By: Kevin Lund
BLUE BELL, PA--Despite discouraging reports, like those from the Pew Research Center, print newspapers have several advantages over online news sources. Pew’s study mentions drops over the past decade in the numbers of people who read a daily print newspaper.
Columnist Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News says, “[The advantage of newspapers] on newsstands and in honor boxes everywhere around the Delaware Valley [is] they are seen by everyone. The headlines are [visible] even [to] those who don't care."
He sees that the disadvantage of online news is in the discovery of the news. “When [the news] is online, you must make a conscious choice to find it. And you do that alone, in your room or at your desk. [There] are millions of websites to choose. Few develop critical mass."
Bykofsky also touches on the backbone of online news. Namely, the lack of profitability of online advertising. "Publishers generally have been unable to find enough advertisers who'd be willing to pay enough for online advertisements," he says.
Of the successful news websites, many of them are simply online versions of a print newspaper. For example, The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. In fact, only two percent of people in a 2013 Pew survey claimed the internet was their only "regular news source.” The average person also spends just seven minutes a day reading online news as well.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett sees potential in newspapers. He has acquired 28 daily newspapers in the past few years, and says they should transition away from an advertising-dependent business model. He believes the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette serves as an example of how local newspapers can be successful if the public is asked to pay for them.
Online news consumption hasn’t rendered print newspapers obsolete yet. People continue to find uses for them everyday. Only time will tell if print newspapers can hold their own as the internet becomes the news business’ medium of choice.
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