Published on March 13, 2010
When I was updating my profile photos on Facebook recently (which I seldom bother to do for reasons that are not relevant here), I asked the missus to take some snaps of a few of my favourite activities that hardly anyone else is keen on these days - letter-writing (by hand), newspaper-reading etc. Of course, reading newspapers is still more popular than writing letters but the landscape for the former has changed considerably. Whereas once newspapers were the primary source of information, now they have become a different creature - people get their daily information fix through a large number of alternative media (TV, the Internet, FM radio, mobile phones, networking sites and so on). Nobody needs to wait for the arrival of the daily paper to know what is happening in the other parts of the globe - one click of the computer mouse will give you almost all breaking news from any of the thousands of news sources across the World Wide Web.
So why do I still love newspaper reading? I suppose part of the reason is that I am a journalist by profession and it is the printed word that excites me most. For me, the day does not start properly till I open the morning newspaper and go through the pages. It may be the world's best paper or the worst ever - still that early morning activity is a must. I remember how irritated I would become when the daily paper did not arrive on time during my growing-up days in Kerala - that often happened back home because the delivery boy was not well or because there was a transport strike. Or sometimes the paper would arrive only in the late mornings - that was almost as bad as the paper not arriving at all!
But now the whole concept behind newspaper news has changed - they no longer "break news" - most people already know what is happening by the time they open their daily papers. What they want is in-depth analysis of what has already happened. Views, commentaries and opinions have taken the place of plain bread-and-butter reporting. Of course, investigative reports are still there but they have become so cliched that very few of these sell newspapers by themselves, unlike, say in the days of Watergate.
It saddens me when I see the current generation hardly reading newspapers - many of today's youngsters are not even interested to know in what is happening in the world outside their circles. But that is fine because people have different tastes and one's preference is not another's. Part of the reason for the falling popularity of newspapers are TV news channels and the Internet. They disseminate information so fast that newspapers are left far behind when it comes to speed. So, naturally, many great papers have adapted to this changing scenario - they have beefed up their online content, for instance. There is no major paper in the world now that does not have an active online arm. Some stories are written specifically for the Internet readership.
More interesting is to see how the online papers add value - they offer links to other articles, blogs, podcasts and various other multimedia means to attract more eyeballs to their pages. The Guardian in the UK, for instance, has the best online site I have seen for any top broadsheet. News on the online scene is doing ok but manual newspaper readership is struggling in most places. Many top American newspapers have shut down over the last decade due to falling circulation and advertisement revenues. Even huge names like The New York Times are struggling to make a profit. There may come a time when you may not see a single person actually reading a paper in the Western world!
Paper owners have experimented with changing sizes and shapes to attract new audiences - these have had mixed results. Commuters prefer smaller newspapers because of their convenience and portability but, for a youngster who does not read papers anyway, this type of cosmetic change will not matter. He/she is not going to suddenly start reading a paper just because the paper is now delivered in a different shape and form!
Thankfully, in many developing countries (like India, for instance) newspaper reading is still more popular than in the West. This is probably because Internet access is not so easy in such places and broadband speeds are often slower. People are still used to the culture of taking a look at the daily headlines over their morning cups of coffee. And, in countries where the newspapers are generally regarded as being very closely linked to the government (like Singapore and the Gulf states), the print media is used to explain and debate public policy in detail. In such contexts, newspapers will always have a significant role to play.
Another way newspapers have been trying to stay relevant is by dumbing down their news content - many broadsheets stray now and then into tabloid territory, many deliberately. Titillating subjects like sex, celebrity and scandals interest almost everybody and so a clever newspaper publisher will maximise coverage of such topics to sell more copies. If it is a running story, with juicy revelations promised over many days, then even better! Yellow journalism has always been a potent weapon for boosting circulation, right from the days of Joseph Pulitzer - that is not something that will change soon. The Times of India is a master at this approach - not surprisingly the paper is loved and loathed in equal measures in modern-day India. Maybe such an approach may not be a bad idea to attract younger readers ...
Some older people, like my grand-aunt, read newspapers only because of the obituaries they carry. Others read them for the weather report or the comic strips or the TV listings or travel information. Whatever the reason, newspaper-reading is an activity that has a charm of its own and it will be an extraordinarily sad day for me if it disappears totally. Even though I have access to almost any news source in the world I have never once been tempted to stop reading the daily newspaper (as some of my friends have done) - and I know that I will be still reading newspapers till the day I die. Am I being a relic that way? Maybe, but that is my choice, isn't it?
