newspapers in the information age

8/3/2019 Newspapers in the Information Age

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ZAPPABLE.COM

Newspapers in the

Information AgeAriel Krakowski


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For hundreds of years, newspapers played an important role in society and democracy.

They kept the public informed about the events and issues of the day. Newspapers faced many

challenges, such as radio and television, and still managed to succeed. Yet, in current times, the

newspapers are facing unprecedented decline. This is due to the development of the internet,

which threatens to have a far more drastic effect on the newspapers than anything before. What

will happen to the newspapers and why? Will the results be an improvement over the past?

Should anything be done to help the newspapers? These are the issues this paper will explore.

The invention and development of the printing press made it possible for newspapers to

be printed daily in many areas, and this revolutionized the information available to the general

public. For hundreds of years, newspapers were basically the only source of information about

current events that was available to the general public. Newspapers competed with each other,

but had little external competition. The rise of television and radio changed that somewhat, but

newspapers maintained their monopoly on the printed word. Newspapers were able to make a

profit from two basic sources of revenue: the sale of the newspaper and advertisements. The sale

price was set at a price that would compete with other newspapers. The issue of paying for the

newspaper itself was never a question obviously people would be willing to pay for a physical

good that they purchased. Newspapers also offered discounted annual subscriptions, which

helped them lock in readers. Advertisements were also a very important source of revenue. There

were the large, more expensive advertisements and the less expensive, but more numerous,

classified ads. The classifieds were the primary way (without hiring an agent) for people to

inform a local community about matters such as the sale of a house, or about a new position

available in a local institution. This was the old-model of the newspaper business.


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also not been able to meet previous levels. There are now many other ways for people to

communicate locally, and a classified ad in a newspaper is basically obsolete.3 There is little

reason for prospective sellers to pay money for an ad in a newspaper when their message will be

more easily found with a free ad on Craigslist. For these reasons, newspapers have not been able

to achieve the same revenue on the internet as they had before. The internet has also cut into

their revenue in another way, though perhaps not as drastically. The newspapers used to own the

medium to publish news and opinions, but now any person can start his own website and blog.

Some of these blogs have large numbers of readers, and they may have taken away readers from

the newspapers. Due to many causes, the newspapers are declining; the question is how far it will

go.

There is reason to think the dust will eventually settle and the newspapers will be able to

survive the transition to the internet. Some newspapers have already started charging money, and

if enough newspapers join them, people may become used to the idea of paying for online news.

On the new devices, such as the iPad, it is already expected that many newspapers will charge

for access.4 Also, while the newspapers have lost their hold of the classifieds market, they have

developed some more profitable areas in advertising. Internet ads can be more noticeable, and

their results are more accountable, making advertisers willing to pay more for them. Many

websites have been able to generate millions of dollars in revenue from online advertising. Yet

these new trends are not enough to counter all the forces going against newspapers. Eventually,

there will be many less newspapers in business than before, as the overall trends clearly show.

3 It still exists, but at much reduced numbers. See: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-24/u-s-newspapers-drop-in-ad-sales-slows-aided-by-web-update1-.html4 Many have even been wondering if the iPad will be the device that will save the newspapers. See, for example, theGuardian:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/jan/28/can-apple-ipad-save-newspapers


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The surviving newspapers though will continue online with a similar model for news and

reporting as they have now.

What do these changes in the newspaper business mean for the general public?

Doomsayers predict drastic consequences. Many in the media predict that the smaller number of

newspapers will mean people will have less available information and perspectives. Some claim

that with fewer newspapers, there will be less competition and the quality of the news will

decline. Others argue the opposite: the internet will increase the pressure on the newspapers and

they will lower their standards in an effort to get more readers. This paper will reply to these

claims. It will demonstrate that the closing of some newspapers does not mean there will be a

lack of news available to the public. In fact, the internet will actually increase the amount of

information available. Competition will also increase, which will encourage the newspapers to

work harder. Rather than declining, many of the newspapers will strive to improve their

reporting and quality. Overall, the newspapers move to the internet will be one of progress and

improvement.

Many in the old media claim that a large number of newspapers are necessary to provide

the necessary news coverage and viewpoints.5 If too many papers of them close, the public will

not have enough news available. However, this will not actually be such a problem. There are

many more newspapers in existence than are needed for peoples information. Some stories are

covered by thousands of different papers around the world. For example, a search on Google

News about a recent Supreme Court nominee listed about 5,821 related articles.6 A person

5 See, for example, the end of thisNew Yorkerarticle:http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_alterman?currentPage=all#ixzz0njZQKSIqThe writer describes the vast number of topics that the established media covers.6 This is the link to the search, though the results will change over time:http://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&topic=h&ncl=dzCq0T65KUwGFrMQON-d9DSfYKTRM


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may sometimes want to read multiple perspectives on an issue, but he would never read

thousands! Even if half of newspapers end up shutting down, it will not have a harmful effect on

the availability of general news. The remaining newspapers will be able to provide the reporting

necessary for most news stories, and they will compete with each other and provide different

perspectives.

