COLLAPSE: Print media can be preserved if the public begins supporting their local newspaper.
By Ernie Mendez, Staff Writer
In recent years, print media has seen a dramatic decline in sale and advertisement revenue. Media sources continuing to stay in print admit to dramatic losses and cutbacks. According to an article written by Chris Isidore and published by CNNmoney, one of the most popular newspapers, The New York Times (NYT), has been forced to cut back on personnel due to this issue, seeking around 100 job cuts in 2014 alone. The NYT has been forced to turn to digital media, and this is representative of newspapers across the nation. Most news outlets are forced to convert to a digital media source as a way of generating more revenue in order to keep their company going.
As the years progress, more people show less interest in paying for their newspaper. Many now find it easier to go online and read an article for free, or look towards social media for the latest story on a trending hashtag. Journalism itself is losing its recognition as an important source to educate the public as print media nears extinction. Society as a whole needs to realize that the most beneficial action to take would be to start paying for newspapers. Many forget the critical role a local newspaper plays in what the community hears about subjects such as politics, pop culture and community events. The removal of this vital platform may prove to be disastrous. The only clear way to reverse this problem is to begin purchasing the works of good journalism through print newspaper sources.
One overlooked fact about local newspapers is that they are frequently cited and used as primary sources by news channels and social media posts. Without this source, investigative journalism would no longer bring important issues into the spotlight. Much of the information that the public should hear is greatly reduced; in fact, it has been continuously reduced over the years. Since some media outlets have switched to digital-only, they get money by charging for advertisements on their website. The more clicks the website gets, then the more the news source can charge for advertisements.
This, however, creates problems with journalists using “click-baits,” which are essentially headlines meant to entice a reader and get them to click on an article, even if it is misleading. The Columbia Journalism Review published an article titled “What it’s Like to Get Paid for Clicks” in which the author, Jack Murtha, reports about an online magazine known as Slant that paid its writers $100 per month plus $5 for every 500 clicks they got on their stories. Not only does this create a motive for writers to use click-baits, but this can also affect the type of material writers decide to investigate and publish, causing deception. If newspapers are not getting views, its writers are not getting paid sufficient salaries. A company thriving with revenue does not need to change the content of their stories in order to appeal to more readers; unfortunately, it is very hard to find a newspaper company that is financially thriving.
The key aspect to understanding newspaper companies is knowing that they need more revenue in order to pay their reporters and keep their company productive. Besides the money that print newspapers get from readers’ payment, they also make a great deal of money from advertisements. This is the big decline in print media; just as an article published by Poynter, written by Rick Edmonds, pointed out, “Pew estimates that the [newspaper] industry lost seven percent of daily circulation in 2015 and eight percent of ad revenues.” It is clear they are suffering from this. The simple truth is that people do not want to pay for their news. Society is now used to having information at their fingertips, since anyone with a smartphone or laptop can google the information they want to find.
Perhaps people have been accustomed to getting their news for free for so long that the concept of paying for their news is hard to grasp. Newspapers are vital for keeping a society informed and preventing ignorance. Journalists are storytellers that provide the public with information meant for them. Journalism is the most relevant form of storytelling, since the stories provided can actually affect everyday citizens. There is a reason the founding fathers included the freedom of the press in the very first amendment of the Constitution; there must have been something that was important about the press, and now it is time to realize that importance once again.