The death of the American newspaper is taking place at an alarming rate and in my opinion is living on borrowed time. The rate at which these periodicals are happening can be tracked in the stories that are being published. In March of 2009 The Washington Post revenue declined 77%. A month later an article came out saying that newspaper circulation declined 7.1% from the same time a year earlier.
The reason for the decline is based on a societal shift away from print and to the internet. Just as TV took away the family night by the radio so is the Internet taking away from the newspaper and magazine industry. The way the new generation gets information has changed. Young people get their information in short blurbs on the internet and on their mobile devices. The newspaper business is a 20th century dinosaur which is heading for extinction. And the addition of new book readers (Kindles and ebooks) look to do the same to the printing industry albeit at a much slower pace.
So what happens to the journalists and writers at all of these publications? What happens to the art of Journalism altogether? I am under the opinion that news and journalism will become a more powerful open exchange of ideas because many of these journalist will have to become independent writers. Although there will be fewer newspapers ten years from now (The Wall Street Journal, New York Times Sunday will probably survive.) most publications must move online. This means less revenue generated than expensive print ads and also means a smaller staff. So most journalist will be forced to start their own blogs or free-lance where they can.