When I was updating my profile photos on Facebook recently (which I seldom bother to do for reasons that are not relevant here), I asked the missus to take some snaps of a few of my favourite activities that hardly anyone else is keen on these days - letter-writing (by hand), newspaper-reading etc. Of course, reading newspapers is still more popular than writing letters but the landscape for the former has changed considerably. Whereas once newspapers were the primary source of information, now they have become a different creature - people get their daily information fix through a large number of alternative media (TV, the Internet, FM radio, mobile phones, networking sites and so on). Nobody needs to wait for the arrival of the daily paper to know what is happening in the other parts of the globe - one click of the computer mouse will give you almost all breaking news from any of the thousands of news sources across the World Wide Web.
So why do I still love newspaper reading? I suppose part of the reason is that I am a journalist by profession and it is the printed word that excites me most. For me, the day does not start properly till I open the morning newspaper and go through the pages. It may be the world's best paper or the worst ever - still that early morning activity is a must. I remember how irritated I would become when the daily paper did not arrive on time during my growing-up days in Kerala - that often happened back home because the delivery boy was not well or because there was a transport strike. Or sometimes the paper would arrive only in the late mornings - that was almost as bad as the paper not arriving at all!
But now the whole concept behind newspaper news has changed - they no longer "break news" - most people already know what is happening by the time they open their daily papers. What they want is in-depth analysis of what has already happened. Views, commentaries and opinions have taken the place of plain bread-and-butter reporting. Of course, investigative reports are still there but they have become so cliched that very few of these sell newspapers by themselves, unlike, say in the days of Watergate.
It saddens me when I see the current generation hardly reading newspapers - many of today's youngsters are not even interested to know in what is happening in the world outside their circles. But that is fine because people have different tastes and one's preference is not another's. Part of the reason for the falling popularity of newspapers are TV news channels and the Internet. They disseminate information so fast that newspapers are left far behind when it comes to speed. So, naturally, many great papers have adapted to this changing scenario - they have beefed up their online content, for instance. There is no major paper in the world now that does not have an active online arm. Some stories are written specifically for the Internet readership.
More interesting is to see how the online papers add value - they offer links to other articles, blogs, podcasts and various other multimedia means to attract more eyeballs to their pages. The Guardian in the UK, for instance, has the best online site I have seen for any top broadsheet. News on the online scene is doing ok but manual newspaper readership is struggling in most places. Many top American newspapers have shut down over the last decade due to falling circulation and advertisement revenues. Even huge names like The New York Times are struggling to make a profit. There may come a time when you may not see a single person actually reading a paper in the Western world!
Paper owners have experimented with changing sizes and shapes to attract new audiences - these have had mixed results. Commuters prefer smaller newspapers because of their convenience and portability but, for a youngster who does not read papers anyway, this type of cosmetic change will not matter. He/she is not going to suddenly start reading a paper just because the paper is now delivered in a different shape and form!
Thankfully, in many developing countries (like India, for instance) newspaper reading is still more popular than in the West. This is probably because Internet access is not so easy in such places and broadband speeds are often slower. People are still used to the culture of taking a look at the daily headlines over their morning cups of coffee. And, in countries where the newspapers are generally regarded as being very closely linked to the government (like Singapore and the Gulf states), the print media is used to explain and debate public policy in detail. In such contexts, newspapers will always have a significant role to play.
Another way newspapers have been trying to stay relevant is by dumbing down their news content - many broadsheets stray now and then into tabloid territory, many deliberately. Titillating subjects like sex, celebrity and scandals interest almost everybody and so a clever newspaper publisher will maximise coverage of such topics to sell more copies. If it is a running story, with juicy revelations promised over many days, then even better! Yellow journalism has always been a potent weapon for boosting circulation, right from the days of Joseph Pulitzer - that is not something that will change soon. The Times of India is a master at this approach - not surprisingly the paper is loved and loathed in equal measures in modern-day India. Maybe such an approach may not be a bad idea to attract younger readers ...
Some older people, like my grand-aunt, read newspapers only because of the obituaries they carry. Others read them for the weather report or the comic strips or the TV listings or travel information. Whatever the reason, newspaper-reading is an activity that has a charm of its own and it will be an extraordinarily sad day for me if it disappears totally. Even though I have access to almost any news source in the world I have never once been tempted to stop reading the daily newspaper (as some of my friends have done) - and I know that I will be still reading newspapers till the day I die. Am I being a relic that way? Maybe, but that is my choice, isn't it?