Some people may object that the above argument only applies to general news topics

covered everywhere, but is not so applicable to local news coverage. This is not an area covered

by newspapers outside a town, so the existence of newspapers elsewhere does not help. Over the

past century, local news coverage has dramatically declined. It used to be common for cities to

have multiple newspapers competing with each other, yet since the 1920s this has been in

decline. In an economic study, David Genesove reports that Between 1923 and 1980, the

number of counties with more than two competing newspapers fell by half - from 45% of

counties with at least one newspaper to but 21%.7 This decline has continued since the rise of

the internet. It is important that people also receive coverage of local news, but it seems there

will not be enough newspapers to do the job adequately. Who will help provide additional

coverage and viewpoints on local topics? Local news is the easiest topic for citizen-journalists to

contribute effectively to. National news may often require more expertise or access than the

average citizen has, but these are not serious obstacles for local news reporting. Few people are

inaccessible at the local level, and citizen-journalists are familiar with the news topics in their

area. Although the citizen journalists do not have the same editorial and fact-checking standards,

they will be able to compensate for this with their numbers. On the internet, readers can

Interestingly, Google only provided 355 blog results on their news search. This may indicate the area where theyconsider that most people get their news from.7 See David Genesove, Why Are There So Few (and Fewer and Fewer) Two-Newspaper Towns? Hebrew Universityof Jerusalem. Available at: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/workshops/AppliedEcon/archive/pdf/genesove.pdf


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comment on articles, either to correct something, or to provide an alternate perspective. The

technology news site, Slashdot, makes a similar point about the power of reader contributions:

With readers as fact-checkers, mistakes would rarely go uncorrected for long,

and if there was any perceived bias in a controversial article, reader comments

would make sure the other side got heard. Even better, a reader who witnessed an

event the paper covered would be able to add his or her account of it to the

reporter's, which would give other readers a richer and deeper view.8

Although Slashdot is discussing how newspapers can use reader feedback, the same argument

applies at least as strongly to citizen-news sites themselves. Their readers will help substitute for

editors, in addition to providing more viewpoints themselves. There is also less of a gap in

abilities between citizen journalists and local news reporters. While a citizen journalist may be

far less skilled than the top writer at a national newspaper, he is likely to not be much worse than

his local news reporter. Since local newspapers are of lower quality anyways, it will be easier for

citizen journalists to match them. Although local news may lose some newspaper coverage,

citizen journalists will be able to fill in for them, so the public will not be negatively affected.

In truth, the internet will greatly increase the amount of news available to the public and

people will have more choice than ever before. People used to buy one or two newspapers and be

limited to the stories that they had. Yet now, people can access any news article instantly. People

can choose to read what interests them most from any selection of news stories. They are not

limited to the local newspapers, but can access any news source in the world. People will also be

able to access the best experts on a topic, rather than the understanding of a specific newspaper

reporter. They can even follow local news in other parts of the world or in specific niche areas

8 A Recipe for Newspaper Survival in the Internet Age. Article available at:http://slashdot.org/articles/05/11/27/1645214.shtml


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that they are interested in. Even if more newspapers start charging money, people will still have

greater choice. On the internet it becomes possible to buy individual articles, and most

newspapers will probably allow readers to access a certain number of free articles. Overall, the

amount of information available will make it easier for people to read what they are interested in,

get the highest quality information and also do better research.

Another issue raised is that fewer newspapers will mean there will be less competition

and improvement among them. However, rather than reducing competition, the internet is

actually causing the opposite. As mentioned above, people are not limited to the newspapers that

are locally available, but can get news from any source instantly. This means all newspapers are

competing with each other, and they need to always be trying to improve to get more readers.

Being the only newspaper in town used to provide a newspaper with a monopoly on news, but

now they face competition from all over. The internets effects on the newspapers will clearly

increase competition. The question remains how this change will affect the quality of the news.

Some people in the established media fear that the increased pressure on the newspapers

will cause them to focus on either less expensive topics, or more popular ones, at the expense of

high-quality news. The Economist, a successful weekly magazine, spells out these fears:

In order to cut costs, [the newspapers] are already spending less on journalism.

