Richard Wakefield

Saving Newspapers: Put Humpty Dumpty Back Together

A long time ago, in the 70's, I was taught by the newspaper elders that the local newspaper is the community marketplace for news, ideas, opinions and marketing. That is why newspapers have value to readers. Enter the internet -- perhaps starting with sites like the Drudgereport and search engines. The "marketplace" concept began to break down. Readership was now in play!

The fundamental problem for newspapers now, and has been for many years, is loss of readership. You can track declining readership into declining circulation. Inevitably, the shrinking franchise shrinks advertising revenue.

In the 90's the youth began to shun newspapers. Now, those non-reading youth are middle-aged -- and they did not change their readership patterns.

With the readership trends, one can only expect to see the traditional printed newspaper lose franchise.