The Decline Of Print Newspapers In The Digital Era

In recent discussions of the decline of printed newspapers in the digital era, a controversial issue has been made in regards to the factors that contribute towards the recession. On the one hand, some argue that the increase usage of technologies resulted in the downfall of print journalism. From this perspective, it could be argued that the increase reliance on technologies influence in the depreciation of newspapers. On the other hand, however, others argue that it was the stoppage of advertisement for print publications that causes the downfall. In the words of Suzanne Krichhoff, “the U.S. newspaper industry is suffering what could be its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” (Krichhoff 27). In sum, the decline of newspapers

The reality is that without the presence of newspapers, society can’t be informed and an essence of community is lost. The digital era has resulted in newspaper organizations changing towards a completely online publication and the availability of newspapers within a community to decrease throughout the country. As a result of this change, a majority of people within a community is not able to receive their news that could create a disconnect within the community. On the paper, “The Decline of Daily Newspapers and the Third-Person Effect”, the relation between printed newspapers and a community is studied allowing us to determine the importance of the availability of newspapers. In the paper, the effects of the slump of newspapers within a community is explained as, “Traditional newspapers not only improve civic knowledge, they connect readers to their local communities and help create a community identity” (Climek, Goidel, and Johnson 1246). The availability of print newspapers is important for communities because it not only create a community identity, but contributes to the general knowledge and understanding of things happening around the community, country, and the world that could be important and useful to

The real question is whether or not newspapers are willing to make those changes in order to get out of the recession they are currently in. In his paper, “Financing the American Newspaper in the Twenty-First Century”, Richard Schmalbeck gives the ways in which newspaper corporations can change for the greater good, however the problem is that media corporations don’t realize what the real problem is. “Because the core problem is a financial one – there being no shortage of talented people who wish to pursue careers in journalism- the solutions presumably must come in the form of new financial structures,” (Schmalbeck 251). As Schmalbeck describes on his paper, the problem is that most newspapers organizations are not willing to change their financial structure for the good of the industry. Most newspapers operate under a corporate structure that prevents the industry from moving forward. Although the structure was successful in the past, the different changes the industry has faced resulted in it being outdated and unsuccessful. The reliance on ownership to survive the economic struggles currently present in the industry can be catastrophic. There will be a point when the current structure most newspaper works on might result in a more catastrophic collapse that