Many are also trying to attract younger readers by shifting the mix of their stories

towards entertainment, lifestyle and subjects that may seem more relevant to

people's daily lives than international affairs and politics are. It bodes ill for the

public role of the Fourth Estate.9

9The Economist- print edition. Aug 24th 2006.


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While competition may cause some newspapers to reduce their spending, the successful ones

will focus on improving. In Competition, Circulation And Advertising the authors Stephen

Lacy and Hugh J. Martin summarize their study of the effects of newspaper competition10:

y Intense newspaper competition increases expenditures in the newsroomand improves journalism performance.

y The increased expenditure and performance translates into changes incontent and improvements in quality aimed at attracting readers.

Overall, competition will cause the newspapers to work harder to attract more readers.11 Some

still fear that the newspapers will abandon coverage of important topics and focus only on the

more popular ones. Yet it is highly unlikely that the majority of newspapers will take such a

path. There is still strong demand for real news, and there are enough people and news providers

for both popular topics and high-quality news. The newspapers that have continued to survive

online have not significantly degraded the way that they report news, and they will be able to

continue with a similar model.12 In fact, in a recent study, most journalists thought that the

quality of journalism improvedover the past few years.13 When newspapers try to cut down on

quality, or if they fail to maintain their credibility,14 their readership suffers. This relationship is

also emphasized in the continuation of the above study:

10 Page 32. Published in the Newspaper Research Journal Vol. 25, No. 1 Winter 2004. Available at:http://www.poynter.org/resource/63500/lacy_martin.pdf11 Some other studies also demonstrate that competition makes the newspapers work harder. See Steven Lacy, TheEffects of Intracity Competition on Daily Newspaper Content.12 See the end of this paper for a discussion of some adaptations the newspapers will make.13 See the European Digital Journalism Study 2009. A chart of the survey quoted above can be viewed here:http://www.europeandigitaljournalism.com/visual-results.asp?show=1314 See Philip Meyer and Yuan Zhang, Anatomy of a Death Spiral: Newspapers and Their Credibility. Available at:http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/Quality_Project/anatomy_of_death_spiral.pdf


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y Evidence suggests quality content can attract readers and that failure toprovide acceptable levels of quality and content will lead to declines in

circulation and penetration.

Ultimately, people still want high-quality news and the demand for it will be met. The fact that

some newspapers have closed does not mean the entire model is in danger of going extinct. As

explained above, there were too many newspapers in the first place, but they will eventually

reach their proper numbers and stabilize. The change of medium will not fundamentally alter the

quality of the message.

Another factor affecting the newspaper industry is the rise of the blogs. Some claim that

the blogs take away large numbers of readers from the newspapers. Yet this does not seem to be

the case. Many of the popular blogs offer only opinion pieces, and people still turn to the

newspapers for news. This statistic can be demonstrated by looking at the top political blogs on

Technorati. They are almost all opinion blogs; it is difficult to even find a blog dedicated to

news.15 This disparity makes sense, since any person can give his opinion, but the newspapers

are considered more reliable sources of news than a random blog. The blog posts also frequently

link to the newspaper stories, and they end up sending many readers there. However, it may be

true that bloggers take away readers from the newspapers opinion sections. This is an overall

positive development, though it has its downside. Instead of the established newspapers being in

control of the opinion pages and their corresponding influence, it is now opened up to all. There

is no reason that newspapers should own this ability. The internet gives anyone who can write

the ability to influence people with his arguments. While this makes things more democratic, it

15 The top blogs listed in the politics section of Technorati can be viewed here:http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/politics/. There are so few news blogs, that there is not even a specific categoryon technorati for them. On the other hand, the news media websites still receive many more visitors than the

political blogs, as can be seen from these Alexa rankings: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category/Top/News. Seealso footnotes 6 and 24.


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may also cause some harm. When anyone can have influence, sometimes the more extreme

positions gain greater influence than they would have in the old system. Bloggers have already

shown their influence in forcing out more moderate politicians in primaries.16 This started in the

2006 campaign against Lieberman, and continued in elections in 2008. Micheal H. Murakami (in

Divisive Primaries: Party Organizations, Ideological Groups, and the Battle over Party Purity)

argues that, These organizations, operating quite at the odds with party organizations ...are

contributing to the party polarization in congress. He shows how the internet has allowed more

extreme groups to gain more influence and force out the more moderate politicians in their party.

Without moderates, it is much more difficult to achieve the compromise necessary for successful

governance. The internet has made the public sphere more democratic, but this may give more

influence to those on the extremes.

