Web Usage in 2004 - Rutgers University



ARE NEWSPAPERS DOOMED?

Krystal Enrico

Dr. Ted Goertzel

Dependent variable: Reading the newspaper

Abstract:

My research paper is based upon my findings on newspaper trends in today’s society based upon demographics, age, race, education, class, gender and even in some cases variables including suicide rates. I feel at this day in age, with the uproar of internet fever, that paperless newspapers are the new black and white oversized delivered newspaper. Through my research I have found that although the internet is a tool that is being utilized in an increasing manner, that older generations still rely on the “old school” method of buying a paper newspaper and reading it rather than subscribing online or just logging onto MSNBC to get their news, stocks, sports, etc.

Waking up in the morning and going out front to retrieve your morning paper is steadily decreasing. Due to the World Wide Internet, newspapers can be opened and read online any time, instead of the old fashioned black and white paper newspaper. With the newspaper online, news can be retrieved quickly, keeping citizens constantly up to date. New information and new news will always be in demand, and journalism as it is known will change more with the forces of the future, as newspapers will eventually die out and the Internet will be out main source for news and information. I read through various scholarly articles to find as much information as possible regarding the long lived black and white newspaper. Below I have discussed my findings of relevant articles which I felt pertained to my topic.

In a study to discover the view or opinion of a newspapers readers uses and gratifications, a random sample from a diverse blinded group and interviewed each individual using the same questions. The statistical analysis of the studies indicated that the expected three descriptive explanations could be reduced to two groupings: informational variables including surveillance and interaction, and entertainment variables that emphasized diversion. They analyze the interest by how much time the audiences spent on reading news, the other is feedback which refers to derive the interest by asking audiences explicitly. In terms of readership, the study affirmed the importance of subscriber opinions that newspapers give them sufficiently immediate knowledge of big news events.

Electronic Newspapers has become one sort of important communication medium with the rapid growth of audiences on Internet. In certain countries for examples, Taiwan, the majority of big time news media outlets have their own Electronic Newspapers that actually provide a large amount of online news. Though audiences can receive a mass of news, it is difficult for them to find the news in which they are really interested within limited time. Therefore, this current study focused on the research of the mechanism for filtering and recommending news based on the use of gratifying the so called consumers.

In the charts below, I illustrated the differences in reading newspapers to with different variables, including age, gender, race, educational status, and economic status. When considering age, it is apparent that people ages 50 and up read the paper daily almost 60%, and 50% of people under the age of 30 read the newspaper weekly. More men tend to read the newspaper daily and more women than men tend to read the newspaper weekly. When reviewing the statistics for educational status, I found that the numbers were all actually extremely close with one another, making me come to the conclusion that education really does not seem to play a part. I looked at race including white and black people and the difference is actually interesting because it appears that white people read the newspaper daily and more black people read the newspaper weekly. My last reflection is upon economic standing or status which appears to also be distributed evenly.

Newspaper Reading Trends for 2004

Daily Weekly Less Than Weekly Total

Under age 30 19.4% 50.0% 30.6% 100%

30-49 32.2% 45.0% 22.8% 100%

50 and Up 57.5% 27.8% 14.7% 100%

Daily Weekly Less Than Weekly Total

White 41.1% 36.7% 22.1% 100%

Black 24.8% 57.1% 18.1% 100%

Daily Weekly Less Than Weekly Total

No HS Grad 27.7% 43.7% 28.6% 100%

Hs Grad 39.3% 38.1% 22.5% 100%

College 42.3% 38.7% 19.0% 100%

Daily Weekly Less Than Weekly Total

Male 45.3% 33.6% 21.1% 100%

Female 34.5% 44.2% 21.3% 100%

Daily Weekly Less Than Weekly Total

Low 32.7% 39.4% 27.9% 100%

Middle 32.6% 46.4% 21.0% 100%

High 38.8% 41.6% 19.6% 100%

Trends in Reading Newspapers and Suicide Rates

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When comparing the trends in reading newspapers and suicide rates, no correlation was found. When viewing the above graph, you can clearly see that there is no relationship between the two variables chosen which include reading newspapers and suicide rates. From 1972 to 2002, trends in suicide rates have stayed steady except for the spike around 1975 which may have had something to do with the Vietnam War and the racial riots, etc. When viewing the statistics for reading newspapers from 1972 to 2002, you can see that there is a decline in reading compared to the high in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Trends in Viewing Weekly Newspapers

1978-2004

The trend in people reading weekly newspapers has actually rose a bit since 1978 which I found interesting due to the popularity of the Internet.

[pic]

Trends in Newspaper Reading

I wanted to look further into who reads newspapers and are people getting their information form other sources. Due to the Internet, our world has dramatically changed electronically. The web has opened opportunities for people to retrieve their news from sources other than the newspaper and/or television. My goal was to see if our “new” electronic world has changed the way people get their information.

Graph A

Newspaper Viewing

[pic]

The number of people reading newspapers has steadily declined over the years, as more people are obtaining their county and world information through the television and the Internet. During 1972 when President Nixon was elected, newspaper viewings were at their highest peak. In the year 2000, when President George Bush was elected, people reading newspapers declined greatly. From the graph and my research regarding newspaper trends, I found that people are getting their news by other means other than the black and white large paper! Since 1972, to the year 2000, reading newspapers has become a pastime leisure with a steady decline.

During the past decade, irrational exuberance has turned into a possibly equally irrational pessimism about what the Internet can accomplish. The fear of getting ruined through “cannibalization” losses has recently deterred many firms from deploying the Internet as a distribution channel. Using a database of 85 Internet channel additions over the last 10 years in the newspaper industries of the UK and The Netherlands, we find that the often-cited “cannibalization” fears have, at least in this information-goods industry, been largely overstated. The Internet therefore need not be disruptive to established companies and channels. This does not, however, imply that firms enjoy free play in setting up Internet channels. In cases where the newly established Internet channel too closely mimics the entrenched channels, substantial “cannibalization” is more likely to take place, especially with the ever fast increasing Internet uproar!

References

Deleersnyder, B, Geyskens, I, Gielens, K. Marnik G. How cannibalistic is the

Internet channel? A study of the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. Retrieved March 9, 2006, from



Deuze, M. (2006, February). Global Journalism Education. Retrieved March 9, 2006

from

Jen Lai, H. (2000, July 21). A Personalized News Recommendation Method for

Electronic Newspapers. Retrieved March 9, 2006, from



Towers, W. (1986, Spring). Replication of a Study on Uses and Gratifications for

Weekly and Sunday Readers. Retrieved March 9, 2006, from

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