Print Journalism: A Dying Art

Let me make this clear at the beginning of this blog. Journalism is not dying.  It will never go away.  As Sam Butterfield said in his online article in The Nieman Reports, "The market for clear and sharp writing about timely subjects will never disappear." The route in which we deliver our message may evolve to changing technology, but the messengers are still her and multiplying. We are survivors!

According to an editorial by Jack Shafer, a writer for the online publication of the Slate, "researchers found that the print folks "remember significantly more news stories than online news readers"; that print readers "remembered significantly more topics than online newsreaders"; and that print readers remembered "more main points of news stories." When it came to recalling headlines, print and online readers finished in a draw."  From this statement can we assume that online readers are consuming so much news that they have become a generation that only remembers stories that appeal to their lifestyles or interest.  Our reading comprehension has diminished because we now have access to so much more, and we have chosen to narrow our news down to only what we choose to consume rather than the attraction of a flashy front page headline.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/9160/tablets-driving-newspaper-magazine-readership

Newspapers seem like the print dinosaurs to our millennials generation.  With technology providing easier access to just about any magazine content imaginable, print journalism appears to have risen to the level of retro nostalgia.  One thing that tablets provide in the most innovative ways that every other media lacks is the ability to get real time updates of breaking new as it's happening by a regular citizen experiencing things first hand.  Tablets provide less clutter and an ability to reach a greater number of readers.

 http://www.newsoperatingsystem.com/images/NOS/4/4.jpg

Online versions of newspapers have made it conducive for the business person on the go to have access wherever and whenever.  As stated an article by Brian D. Angell and Gabie E. Smith in The Journal of Technology Studies, access is the greatest barrier to online readership.  Not everybody has an electronic device with internet access available at their fingertips.  Not every American is willing to submit to the technology boom and purchase an electronic device just to read the morning paper.

With tablets bullying their way into the industry, newspapers that have a strong local tie have survived the loss in print subscriptions.  Most print newspapers have chosen to join the technology boom by moving contents from print to electronic media.  Our population has shifted with the majority of readership being baby boomers that are reluctant to abandon their loyalty to  their morning newspaper in had over a cup of joe and breakfast.