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ARE NEWSPAPERS DYING? YES OR NO?
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By Tony Rogers
Are newspapers dying?
That’s the raging debate in the news biz these days. Many say the
ultimate demise of the daily paper is just a matter of time – and not

much time at that. The future of journalism is in news websites, not
newsprint, they say.
Hold on, says another group of folks. Newspapers have been with
us for hundreds of years, and while all news may someday be online,

papers have some life in ‘em yet.
So who’s right? I’ll outline the arguments on both sides, then you
can decide.

Newspapers Are Dead
Newspapers are in trouble. Circulation is dropping, display and
classified ad revenue is drying up, and the industry has experienced an

unprecedented wave of layoffs. Big metro papers like the Rocky
Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer have gone under, and
even bigger newspaper companies like the Tribune Co. are in

bankruptcy.
And where are newspaper readers going? To the web. A recent
study by the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for
the Digital Future found that Internet users read online newspapers for

an average of 53 minutes per week in 2008. That’s the highest level
recorded in the eight years the study has been done.
The bad news for newspapers? The study found that 22 percent of

users said they stopped their subscription to a printed paper or magazine
because they could access the same content online.
Gloomy business considerations aside, the dead-newspaper people
say the Internet is just a better place to get the news.

“On the Web, newspapers are live, and they can supplement their
coverage with audio, video, and the invaluable resources of their vast
archives,” says Jeffrey I. Cole, director of USC's s Digital Future Center.

“For the first time in 60 years, newspapers are back in the breaking news
business, except now their delivery method is electronic and not paper.”
Conclusion: The Internet will kill off newspapers.

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Rogers T. Are Newspapers Dying? Yes or No? / Tony Rogers. – Available at:
http://journalism.about.com/od/trends/a/papersdying.htm