The Death of Newspaper

12.02.2008

By: Chris Townsend

There has been a lot of news lately on the death of the newspaper industry. It’s obvious that readership is down and revenue once generated by newspapers are dropping as well. What does this mean to you as an advertiser? It’s important that you understand your target audience and their habits in order to determine if newspaper advertising is right for you.

Circulation has been falling in America along with many other countries over the past decade. More and more people are turning to the Internet or television news outlets as their source for news. In his book “The Vanishing Newspaper”, Philip Meyer calculates that the first quarter of 2043 will be the moment when newsprint dies in America as the last exhausted reader tosses aside the last crumpled edition. If you consider the newspaper is static as opposed to dynamic it makes sense. We are a country of instant gratification. When we hear of an incident we immediately turn to the Internet, television or possibly radio for information on the subject. Newspaper doesn’t have this benefit. Once the paper is printed it is already rendered obsolete as a source for news.

According to Kubas Consultants overall newspaper revenues will fall 9.1% in 2009. Most of the revenue generated by newspapers stems from the classifieds section. Obviously, the Internet has captured a great deal of this revenue over the past decade. Employers are turning to more cost effective solutions online to post their classifieds. Even individuals have moved the traditional items they would list in the paper to sources like Ebay or even Craigslist. There is no sign of this changing anytime soon as more and more sources come online to provide companies and individuals a like with an alternative to the high prices of newspaper advertising.

So back to our original question, what does this mean to you as an advertiser? Well more than anything it’s important for you to understand your target audience. Would they be newspaper subscribers? Would they turn to the newspaper as their source for information or would they turn to the Internet? Are they the type to clip coupons or are they more likely to receive discounts via email? More than ever it’s important to understand who you are targeting and what their habits are.

It’s not to say that newspaper isn’t the right place for your company, but you may want to consider a mix of more non-traditional methods of getting your message out. You may want to consider the Internet or radio as an affordable and comparable solution for your advertising.