Are Print Newspapers Over?

Print newspapers are dead. At least, that's what everyone has been saying. It's not hard to see why they think that, either. Several newspapers have gone out of  business in the last few years, and the ones that are still around had to make some serious cutbacks. And really, who needs a paper? Twitter will make sure we're aware of the latest news, and blogs will give us all the details. Ad spending can simply switch to digital media. So, newspapers are over. It's pretty black and white, right? Let's take a closer look

-Why Print Newspapers Are Useless
According to Direct Marketing Newswire, a 3.5% decline in circulation is expected each year. This is a major hit. It seems that consumers feel that they have less need for print newspapers. In fact, digital sources are claiming 57% of the news consuming audience. This trend will probably continue. Does this mean that advertisers should take their money elsewhere?

-Why Print Newspapers Matter
According to NNNLP, while print newspaper circulation is declining, its influence is still very powerful. 82% of adults said they have taken an action as a result of a newspaper in the last 30 days. 82% also said that they have used a newspaper insert within the last 30 days. These are impressive figures. The vast majority of readers were compelled into action due to a newspaper. Certainly, marketers can use this to their advantage.

But wait. There's more.41% of adults say they use newspapers more than any other medium to view ads. This compares with 21% for internet and 8% for  TV. Even more surprising is that 77% of adults said that they would not remove advertising from their newspapers if the could. 64% said the same for Web sites and 48% for email. This means that while your audience may not be as large, it is more engaged.

There are other factors that make print newspapers appealing to advertisers. They are considered to be a credible source of information, unlike blogs, and ads are taken more seriously as a result. Also,the audience on average has a higher salary, which is never a bad thing (unless that's out of your target market). For these reasons, we don't believe that print newspapers are dead.