Stop the Presses

Eric Alterman wrote a piece for the New Yorker about the fate of newspapers. He touches on the historical purpose and views of news papers as well the contemporary views. Many peoplebelieve that newspapers will go the way the way of the dinosaurs. Alterman states the New York Times Company saw a 54 percent decline in its stock at the end of 2004. It's not just the Times that has seen a drastic decline in profits its all newspapers, it's all newspapers.

I don't believe that newspapers will go extinct. I do however think that newspapers will have to change their business models drastically in order to compete. I found the fact that The Washington Post Company owns the testing and prep company Kaplan. Kaplan brings in over half of its revenues. I believe newspapers will have to diversify its business models in order to compete. The plan of action newspapers will take is something each individual paper will have to figure out for itself.

If newspapers don't figure out how to diversify then unfortunately they will fall prey to the internet. I know I consume most of my news from the internet and TV. I hate having to deal with cumbersome newspapers and figuring out how to fold it and did I mix up any pages. For me newspapers aren’t worth the trouble they give me so a quickly turn to the internet for any information.

Alterman also notes the average age of a newspaper reader is 55 and up. One would think with the majority of Americans being in that age group of 55 and up that readership would remain at least constant for newspapers but unfortunately it not.

As a soon to be working journalist, I find it really sad that newspapers are having a hard time. TV news only gives a quick glimpse of what is going on. Newspapers have always been around for the in-depth and hard-hitting investigative pieces. If we loose newspapers then we are losing an essential part to our society.