The Future Of Newspapers

Reading Newspapers Is A Dying Practice
By Glenn Burwell

In reading the article, “Young Adults Are Giving Newspapers Scant Notice,” I identified with the authors opinion of young people receiving their news in nontraditional ways, and that print news becoming less significant. It is my personal belief that newspapers are obsolete.

The traditional newspaper is much too cumbersome, the stories are hard to find, and the pictures are rarely in color. Receiving news from the Internet and is not only faster, but it is far more accessible. When I am on the go and I need to catch up on current events, I don’t want to hunt for a newspaper stand and pay to read one or two stories. It is unnecessary for one to go through such a hassle when a few clicks on a Blackberry or on any standard cell phone with internet access will deliver the same stories quickly and in living color, and maybe even with the option audio video.

I spoke with two of my co-workers, Ally Garcia, 22, and Ian Wilson 19, to gain other perspectives on the subject. “There is something just…I don’t know… classic about actually reading a newspaper,” said Garcia in an overly excited response to my question. Garcia, whose father used to read the newspaper every morning, grew up seeing the newspaper in her home every morning. As a child she would try to impress her father by reading stories from the front page. “My dad would challenge me to read the paper, which consequentially made it fun for me… it was sort of a game to me which became a habit that just stuck,” she said.

Wilson, only three years younger than Garcia, has an entirely different perspective on the subject. “I can’t remember the last time I touched a newspaper, they’re pretty archaic,” he said. Wilson spoke about being deemed as less informed because of his unorthodox method of receiving his news. “I can’t stand the fact that some people think that because I am young and I don’t have a newspaper bundled in my hand, that I am not informed. I consider myself a fairly intelligent guy and I like to keep up with my current events just like I do with modern technology.” Wilson’s main point was much like mine -- it doesn’t matter how you receive the news, just as long as you do.

Just from the people that I spoke to it is obvious how opinions vary on the subject of the newspaper. Although some people may still read the conventional newspaper, the fact is undeniable that newspapers as a medium for receiving news is a dying practice. The news will most certainly always be here, the newspaper, though, may not.