The Internet Generation Begins Taking a Toll on Newspaper Circulation

As readers turn to alternative news outlets, newspaper circulation continues to decline

As people around the world begin embracing newer forms of technology, it is clearly only a matter of time before publications abandon traditional print mediums altogether. Users have been spending more time online and have the ability to receive news faster than ever before. Many newspapers have anticipated this jump to electronic print and have begun offering their publication through online subscriptions. These efforts have not been enough to maintain circulation numbers, though. With the abundance of free news sources such as CNN and alternative forms of news media such as Twitter or Digg, users seems to have abandoned newspaper publications.

In an October 2009 post on The Awl, a graph is used to show Newspaper Circulation statistics dating back to 1990. Interestingly, only one paper has shown an increase in circulation, while the rest have declined drastically. Many people even consider newspapers a dying form of media. This makes sense considering, until now, most adults have not grown up with access to the Internet in their home. The first generation to have this experience this is now entering the 18-34 year old demographic of media publication. These adults are more comfortable using the Internet to find information, therefore it is not a huge leap to getting all of their news information from the same place. To make this even easier of a choice, Internet news is constantly being updated without the need to wait for a new print version to be produced.

Traditional forms of news may be dwindling in comparison to Internet news, but that does not necessarily mean that people are getting the most important or the most accurate stories. Print media has been around the 1700s and has become a perfected technique. Since Internet reporting is relatively new, readers may not be able to spot important stories as efficiently as they would in a newspaper. Internet news also presents the problem of accuracy in the media. Readers have come to trust what is printed in a newspaper, but Internet usage is so widespread that nearly anybody can publish information, accurate or not.

The decline of traditional print media has presented many challenges to media outlets. Many publishers believe that the new wave of electronic readers might solve the dropping circulation numbers, but a New York Times article begs to differ. While e-readers may be a long-term solution, the Times claims that it will be some time before readers embrace the new technology. The demise of the newspaper provides concrete evidence that our culture is looking for new ways to receive information. As users that are comfortable using the Internet enter into the demographic of print media, circulation numbers will continue to decline until a new standard of media emerges.