Sometimes the opinioned bloggers do write about the news. They rarely try to maintain

the objective tone that the newspapers do. Yet in many ways, this is an improvement over the

newspapers. While the newspapers claim to be objective, in truth they rarely are. A study

published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics17 used objective values to measure media bias.

They summarized their process and results:

We measure media bias by estimating ideological scores for several major media

outlets. To compute this, we count the times that a particular media outlet cites

various think tanks and policy groups, and then compare this with the times that

members of Congress cite the same groups. Our results show a strong liberal bias:

all of the news outlets we examine, except Fox News' Special Reportand the

Washington Times, received scores to the left of the average member of Congress.

16 See, for example,: Kissing Macaca: Blogs, Narrative and Political Discourse.17 A Measure of Media Bias by Tim Groseclose and Jeffrey Milyo. Available at:http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/003355305775097542


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This is an expected result. Journalists as a group are more liberal than the general public,18 and

their beliefs are likely to subtly find their ways into the newspaper articles. Few people, if any,

are able to achieve total objectivity.19 The newspapers are biased, but pretend to be objective.

The bloggers are more open about their opinions, and do not claim to be impartial. This is more

honest than the newspapers quasi-impartiality. In addition, the large numbers of bloggers

provide a more diverse perspective than the newspapers do. To quote The Economist: 20

Each blogger is capable of bias and slander, but, taken as a group, bloggers offer

the searcher after truth boundless material to chew over.

Much of this boundless material is not widely read, only the highest-quality or most significant

posts get large numbers of readers. Yet these posts are an important addition to the main-stream

news. While the newspapers will continue to be the main source of news, the small part that the

bloggers contribute is a positive development.21

The internet has already had large effects on other areas of media production. The music

industry shows how a business can adapt to the internet without decreasing the quality of its

products or going into financial ruin. Music used to be sold as CDs where a person would pay

about $15 for 10 songs. Yet the rise of the internet provided alternative ways for people to get

music. Many people downloaded music illegally, and it threatened to ruin the music industry. In

2001, Apple Inc. introduced iTunes, and this was a factor that helped save the music industry.

People were now able to buy the specific songs that they wanted, rather than being forced to buy

a whole CD. The price was also lower, (at $.99 a song) which was a fair result of there being no

18 A Pew Study reported that five times more journalists consider themselves liberal than conservative:http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040524.asp#119 See Ariel Krakowski, Blogging Bucks & Bias: The Case for Disclosure. While it discusses how monetaryinfluences bias a persons writing, it seems at least as likely that ideologies a person already believes in will also

bias his writing.20Economist Ibid.21 See also previous discussion of citizen-journalists contributions to local news.


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shipping or brick-and-mortar store. The internet allowed people to buy any song that they

wanted, without being restricted by what was in a music store, and without being forced to buy

whole groups of songs. Both business and consumer have benefitted, as the music industry has

been able to successfully earn revenue by selling songs on the internet. The newspaper industry

can follow a similar path in many ways. People already have much more accessibility to news all

over the world. Newspapers will be able to offer different options for selling articles; people

should not be forced to buy annual subscriptions. The newspapers will probably not have to

worry as much about people illegally downloading the news. Since news is something that

becomes obsolete so quickly, it will be harder for torrent sites or others to spread it. The

newspapers will find the right models for earning revenue on the internet, and both the reader

and producer will eventually benefit from the free publishing that the internet allows.

The newspapers have overcome previous changes in technology without having to

sacrifice their quality. In the 1920s, radio stations began broadcasting in America. They were

able to provide more up-to-date news than the newspapers could match. This development

helped cause the demise of the evening newspaper, since there was a better way to get the latest

news. Yet people still wanted to read news, and the newspapers did not collapse. The rise of

television was an even stronger blow to the newspapers, and many lost readers.22 This caused

many newspapers to close or consolidate, but the industry was able to adapt. Some newspapers

tried to give shorter news stories, while others provided more analysis.23 They managed to adapt

without any severe cuts in quality. Similarly, although the internet may provide even greater

challenges, the news industry will be able to adapt. Many news sites already provide many

options for the general public to comment on or to contribute to the news. They also provide

22 Mitchell Stephens , History of Newspapers, available at:http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier%27s%20page.htm23 See Ibid.


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videos and interactive features. These developments show how newspapers can incorporate the

advantages the internet offers without completely abandoning the old model of news. In one

way, the internet is even less of a challenge to the newspaper industry. While radio and television

were just forms of competition, the internet is just a new medium that the newspapers can move

to themselves. They are not selling paper, they are selling news content. Successful newspaper

editors recognize that the content is what counts, and that the news can be adapted to the internet.

