Newspapers

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 * What Does the Future Hold for Newspapers?**

Desktops, laptops, smart phones and tablets. All for of these technological tools are at our disposal and give us our news on demand. The internet gives us access to almost every news story published. A New Yorker can go online and find out what is going on in San Diego, while a Texan can get the local news of Manchester. That is Manchester, England. The worldwide web lets everyone find out what is going on in every spot of the world. Newspapers were able to cope with this in the early times of the internet because the web couldn't follow people around everywhere they went. Then the world had a technological renaissance. Phones gained online access, wi-fi was perfected and the invention of the tablet has given the world the ability to surf the web from the middle of Times Square to a highway tunnel in the middle of North Dakota. What does this mean for newspapers? How will their future as a worldwide business be effected? Its odd to see that something as small as a phone will be able to replace something as massive as the Sunday issue of the //Wall Street Journal.//

Newspapers date back all the way to ancient China and the Han Dynasty and as far back as 1690 in America. 200 years later, during the Industrial Revolution newspaper productivity spiked and since then they have become apart of everyday life. Jobs have been created, people, places, and events have discovered. They have been the way of the world for generations, and now it 2012 there is a massive change is under way. For years newspapers have led the way for citizens to find out what is going on in their county, state, country and even the world. Now in 2012, people want their news on command 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is a demand that news papers cannot meet. Now the new technologies are slowly starting to drive newspapers into the ground.

Not only is the demand for 24/7 news taking down the newspaper industry, but so is the reeling economy. Some papers can no longer afford to keep machines running due to lack of funds thus ultimately have to shutdown. A study done at the end of 2008 showed that 80% of newspapers revenues come from ads. The study also showed that sales in that same year went down 16.5%. Then in 2009 the sales went down near 10%. Advertisement companies are hurting badly, with that comes the hurt for newspapers. If trends continue it could be a matter of time before newspapers are gone.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20090318/newspapers18_cv.art.htm

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While it is true that the economy mixed with new technologies are driving most papers out business, the big boys of the industry have be able to keep up. The phones and tablets use their applications to produce their news apps and give them out to audiences. Major newspapers such as the //New York Times,// the //Philadelphia Inquirer// and //USA Today// have been able to expand into the mobile world. Their success over the years has given them the ability to invest their money into "apps" and now their works are worldwide inside the smart phone or tablet. But what happens to the small papers//?// The ones that struggle to make a strong profit cannot afford to put all of its eggs in the app basket. Then we have the small papers that can in fact afford to make apps, such as the local //Press of Atlantic City// which can be found in the Apple Store. This small regional paper needs to put out an app that must compete for survival with the juggernauts of industry and it is a tough way for them to make a living.

media type="youtube" key="0wKSorejP-E" height="315" width="560" It is safe to say that newspapers have been severely damaged by the technologies we have that are expanded throughout. While these tools have been so beneficial to us as citizens of the world, they might have taken the biggest bite out of something that has gone unnoticed to the public eye. It began with the internet and will ultimately end with the smart phone and tablet. We have been so lucky as a generation to receive these technological gifts. However now we are running the risk of losing not just an American past time, but an international past time. The internet is a magical tool there is not doubt about it. But there is something about having the paperboy coming down the street on his bicycle throwing the mornings issue on the lawn. Sitting at the table drinking your coffee while reading the paper. Sooner, rather than later this entire practice will come to a complete stop, and we have digital technology to thank for it.

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