Why Old People Read Newspapers and Younger People Don’t
Maybe it has something to do with being raised by a father who owned a store full of magazines, newspapers, comics and paperback books. I love to read a newspaper. A real one. Not an online version. A real black and white newspaper. My day doesn’t feel right if I haven’t read the paper.
I read papers online — but only when I have to. The New York Times, for example. But I don’t like scanning a long list of headlines, which is what’s often involved when one reads a paper online. Even when publications try to imitate online the ‘feel’ of a printed newspaper, like the Los Angeles Times does, you still end up eventually scanning a list of headlines.
In a random survey I conducted of three young colleagues — ages 24, 26 and 34 — I discovered that none read a newspaper regularly. They primarily get their news online. Here are some of their objections:
- Newspapers “are too big”
- “Online is free” so they don’t have to spend money to subscribe.
- “If I go online, I can choose the story I want to read.”
- “I don’t feel like I have the time to read the whole paper.”
All three grew up in families that subscribed to a daily paper. Not one of them picked up the daily newspaper reading habit.
It’s not news that newspaper circulation has been sinking for a while. A new report reveals further evidence. Below are some selected major papers along with the change in readership (Monday-Friday) from last year to today: Wall Street Journal (-1.53%); New York Times (-4.51%); Los Angeles Times (+0.50%); Washington Post (-3.23%); Chicago Tribune (-2.90%); Houston Chronicle (-0.13%); Dallas Morning News (-7.68%); San Francisco Chronicle (-2.29%); Boston Globe (-6.66%); Philadelphia Inquirer (+2.31%); Star Tribune in Minneapolis (-6.53%); Atlanta Journal-Constitution (-9.08%); and San Diego Union-Tribune (-8.53%).
Take a look at a really cool online magazine using software called Olive. It closely approximates the experience of reading a print publication. Still, I’ll stick to my newspaper.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I quit reading the local newspaper when it was bought by neocons. Every day is filled with stories about the “myth” of global warming, our glorious troops fighting a glorious war, the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as your personal saviour, the homosexual agenda, the drug menace- basically, propaganda from cover to cover.
If not for online media, I’d have no idea what was really going on in the world.
November 7th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
The benefit of reading online news is that you can read all the news, any news or whatever news you want to, from all over the world at whatever time you want to. I quit watching the news on TV also. Local newcasts, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and Fox news ALL have their own personal agendas.
Last time I bought the Sunday NY Times, it was $5. I go to the library now and read whatever I want for free. I still however, subscribe to my town paper because their online version is nil. I like to read Letters to The Editor and hear what my neighbors have to say.
November 7th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
figures the Globe has 6.66
November 7th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I prefer being able to hold my paper in hand too although I do subscribe to Arkansas headline news online in case I miss something. Our electronic age is an awesome gift but I’d rather cuddle up with most of my reading material and you can’t do that with a puter.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I used to be a paper reader. In fact, Sundays were especially wonderful with the big family breakfast, followed by leisurely reading the paper.
Things change. The only thing I might need a traditional newspaper for is to start the charcoal on the grill.
I get news selectively either online or from network television.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
There are too many visceral things about a real newspaper that you won’t get on line. i like following the jump of a story and getting distracted by other stories on the jump page, choosing to read the tabloids (NY Post, Daily News and Boston Herald) from the back (sports) pages, heading straight to the op-ed page first, stuff like that. My dad, a former newspaper guy, always told me the Wall Street Journal was the best written and edited newspaper there was (I agree). And Patti of course is a newspaper writer without equal, and I love to see her byline. I love newspapers…
November 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I agree, there is nothing like a real newspaper. We get three every day: the local New Jersey paper, the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. I read them all for different reasons (the Times and Journal don’t have funnies, for one thing!). And I’m not happy if I haven’t had my time with the newspaper in the morning. I do read the Times on line sometimes during the day at work, and if we’re on vacation and can’t get the NYT, my husband downloads (for a price) the Times in a similar format to the magazine you showed – you can go from page to page and it mimics the experience of reading the paper – but it’s still not quite the same.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
The problem I have with newspapers (and I’m old) is that when the editorial page takes a certain stand, I don’t feel that I can get an unbiased look at their news. On line I can look at various sources.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:23 am
I no longer subscribe the the local newspaper but I do read it sometimes. There is a blogger who is much better on doings around here than the paper is. He is a journalist fired from that very paper for union activity, and he is in the process of suing the owners, who are in another state.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Newspapers are like buggy whips, trying to survive beyond their time.
