies are getting this. Others are a bit slower.
Meg from FruWiki’s last blog post..Experimentation
I think the big town daily paper may be going away – those that have a lot of world, national, and even state news.
But – for the small town rural weekly paper, the local area news, it’s the lifeblood of the community. I don’t see it going away. Births, deaths, kids, school, sports, local fishing hot spots, hunting, charity drives, community events for young and old alike, free medical checkup events and when and where the Easter bunny or Santa Claus will be….. These things are the main parts of our local weekly paper. I think the little weekly papers will stay.
I sure hope so – besides keeping up on the community happenings, how will I start my woodstove without it! It’s a stretch to make one little paper do the fire starting all week long!
@Meg, I guess I should have added the qualifier that not “all” bloggers are journalists. I didn’t mean to imply that blogs don’t serve a great purpose and that there aren’t good blogs. I definitely see the value of blogs, especially when it comes to starting dialogue about issues and stories. The conversations that happen on blogs don’t happen with a traditional news story, and those conversations are important to the community.
It just concerns me that literally anyone can start a blog and pretty much say whatever they want and some people will use that as a substitutue for news, regardless of how reliable the source is. I believe anyone who disseminates “news” to the public should have a certain amount of accountability for what they put out there, and some bloggers don’t have anyone holding them accountable. But, that’s just my humble opinion.
@Kristen
Yes, just about anyone can start a blog, but how is that much difference from saying that anyone can speak their mind about news around the water cooler? There *may* be a larger audience, but if anything that holds them MORE accountable since (assuming they don’t completely edit out dissenting comments) there are more people to question what is written. And also, because bloggers know that what they write may be around for a long, long time, wise bloggers do know to be somewhat careful about what they write, whereas Joe at the water cooler has an easier time denying that he said something stupid a week ago.
As with any medium, including newspapers, the reader ALSO has a responsibility to consider the source of what they read and weigh it against other sources and even just good ol’ common sense! To some extent, that does happen, especially among people who are frequent and experienced readers of many blogs and understand the medium for what it is.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe we do nearly a good enough job of teaching people to be critical readers. And there are many people who put too much weight on the written word — not to mention video. Surely you’ve seen some of the junk emails that get forwarded around! I’ve had people actually cite those as proof of all sorts of conspiracies!
Ultimately, though, I believe that involvement with blogs (writing, reading, commenting, etc.) will lead our society to be more critical readers as it gives people a chance to debate issues with people with different perspectives. Just seeing dissenting views helps people realize that little is carved in stone, little is simply black or white. And if people can question blogs, then they can question mass media, too — which, I believe, is a good thing and long overdue!
Meg from FruWiki’s last blog post..Experimentation
My favorite part of the week used to be the Sunday paper. And my favorite part of the paper was the insert with all the sales flyers and coupons. On the one hand, it’s more efficient and ecological to get what you need from the internet. On the other hand, I don’t think that progress is always better. I’m gonna miss newspapers…
Stella’s last blog post..Borders 40% Off Exclusive
I pick up the Sunday paper after Church for the coupons, comics (sad but true) and local news. For everything else, I go with websites.
Iva @ Horizontal Yo-Yo’s last blog post..Friday Funnies
I really do love reading newspapers but I think their days are numbered in their current form. Possibly they will go online only. One big city paper here that has been around for over a hundred years finally went belly up. Subscriptions to our little local paper are way down. My slogan for them is “yesterday’s news tomorrow”. I have already read the news on the internet and seen it on the tv news 1-2 days before it reaches the paper. They recently switched to a 6 am delivery time instead of evening so they can no longer use school kids to deliver it. Also many of the local groceries stores that had their groc ads included in the newspaper have now pulled them from the paper and they now come in the mail. I am finding it hard not to unsubcribe.
A few years ago I cancelled my newspaper subscription. I missed holding the paper in my hands and resubscribed. It’s just not the same sitting at a computer to read the news.
I subscribe to my local newspaper. I get it every day and my husband and I read it every morning while we eat breakfast. There is a lot of local information in it that I know the online version either doesn’t have, or would be too time consuming to try to locate. Paper is convenient and I can (and do) recycle it many different ways.
I have noticed that there are less coupons these days and it really bugs me that I have to now spend more time on my computer hunting them down.
I also read newspapers online when I get a chance. I check out the NYC papers because that is the largest city near my home and find regional and state info on there that my local paper sometimes doesn’t have, but since I don’t need all the local city news, the online option is fine.
I hope newspapers don’t go away. It would be a real loss.
Our hometown paper has reduced in size this year, not publishing classifies Monday through Wednesday. If it weren’t for the comics and ads (there are 2 favorites that don’t publish current comics online, you have to wait a month), I’d cancel and just get the Sunday paper like I do the for the nearest metropolitan area. It’s not much, $11 a month, but still hardly worth it.
