A very good friend of mine happened to email me an interesting article [if you don't want to register with WT.com then email me and I will send you a transcript of the article.] he found in the Washington Times
. It touches on a subject that has frequented my posts, the popularity and utility of newspapers versus internet media. Jennifer Harper of WT wrote on March 13, 2007,
"Political insiders turn to the old standby for updates, even in the age of blogs and cable news. The
traditional newspaper is the most popular ‘destination for political
news,’ according to ‘The State of the News Media 2007,’ a 700-page
report released yesterday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism."
She goes on to say in the article that a major component of newspaper readership is due to the "political junkies" those people who follow politics "closely". However, I beg to differ Jennifer. The fact that "newspaper readership has dropped 20 percent since 1992" is a bigger component to the livelihood or death of print news than a host of political junkies getting their "fix" from papers. In fact, now that politicians are using the internet and YouTube as major outlets for their campaigns one could go as far to say that the brunt of news is begotten online.
Many newspapers themselves are realizing the impact of an online presence and are encouraging their journalist staff to contribute to their own blogs. Check out USA Today and their grasp of internet media. They have incorporated blogs, classifieds, and the well-known formerly paper-unique crosswords and sudoku. The point is that newspapers still and probably will always have some role in our society. Now however it will probably have to be a lot more dynamic.
You know this is one of my favorite topics to speak–and debate–on.
I disagree with your analysis, however, it’s good that you are giving the subject some discussion through your blog.
Nice post.
JAY
One trend that I’ll point out is the age demographics of the newspaper and online.
The 55+ demo, raised with only the paper & radio [and television, in its infancy], is still largely using the traditional media for their news. These people tend to be the most active in politics (one example,the voting rates broken down by age), it’s no surprise that politicos/junkies still use the paper.
What is still up in the air is if the younger generation is becoming more educated and politically active if the political media is adapting online mediums.
Secondly, this short-sighted point from the WT article: “The report deemed political junkies as “a logical base for the newspaper’s future.”
It’s only because most political junkies are in fact the same age (the 40+ demo) as the current newspaper readership. In the coming years as those who grew up with the internet become older, they’ll gravitate more towards the mediums with what they’re familiar with – the internet [specifically blogs], possibly TV, and the unknown..