The Journal-World of Lawrence is a good example of a newspaper/news-media company that

has remained successful in the internet years. Their editor was quoted in the New York Times

(The Newspaper of the Future, by Timothy L. O'brien):

"I don't think of us as being in the newspaper business," said Mr. Simons, the

editor and publisher of The Journal-World and the chairman of the World

Company, the newspaper's parent. "Information is our business and we're trying

to provide information, in one form or another, however the consumer wants it

and wherever the consumer wants it, in the most complete and useful way

possible."

The success of papers such as the Journal-World shows that newspapers can successfully adapt

to the internet age.

The newspapers traditionally played a central role in keeping people informed. It is

considered important in a democracy that the people are knowledgeable about the issues of the

day. Through the peoples votes, they are the ultimate deciders of policy. The newspapers have

also helped prevent misdeeds because people are afraid of it being publicized. The effects of the

internet on the newspapers could have wider ramifications. If the newspapers were to completely

collapse, it could have harmful consequences for the spread of information and the effectiveness


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of democracy. It would possibly require public action to help the newspaper industry. Yet it

seems unlikely that the newspapers will ever reach that point. While some newspapers may

close, the public desire for news will prevent the overall industry from ruin, and the newspapers

continue to be the main provider of news.24 The new developments should be embraced, and the

newspapers should be left to themselves to adapt.

The printing press revolutionized the spread of information in all areas of life. Machines

were able to efficiently reproduce what before required painstaking labor. This development had

far-reaching consequences. The ability to more easily publish texts helped the spread of science

and ideas. It may have helped fuel the creation of democratic governments. The internet is a

similar revolutionary technology. To publish something before required printing and shipping,

but now it can be done with the click of a mouse. To find information before required

painstaking searches though books, but now it can be done with a simple search. This

development will have far-reaching consequences in all areas of life. The ability of anyone to

publish to the world may help the spread of democracy more than newspapers did.25 The easy

access to information has already helped society advance in many areas, and it will continue to

do so. Newspapers played their role during the printing age, and they will be able to continue

their role during the information age. Yet they must also realize that they no longer have the

hegemony that they once had. This may be difficult for some of the newspapers, but it will be for

the good of society overall.

24 As discussed above, the bloggers compete with the news on opinion matters, but not as much over actual newsreporting. The newspapers still form the basis for the actual news. See Study: Newspapers still reign The News -Item. Shamokin, Pa.: Jan 23, 2010.25 See the end of Blog Wars, Bloggers & the Lamont-Lieberman Campaign, by Ariel Krakowski.


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Main Works Cited

Frank Ahrens. The accelerating decline of newspapers. The Washington Post. October 27, 2009.

The article is available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603272.html

Bensinger, Greg. U.S. Newspapers Drop in Ad Sales Slows, Aided by Web

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-24/u-s-newspapers-drop-in-ad-sales-slows-aided-

by-web-update1-.html

Roblimo. A Recipe for Newspaper Survival in the Internet Age. Article available at:

http://slashdot.org/articles/05/11/27/1645214.shtml

The Economist - print edition. Aug 24th 2006.

Genesove, David. Why Are There So Few (and Fewer and Fewer) Two-Newspaper Towns?

Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Available at:

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/workshops/AppliedEcon/archive/pdf/genesove.pdf

Lacy, Stephen and Hugh J. Martin. Competition, Circulation And Advertising. Published in the

Newspaper Research Journal Vol. 25, No. 1 Winter 2004. Available at:

http://www.poynter.org/resource/63500/lacy_martin.pdf


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Meyer, Philip and Yuan Zhang. Anatomy of a Death Spiral: Newspapers and Their Credibility.

Available at: http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/Quality_Project/anatomy_of_death_spiral.pdf

Burroughs, Benjamin. Kissing Macaca: Blogs, Narrative and Political Discourse.

Groseclose, Tim and Jeffrey Milyo. A Measure of Media Bias. Available at:

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/003355305775097542

Pew Study. Quoted at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040524.asp#1

Krakowski, Ariel. Blogging Bucks & Bias: The Case for Disclosure.

Stephens, Mitchell. History of Newspapers. available at:

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/Collier%27s%20page.htm

O'brien, Timothy L. The Newspaper of the Future. The New York Times June 26, 2005.

Oriella PR Network. European Digital Journalism Study 2009

http://www.europeandigitaljournalism.com/default.asp

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