The future of print media in America

[ArmyVet]

I hope the mods will give me a little leash because I am interested in the opinions here. While this is not a sports specific topic, this will likely impact how you receive and digest news if it hasn't already done so. Yesterday the NY Daily News gutted their editorial department by 50% in an ongoing national trend of decimating newspaper staffs.

As someone who still enjoys reading an actual paper, I am disappointed in this trajectory and the almost certain destruction of additional print media outlets in the near future. Where will it end?

Will there be any print media around in 10 years? 20 years? 50 years?

[butlerguy03]

There will be print media, but it will become just a collection of national newspapers. Gannett (USA Today and many, many local papers) has already done this. The IndyStar has a USA Today section. I'm sure the Chicago Tribune and New York Times will exist, although they may look quite different. The NYT is actually gaining subscribers in droves because they are one of the last true investigative journalistic bodies still remaining.

The Athletic has done it right. I highly recommend a subscription - basically keeping sports journalism alive. Can't wait to see other versions (Politics, etc.) come around.

[billyjack]

Great topic...

My family got 7 days of the Prov Journal when i was growing up. After i got married, i kept the Projo print version til maybe 2005 or so. Since then, i occasionally get a month here and there of the Boston Globe delivered if there's a great deal, or once a month i'll get the Sunday paper. Since around 10 years ago, i've pretty much gotten everything online.

I recently realized a couple of things.

1. i really miss cracking open a paper, and manuevering around to each section without any hassle. Online, i know i miss a lot of hidden news and valuable nuggets as i'm surfing around. So that sucks.

2. In terms of following sports, having only online news has really been a negative overall. As a kid, i would read every inch of the Sports page. It was really fun looking at each baseball boxscore, the lineups, pitching, etc. The boxscores were all on one page, as opposed to today having to click 15 times to surf through each game. The Standings were right there on the top of the page, again, with no extra clicks or effort.

The other day during the All Star game i noticed how i didn't recognize a lot of players. It kinda sucked. My kids are fine in knowing the players cuz it's second nature for them to surf around sports sites.

I've given my kids the Boston Globe Sunday sports section at different times, and they think i'm nuts. By the time the paper arrives, the news is often outdated. No need to wait 24 hours to read about Manny Machado being traded.

So i think print news is in really tough shape. Especially print versions of the sports page. It's looking like only older people like me would have an interest in hard copies.

Maybe magazines can adapt and survive better, with length analysis pieces. And maybe Sunday papers?

Anyway, those are just some quick first thoughts.

[billyjack]

There will be print media, but it will become just a collection of national newspapers. Gannett (USA Today and many, many local papers) has already done this. The IndyStar has a USA Today section. I'm sure the Chicago Tribune and New York Times will exist, although they may look quite different. The NYT is actually gaining subscribers in droves because they are one of the last true investigative journalistic bodies still remaining.

The Athletic has done it right. I highly recommend a subscription - basically keeping sports journalism alive. Can't wait to see other versions (Politics, etc.) come around.

Great point about Gannett, etc, which sucks. And thanks for the recommendation for the Athletic, which i may now get a subscription to.

[Wizard of Westroads]

While journalism will survive, newspapers are going away fast.

The economics of cutting content, pages, etc. on declining revenue while continuing to pay fixed costs on a building, press, trucks, newsprint etc. means a fixed number of years left. The latest blow has been the demise of retail chains that used to be the biggest advertisers, but the biggest problem is demographics: nobody under 40 subscribes to print.

Sunday papers might survive a while longer as a magazine type format and a means to deliver ads. A lot of papers have already cut out some week days, and I'd bet there'd be only a handful of papers publishing 7 days a week within 5 years. And that timetable would move up with a bad recession. But if the question is how much longer for daily newspapers as we've known them, 5 years.

[butlerguy03]

While journalism will survive, newspapers are going away fast.

The economics of cutting content, pages, etc. on declining revenue while continuing to pay fixed costs on a building, press, trucks, newsprint etc. means a fixed number of years left. The latest blow has been the demise of retail chains that used to be the biggest advertisers, but the biggest problem is demographics: nobody under 40 subscribes to print.

