The future of Newspapers

Article Summary 

The article talks a lot about how Advertisements are to blame for the decline in Newspapers and also it offers a prediction as to when the Newspapers will die out with some visual imagery. It talks about the processes Newspaper institutions are already undergoing in-order to stay operational, this includes sacking journalists and becoming a lot smaller. It also knows the industry was to late to change and now finds it hard to compete with online news and the freedom everyone has at being able to create their own news. 

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

I believe the time to panic has already passed and I don't think much can be done to save the Newspaper industry (not very optimistic). I don't think its going to die out quite so soon as there will always be a newspaper around, even if there is just one, as people won't allow it to go especially in the next 40-50 years.


2) The article is 10 years old - an eternity in digital media terms. Have the writer's predictions come to pass? Use statistics from your Ofcom research to support or challenge the writer's argument.

This article was written in 2006 and Ten years on from this I think there has been a bigger decline in the Newspaper industry. Looking at the OFCOM report on News it stated that between the years 2005-2015 the percentage of people who read newspapers fell from 72% to 48%. This is a significant decrease in comparison to what it must of been like in the mid 2000's as that is first when online news started taking over as the Internet was becoming more prominent in peoples homes, however smartphones were almost non-existent back then and therefore the reason we see a 24% reduction now is because of developments in technology and new and digital media.

3) The Economist suggests that high-quality journalism in the future will be backed by non-profit organisations rather than profit-seeking media corporations. Is there any evidence for this? How is the Guardian funded? What do major stories from the last year such as the Panama Papers suggest about how investigative journalism is conducted in the digital age?

A group called the Scott Trust, who have been funding the Guardian for a long time now are the major donator which help pay for the Guardian media groups journalists and helps keep printing the papers. The panama papers were leaked by a German newspaper and it was then shared to a group of investigative journalists who in-turn shared around the world to large media institutions. The digital age has made leaks like this a more regular occurrence as even last month former England manager Sam Allardyce was caught out by journalist using hidden cameras.