Final Blog Post

            Will Newspapers Become Extinct? 

When was the last time you held a newspaper? Last week? Last year? Newspapers revolutionized the journalism world in a dynamic way. The decline in paper media contributed to the rise of the radio, broadcast, and the internet. The downfall of print media was influenced statistically and economically from America’s founding days to the modern media era.  

Print media is vital as newspapers are considered founding documents of democracy. Both national and local newspapers are defined by societal norms as the public values their types of news.  

                                                                                  Non Doc 
A variety of popular newspapers. 

During the colonial era Benjamin Harris's revolutionary invention, “the newspaper,” had a domino effect on society. Not only could information be shared more rapidly, but it also provided the public with a more varied type of information. No longer would details of stories be diminished or exaggerated by person-to-person sharing.  The stories were the same for everyone. The public loved it. This led to economic growth, which in turn created a public willing to advocate for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 

Print media, in the form of the newspaper, became such a vital part of life, that newspapers are considered founding documents of democracy. Both national and local newspapers are defined by societal norms as the public values their variety of news. 

The value of the newspapers skyrocketed with the speed at which the news could now be shared.  News gathered one day could be printed and placed in the hands of the public or on their doorstep the next day. This truly was life-changing for the reading population.  

                                League of Women Voters
Representation of the decline
 in newspapers.  

As more people learned to read, the newspaper readership increased due to the growing literacy rate. Once the population grew, so did the need for newspapers in major urban cities. Newspapers were flourishing, as journalism corporations were bringing in millions of dollars yearly, increasing more each decade.  

As with everything technology touches, the newspaper was not immune to the new innovations. The newspaper readership began to decline with the invention of the radio in the 1920s. As this invention competed with the newspaper for the public’s interest, the radio easily won, however, it was more of an unexpected winner. The public could not only just read the news, but they could now hear it as well.  

In 1920, KDKA became the first radio station developed for live broadcasts in order to spread the news from one part of the country to the other. Why did the newspaper appear to lose out against the radio? The answer is simple: the public could receive their news instantly from a small box rather than waiting a day to receive it. A bonus of the radio was, it brought families closer as they could gather and listen together. 

In the 1940s, another invention, the television, drastically decreased the need for newspapers by providing yet another news outlet. The television broadcasts defeated the newspaper and the radio because it could be seen and heard and required no reading to get the news. Edward. R Murrow was one of the most notable news anchors to incorporate his television broadcast which transformed America once again. 

The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was a law President Nixon implemented to prevent newspapers from shutting down since newspapers were needed in many communities. This act was written from a business and legal standpoint which allowed business markets to advocate for newspapers.  

Since the early 2000s newspapers have declined even more because of the next big thing, the internet. Roughly two newspapers become extinct with the coming of every week.   

                                                                   Statista 
A graph showing various age ranges 
reading a newspaper daily. 

In 2022 research was carried out and a graph representing the number of people of various ages who used a newspaper daily was created. Only 10% of young adults from ages eighteen to thirty-four use a newspaper daily. The study followed adults from ages thirty-five to sixty-four who read their news daily. Only 21% of sixty-five-year-olds and up read a newspaper daily.  

These numbers are statistical proof that the newspaper industry will continue to decline in revenue and readership because of the Internet. To modern-day journalism, companies' newspapers are considered a financial debt drain, as many have been shut down since the 2000s.  

Journalism companies are money-driven businesses dependent on the public, who control where their money is used. This is based on the most popular news outlets with the public in mind. Many journalists have lost their jobs since print media is no longer in high demand. What happens if the public no longer sees the importance of newspapers?  The answer is not particularly a positive one.

Many people would rather have digital online news articles rather than read paper articles. The public needs the option to be allowed to pick up a physical printed copy. Local newspapers are a critical item in connecting citizens to their communities.  

                                                  The New Yorker 
A visual showing the effects and
decline of print media. 

Newspapers have gone through a process to gather factual and credible information. Journalists are charged with the responsibility to protect and stamp a seal of approval by discerning against misinformation. Reading using physical paper is psychologically proven to increase literacy rates and improve individual critical thinking skills.  

Most of our news is directly found online through various website links and social media. The newspaper is losing the battle between the internet and other realms of modern-day technology. As America’s founding documents are slowly becoming extinct, the simplicity of the printed newspaper needs to be saved.