I grew up in a small town in NE Iowa where a newspaper was produced one a week. We had probably less than 5,000 people in the surrounding area but we still got a newspaper out. To this day, the publication still exists and people still take the time to read about whats going on. The reason they still read the newspaper is because their is no other outlet to obtain this information. If a website or TV station was dedicated to covering the information in this publication, it would surely die as well. Lets face it, TV and Web have distinct advantages over handling a newspaper and if the only reason you like reading the newspaper is because it makes you feel good about how it “used” to be, the next generation has something to say about that. Its only a matter of time.
In a country where we are losing major newspaper publications every month, it may be time to rethink on what type of content is being published if we are still going to publish a true “newspaper”. I understand that process is already taking place in many various forms, but there are some things I haven’t been hearing from these newspaper entities that satisfy the true problem. The true problem is that people are able to get their World, National, and Regional news in other places besides print. Furthermore, they can search this content as well as communicate with other of their opinion on this content. Oh, did I mention that it was free?
The problem with shifting to a more local focus for larger print media is that its already been packaged as a “Regional” paper that covers a wide area. The content is more geared towards the events or happenings that shape the region it covers. If that content can be found elsewhere, then why would I ever want to buy a newspaper? The only reason i would want to purchase a newspaper is because it brings me information in the direct area I live in. I could care less about opinion pieces and whats going on in Iran. That information is a dime a dozen with a simple Google search. Its only a matter of time before that base of support is washed away with time.
