R.I.P. Traditional Media

  Is traditional media dying?  The short answer is yes.  But media are taking a turn for the better and adapting to their new audience.  Each generation has a new way of consuming media; traditional media must adjust and learn to do so quickly.  Print newspapers have been around since the 17th century, radio since 1895, and magazines began to rise in the 18th century.  Media has been a part of our lives before we (my generation or anyone reading this blog) were ever born.  So media is not going anywhere, simply changing its form.

Newspapers were once delivered to subscribers' doorsteps every morning before sunrise, and now we can check the news day or night.  Print newspapers are almost obsolete as we once knew them, but iPads, iPhones, tablets, and smartphones have kept them in business.  How so?  Well, almost everyone who is anyone has a smartphone.  The new digital age gives us the news at our fingertips from reliable and unreliable sources.  Before smart devices, consumers usually had one or two newspapers circulated in the city to provide news, sports, local updates, and community information.  Print newspapers could cover multiple stories, and the headliner covers the front page, but if readers kept reading, they would find factual stories, opinions, sports, and comics.  The newspaper offered something for everyone in the home. 

A report noted that 40 of the largest 100 newspapers in the country publish only-digital versions at least once a week before they were published seven days a week. Print newspapers are dying at 2 per week (Bauder, David.). Though print newspapers are dying, companies are doing their best to adapt to publish more digital content and push advertisers to sell on websites and apps. Newspapers now can reach more than their regular customers, but to readers who had no idea they existed. The upside to print going away, the news is available as soon as it's published. Readers no longer wait until the next day to read the big story. No print claims to be better for the environment; no ink or paper is wasted, and less gas is used to deliver them. 

Radios were once just in homes.  Radios were once so popular families built them into their homes.  Families would gather around to listen to their favorite show, soap opera, or the hottest new song. Between 1923 and 1930, 60% of American families owned radios. Studies show in 2022, 61% of families own a radio in their homes. 

Many people have falsely predicted radio's death beginning with television in the 1940s.  The beauty of radio is its ability to adapt well to the environment.  When T.V.s started to replace the entertainment for families, radios moved on to other places such as cars, stores, and now smart devices. Radio isn't to be outdone and, in my biased opinion, led the digital revolution. In 2003 the FCC approved digital broadcasting for stations across the U.S. Radios are no longer known for only their soap operas but now for news, talk, sports, and music.  The scope for radio is broad and continues to grow.  The best part about radio is that it is complimentary for listeners.  The more content became available online, radio stations adapted by creating apps on smart devices, pushing their audience to listen 24/7.  Radio stations have advertisers but have advertised in many newspapers, magazines, and other radio stations (owned by the same company). 

Magazines are known for worldwide news, fashion tips, and celebrity gossip.  Anyone could walk into almost any store and purchase a magazine for gossip, home decoration tips, sports, fashion, make-up, or cultural awareness.  

Magazines have found it helpful to use the internet to have interactive content. Do you remember the quizzes in the magazines? Well, the upside to that is not only can you converse about your answers with your friends but everyone around the world. The digital magazine advances by allowing content to remain available and not in a dumpster, easily editable, and interactive.  Magazines companies can also track who's reading their content, how often they visit their sites and observe how consumers got to their content. (James)

A study by Two Sides discovered consumers trust printed media more than online content.  Consumers believe they get a deeper understanding of a story when reading print than online.  Studies have shown consumers typically skip online ads versus reading printed ads more. (Solomon)  (In my opinion, this may be why online ads are so heavy when reading online content to ensure it is seen and read.)

Advertisers make up at least 25% of media revenue.  Most companies had to convince their advertisers to make the digital switch. First, they create the digital space for advertisers and promises that customers will follow. The digital space includes websites and apps that carry current and new content.  The game plan is to decide when and how to publish the content. Newspapers were once daily, magazines weekly and monthly, but if they are now digital, should they be posing more? 

The other question is, how does the revenue continue as they convert advertisers over? Newspapers and magazines now have to decide how to reintroduce their subscribers to digital content. In the beginning, newspapers offered packages to receive print papers and access to digital content. But if the print goes away, will the price decrease?  Magazines were often delivered monthly to subscribers' homes or at retail price in stores when purchased as a single copy. Does the price decrease due to no longer having to print and mail copies and accessibility of more customers or increase due to the upkeep of the website? 

My opinion doesn't matter when it comes to print media dying because I'm just one person. But if the sales of print media are dwindling for the last 4-5 years, they could only continue to decrease over the coming years.  Newspapers may be obsolete in the next 2-3 years, but magazines may live for the next 10-20 years.  We can only keep making predictions until something is indeed fact.  Industries predicted the death of radio in the 1940s, but here we were in 2020, and radio still stands strong.  What do our opinions matter if the numbers prove us wrong?  As well all know, numbers do not lie. 

-Jaleesa 

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References

Bauder, David. (2022, July 1) U.S. Newspapers continuing to die at rate of 2 each week.https://apnews.com/article/journalism-united-states-39ef84c1131267233768bbb4dcaa181b

James, Geoffrey. (2009, April 1) The Death of Newspapers and Magazines https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-death-of-newspapers-and-magazines/ 

Rogers, Tony. (2020, August 27). Are Newspapers Dying? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/are-newspapers-dying-2074122

Solomon, Paige. (2021, November 3) Print Magazines Aren't Dying and Here's Why https://www.walsworth.com/blog/print-magazines-arent-dying-and-heres-why