Like standard transmissions.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:56 am
I have almost completely shifted to online newspaper reading. I can file stories on del.icio.us with a click, and link or share more easily. I also use news aggregators and feed readers. Although I recommend Bloglines, I also use Google Reader and MyYahoo and check those feeds almost daily. I’m rambling about it in my post today…
November 8th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Well, then, I feel sorry for those younger readers.
I get up in the morning, put the coffee on, take a shower, grab a cuppa and the paper.
For the next 20 minutes, no one had better bother me! On those days when I cannot keep to this routine, I get very cranky.
On Sundays, even though I no longer live in NYC, I buy bagels and the NY Times–I just love a paper that takes me all day to read.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Olive software has taken on line reading to a new level, that’s for sure…but I agree with comments about the preference to have a hands on experience with the periodical. I do appreciate though the ability to access those not available locally…including foreign press…to get the best chance of finding out what’s really going on.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:00 am
This is fascinating and an issue our organization has looked at also. People over 60-65 are our audience. We have a newspaper, monthly, and it is widely read. Its more in depth than daily. Its more focused also and we have a large subscription base. We did a survey of our readers who said they love the paper and pass it on because it is a specialty read and its tangible, they can keep it, read it and share it. We do have an online version but most readers of this age group do love the paper
November 9th, 2007 at 9:38 am
I also used to love newspapers. Read them religiously, especially (as someone else has said) the Sunday NY Times. My dad and I did the crossword puzzle together either face-to-face or (when he moved) over the phone.
But the puzzle guy at the Times changed (can’t STAND the new one’s style) and neither Dad nor I could figure it out. I moved out of NY to a place where you have to drive everywhere, so I couldn’t read the paper on the train.
Reporting has become lousy (I can say this for a fact, since I’m a nationally published health writer and am appalled at the misinformation that passes for health reporting); stories tend to the overly dramatic, facts aren’t checked.
And there’s nothing worth reading. It’s one horror story after another.
Last but not least, I can turn on my TV and get my basic news instantly—and INCESSANTLY. Where I used to have the 6 and 6:30 news, I now have (just on the three networks I grew up with) the noon news, 4, 5 AND 6 and 11. AND of course there’s what seems like 100 cable channels–and they ALL say the same things (even their commentaries are the same!) OVER and OVER and …..
So who needs the news in general…and who needs a newspaper?
November 9th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
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November 10th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I’m a newspaper junkie from way back and I always will be. I love the whole experience of the printed news–from walking down my driveway in the morning air to fetch the paper to unrolling the fresh, unread pages, always with a feeling of anticipation. I never feel that way with internet news. I would agree that most newspapers have gone downhill, with a few exceptions, but I still love newspapers that crinkle and leave you with newsprint on your fingers!
November 10th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Ok, I am taking this to mean that I am a youngster, as I can’t remember the time when I last read a newspaper. I didn’t ever particularly like it, except the Sunday paper. For the comics and the, er, interesting personal adds. Especially in publications like the Boston Pheonix. Now online, I don’t ge tthe same kick out of personals (ie looking for a daddy, i’ve been bad and need a spanking) that I used to.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:09 am
I must be in my second childhood – I used to read newspapers with avid enthusiasm but have now become (over the past few years) a total internet news freak. This gives me a range of sources and the ability to see what the ex-Australian Murdoch (Faux news) doesn’t want me to see.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I grew up in a household that subscribed to the local small-town paper (two issues a week), and two dailies – one a regional paper, another was from the nearest city. My dad also took the Wall Street Journal, which got to us in the boonies a full day after the date of publication.
When I go on vacation, I love getting a local paper, to read the local-to-where-I-am news.
But here at home, I’ve given up. The small local papers try to give me national news, but don’t have enough reporters to actually report on anything going on right here. And before the local paper was bought up by one of the conglomerates, the editing was terrible – I actually considered marking up articles with a red pen and sending them back.
I have to spend so much time commuting to work, and since I drive or ride in a car, I listen to news radio for the headlines. I spend my day at work on a computer, so I can browse the news when I need a short break now and then. And I still don’t know what is going on in the town I live in.
November 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I’m a person who gets and reads the paper every day as well. I’m with you – I just don’t feel right if I’m not able to, and I don’t like reading the paper online.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I read a lot online and I read the print versions of our local paper (Hawaii Tribune-Herald), the Sunday Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and the alternatives (Big Island Weekly, Hawaii Free Press, and Hawaii Island Journal). And I buy the USA Today, usually twice a week. I still clip and file articles. And the old papers line our cats’ cages.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
[...] in my face every day, stories I would never have pursued on my own. This experience is so unlike the way younger people tend to get their news today. They often pursue stories they are interested in, rather than welcome a panoply of [...]