Bleeding, Not Dying: Challenges to the Newspaper Industry

Newspaper circulation in the United States fell around 3% from 2013 to 2014, and the average user stayed on a top newspaper website only for three minutes per visit. These are the main audience-related issues that caught my eye when I read Pew's fact sheet on the newspaper industry. While the findings suggest that the industry is struggling, it is too early for eulogies.

Millions of Americans still consume newspapers, and most of them prefer the print

editions. Readership data suggest that 56% of those who consumed a newspaper in 2014 read it exclusively in print, and 27% sometimes read it in print but also on desktop or mobile devices. The remaining newspaper consumers relied exclusively on desktop or mobile devices. In addition, more than 80% of the newspaper ad revenue in 2014 came from print. Although the report does not address the readership by age groups, it seems that there is still considerable demand for print newspapers. Publishers should devise their strategies accordingly.

However, in order to attract young readers, newspapers need to gain visibility on

social media, which have become major traffic drivers to online publishers. As the social media editor of The New York Times said at the 2014 International Symposium of Online Journalism, around 70% of the newspaper's followers on Facebook are not more than 34 years old. Rather than relying on the online newspaper's homepage, many followers only consume stories that were posted on social media. This may be one of the explanations for the short time that the average user stays on a newspaper website. A possible way to face the challenge is creating partnerships with tech companies, such as Facebook, which has recently announced deals with publishers, including The New York Times, to deliver select articles "instantly" on mobile apps. The newspaper is not dead yet. It is both in print and on social media.