According to stats last year, 74 million people buy and read daily
newspapers. That's not chump change. You really can't be well informed
without reading the news. Radio, TV, Internet don't have the important
details, especially for local news.
I have several subscriptions--news, econ, tech, science, fashion, and
read the newspaper that my husband brings home every day. Can't live
without the Sunday papers--ads, coupons, entertainment, news. Can't get
it all online--just some, with a lot of distractions.
My son has a job in DC. He commutes by Metrorail. He reads--a lot more
now on the Metro. First he had his iPod shuffle, then his iPhone, but
yesterday he told me that he's been reading magazines and newspapers on
the train. His roommate also subscribes to the WaPo. His generation
appears to be more interested in news than his older friends. They're
also more interested in politics and getting involved, because "all
politics is local" especially when you work in DC.
"Dead tree" news will not die for a long time. Kindle and the like won't
replace it.
Journalism, such that it is today, will survive. Print news, not so much.
As to newsmags, I'm really at a loss as to why anyone reads them any longer,
other than inertia. 40 years ago, when the news industry was very
stratified and slow moving, they made sense, but so did the evening news. I
suspect that if you took away Dr.'s office subscriptions, you'd have
money-losing ventures across the board. I haven't willingly read a Time, US
News or Newsweek in probably 15 years, excluding physicals and checkups.
I do continue to subscribe to magazines at home and work, and enjoy them
greatly, but they're topical, not news.
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