Evaporating demand for print newspapers
Roseville, Calif. – Print newspapers long served vitally important functions for communities while building powerful media empires in the process. Yet, with each passing day, the industry faces a grim outlook by almost every measure.
Local Impact
In a sign of the times, Roseville is phasing out newspaper recycling bins primarily for lack of use. The nearly empty bins also become easily littered with debris.
Beginning November 1, 2021, the remaining residents that utilize print news, will now be able to toss out newspapers along with their trash.
The City of Roseville cites the follow for removal of newspaper recycling.
- Lack of participation because of changes in how people receive news.
- Contaminated with illegal dumping.
Lack of demand, shuttered offices and plummeting revenues don’t bode well for an industry already in a decades-long decline.
Industry’s Golden Age
During the mid to late 20th century, residents relied on newspapers for local and national information. Unlike popular TV news channels of today, newspapers often provided a far broader diversity of thought across a wide range of topics. Civil discourse on opposing viewpoints free of partisan vitriol that has become so commonplace today, was easy to find.
Topical interests for all age groups and demographics from comics and sports to stock prices and weather alongside news and investigative reporting allowed readers to explore current events and the world in the pre-Internet age.
Fueled by classified, display, and legal ads, the industry was a virtual money printing machine often operating with little to no competition. It was this combination of factors in our view that made businesses extremely resistant to change when the Internet came along.
For newspapers, it marked the beginning of end of the industry’s golden age of prosperity. Today, newspapers are consumed largely by ever-dwindling population of elderly. Today, newspapers continue to abandon antiquated, costly, and environmentally destructive print production. The search for profitablity remains elusive for many.
