The future of newspapers

Summarise: The Economist - Who killed the newspapers? 

The article explains the fact that newspapers have lost the most to the internet and this is evident across the USA, western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A noteworthy point is that this has been going on for decades, however, the decline has intensively hastened over the last few years. “The Vanishing Newspaper” by Philip Meyer estimates that by 2043 the newsprint will die in America as the last exhausted reader tosses aside the last crumpled edition. This sort of theory, is obscure to some, however more and more young people are getting their news online. Britons aged between 15 and 24 say they spend almost 30% less time reading national newspapers once they start using the web. Advertising is another element addressed within the article - how it has dominated the internet and is almost everywhere. Switzerland and the Netherlands newspaper's have lost half their classified advertising to the internet. The article proceeds to highlight that newspapers haven't yet completely shut down, but gradually small institutions are beginning to crumble, whereas popular conglomerates are trying their hardest to maintain their status as a print platform. Furthermore, the new force of “citizen” journalists and bloggers are introduced and the article explains how the web has opened the closed world of professional editors and reporters and is now available to anyone with a keyboard and an internet connection. Consequently, some professionals have suffered from this. The article finalises with their idea that in the future an elite group of serious newspapers will be available everywhere online, alongside, independent journalism backed by charities, thousands of bloggers and citizen journalists. 

• Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?

In my opinion I don't agree with this statement, specifically the word 'concern', as I believe that as the times are changing it is only right for news institutions to expand towards a new platform and potentially halt others, to succeed. Through the coming age of new and digital media, alongside the phenomenon that the internet has unleashed in the 21st century, it is vital that conglomerates channel their news to fit the most efficient mean of communication for the mass public - online. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that newspapers should become extinct - it means journalists and editors should build upon setting a modern illustration of a 'newspaper' through digital means;whilst maintaining niche attention towards newspapers and lowering the costs, to please their audiences incline towards the print platform.