Carolyn’s last blog post..April Goals Update
I was going to skip commenting, because most of my views have already been brought up but…
…we do get the local newspaper. It is a gift subscription from my dad to our kids. Why? We view the newspaper as the source of our first lessons in civic awareness our children receive. Yes, they run for the comics each morning, but the one who “loses” ends up reading some article that catches his/her eye while they’re waiting. Since we don’t live in a huge city, the article is usually about something they can relate specifically to. Viola, a lesson about what is going on in “their” world. Discussions result, awareness grows. Oftentimes, the internet is then used to dig deeper, get more information. It is a valuable tool.
Having said all that, I don’t think I’d be subscribing if I had to pay for it myself. I think I’d assign current events to my children and have them find internet articles that caught their eye. The newspapers have “dumbed” down their content over the years, the coupons don’t help someone who tries to cook from fresh and bulk items rather than prepackaged, and the funnies aren’t that funny.
As for the argument that journalists are needed, I agree, but if the last two years have taught us anything, it is that viral video can spread the word farther and faster than any newspaper and, for the younger generation, has far more credibility. I think rural newspapers that spread good news or narrowly relevant news will not go away, but won’t be dailies. I think the big city newspapers are dying because they aren’t providing value…it is simply a manifestation of the evolution of the medium.
Erin’s last blog post..Friday Photo Flashback
I hope that newspapers will survive, but am not sure if they will. I like the way that a newspaper can go more indepth than most online articles.
And I hope paper coupons never go away. My grocery store seems to think that internet printable coupons are mostly fraudulent, and it is a pain to use them. I much prefer buying a couple papers every Sunday.
Heidi @ ggip’s last blog post..Contest for CdLS Awareness!
I think so – you can get all the news and more online!
I prefer reading at my computer, anyways, where I can listen to music and do other things.
TStrump’s last blog post..Selling Off Our Water
I definitely prefer a newspaper. Although the internet and computer are great and informative – I prefer being able to sit down and actually hold a paper in my hand and be able to read it.
I can’t and won’t support the liberal BS of most newspapers, including our local ones. To PAY hard-earned money to willfully bring garbage into my home makes no sense. haven’t subscribed in years, use freebies and others old copies for fire-starter and animal bedding. Online sources are global-wide and in real time. Why would anyone buy a newspaper?
I still work as a newspaper reporter, but I know of many who have been laid off in Michigan and Ohio.
My blog is sponsored by my newspaper.
I don’t mind the shift in media.
I do mind the fact that the Internet media isn’t bringing in as much income as the print media did.
Somehow, the payroll has to be met.
Monroe on a Budget’s last blog post..Metro Detroit blogger: Money Beagle
Simply put, I think they will ultimately go electronic . . .
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com’s last blog post..DIY: How to Do the Laundry
I definitely think newspapers are changing. I would subscribe in my town’s paper offered a sunday-only option, but it doesn’t–and the added expense of all week is just too much for me, especially since I probably won’t read the thing anyway. (There is zero cost savings between buying it daily at the store and home delivery, so why?)
My local paper (afternoon edition only) has only just now started offering a companion online service, which is mediocre at best. The next town over, which offers a morning edition, does a much better job at complementary print-and-online stories, similar to what you see in magazines (different features online, etc). They encourage you to get additional info online, which I think is clever.
I think that eventually newspapers will be forced to change or die, like any company, really. But papers that do the best in the transition will survive, I’m sure of it.
I’m surprised how many people who get the paper don’t read it, or don’t get it at all. I’ve subscribed since I was living on my own and can proudly say I read the entire paper (except the sports and classified, those go right into the recycle) every day. If I miss some, I usually go back and read it the next day. I skip the ads usually, because that just entices me to go shopping. Except for the grocery ads, those are great for the loss leaders. But I truely enjoy reading the paper. I read stories aloud to my family, usually stories about science to my daughter, or stories relating to things we’ve talked about before. I love to show her the relevance of things she’s studied to real life. I can’t spend that kind of time in front of the computer, and if I did, I wouldn’t want to spend it trying to find the news. I cannot watch TV news – it’s usually nto relevant and useless. But I do read during breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s portable, too. They are also great for increasing vocabulary and critical thinking (some of the statistics can be so misleading – it’s fun to figure out why or how.)
Our paper (The washington post) has downsized since the new year. 3 comic pages have gone to two, business section was folded into the front page section. No more book world, no more Sunday Source. It’s sad and a shock to the system, but I hope they survive. Just today in the paper I read the Boston Globe is in jeoperdy too. I read them for 4 years while we were in Massachusetts, another venerable paper. My parents’ paper, the Reading Eagle, got smaller paper and a weird fold to convince you it’s not as small as it is.