Sunday papers might survive a while longer as a magazine type format and a means to deliver ads. A lot of papers have already cut out some week days, and I'd bet there'd be only a handful of papers publishing 7 days a week within 5 years. And that timetable would move up with a bad recession. But if the question is how much longer for daily newspapers as we've known them, 5 years.

Everything is digital. I work for a major health care operator (hospitals, etc.) and I work at home. No reason I can't do my job here, it saves the company building costs, and allows me to save costs on things like child care. It's a win win. I just built a new home in the exurbs of Indianapolis and have a private office in the home.

The demise of retail is problematic for many industries. TV can survive by going digital subscription routes, but print is difficult. The bigger problem is the ghost strip malls that are going to dot every suburb and exurb. My generation (Xennials and Millenials) are going to have to figure out what to do with those massive properties that will quickly become eyesores.

[Doge McDermott]

So, I work for an ad agency. Newspapers are in a death spiral, and there's not much they can do about it. The economics of a physical paper are just awful.

It just doesn't make sense for someone to advertise in an newspaper, when digital media is way more efficient in both targeting and cost. We have anonymized data on what people do on our website, what they search for, where they go during the day, what they watch on TV, etc. Like, it's super creepy, and there's nothing to can do to opt out, short of becoming Amish. We can pick out a target demographic (i.e. Male, between the ages of 25-34, who likes sports (College Basketball), and goes to bars on the weekend) and tailor a specific ad just for them for pennies.

Compare that to newspapers, where the only targets you can select is pretty much the geographic area and type of readership, for a couple grand. Even if readership stayed constant, which is isn't, the money is just better spent elsewhere. Plus there is a lot of overlap; advertising in competing newspapers doesn't really increase your impressions. Companies can, reduce their ad buy without affecting frequency that much.

FWIW, I read the WSJ on the train every day. What tronc and Michael Ferro did is criminal. That dude is a rapist is more than one way.

[DanofXav76]

Thanks Vet for bringing this topic of interest to the board. Just a few personal reflections.
When I was growing up (I'm 63 now) my family got both daily papers, the afternoon Cincinnati Post and Times Star <long gone> and the morning Cincinnati Enquirer. Like everywhere else the Enquirer has gone way up in price for a lot less content. Heck there are some weekdays when I'm through the whole paper in 15 minutes, but like Billy Jack, I almost always find a few articles/stories that make it worth while. And on the days my paper isn't delivered for whatever reason I go through a temporary withdrawl (so much a part of my daily routine).
For Cincinnati Reds baseball coverage, if there is a night game there is no longer a game story, box score in next day's paper. My morning paper is now usually on the driveway at 1 or 2 in the morning. Their team coverage (Reds, Xavier, uc) has shifted quite a bit to "analysis" or background stuff.
Last observation, I promise, is the demise of the OpEd section. Used to be a number of noted national writers filled that section. What passes for that part of the paper now is just sad.
Having said all of that I will miss it when it's gone.

[Omaha1]

Like many Creighton fans I have issues with the local Omaha World Herald. We have a very good beat writer who does a good job, but he simply can't be everywhere all the time. He is after all just one guy.

On the other hand, there is an entire team dedicated to covering Nebraska football year round and UNL has a beat reporter who is a mouthpiece for the coach/university more or less openly cheering for their success. Most of those guys are UNL grads so the coverage is slanted and and when it comes to Creighton coverage they will get their digs in whenever they can.
L

[ArmyVet]

So, I work for an ad agency. Newspapers are in a death spiral, and there's not much they can do about it. The economics of a physical paper are just awful.

I was taking a mental inventory of all the hands, and therefore jobs, involved in producing an actual print newspaper. Paper has to be produced. It must be transported to the production facility. Employees there must print the actual paper copy. Not to mention all of the people who write, edit, sell ads at the newspaper. Someone then has to distribute the papers to an outlet where they can be ultimately be delivered by someone else to your front door.

The demise of this industry will have an impact on a lot of households.