Downward Spiral for Newspaper Industry

In 2005 newspapers took a 2 percent fall. In 2007 newspapers took a 3 percent fall. In 2008 newspapers took a 4 percent fall. Now, in 2009 newspaper companies are experiencing a greater downward spiral than ever before. Sales have now fallen 10.6 percent on weekdays and 7.5 percent on weekends. The newspaper industry has not experienced anything like this since 1940.

There are many causes for this screeching halt in sales. Internet readership, price increases due to sale decrease, and the recession, have all been probable reasons for the newspaper industry to find itself in its own depression. Since 1990 sales of newspapers have been falling about 1 percent per year. So, maybe we should have seen this coming, but with that being said, besides going digital and still taking an enormous cut in profit, what can the newspaper industry do to survive?

My generation is going digital, and consequently killing off industries that have been around for decades. The New York Times article gives statistics to exactly what the Internet has done to newspaper readership by saying that,

The Internet, where newspapers are generally free, has siphoned off circulation and advertising even as it made papers more widely read than ever before. This year, newspaper sites have had more than 72 million unique visitors a month, compared with 60 million in 2007, according to reports by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association

Because newspapers have had to cut their budget, newsrooms are smaller and papers themselves are thinner than ever before. Alan Mutter, a newspaper consultant who writes a blog about the industry called Reflections of a Newsosaur says that,

"I’ve worried for a long time that they’re losing readers because they’re offering less, and I think we’re seeing the effects of that."

Newspapers all over the world are facing the same problems. The problems are effecting even some of the largest companies we know today, such as: New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle, and the Wall Street Journal. As sales fall for these companies, with previously such large nationwide readership, we have to wonder if the newspaper can indeed survive our generation.

Some people say that there are times that a newspaper can never be replaced. Moments in history such as 9/11, Michael Jackson's death, or Obama's history shattering presidency, are things that people will want in its original paper document forever. But sometimes I begin to wonder if my generation will even know what paper is by the time my hair starts to get grey. For now, anything we predict will be just that, merely a prediction. But as times continues and technology continues to advance we will, indeed, see someone's prediction of: 'The Newspaper's Will to Survive' or 'The Slow Death of the Newspaper', come true after all.

Twitter Trends

When we think of the creation of new products or trends that producers seem to create from thin air, we have to take a second and wonder, who thought of this brilliant idea? But did we ever stop to think that maybe we are the brilliant ones, and the producers themselves are actually just watching from the side to see what we can come up with. Then maybe they pick up on a trend that they could potentially market as their own. Well, Twitter is a software that did just that.

Twitter began about two years ago. It was created to simply allow the public to post 140 characters, essentially, about what they were doing, thinking, or wanted everyone to know at that time. Since then Twitter has reached a brand new height and, has potentially made the lives of the people creating products for us (the public), much easier. Now, instead of picturing the designers and producers in a board room meeting in a suit and tie, sitting in fancy chairs that twirl around ... start to picture them all at home in their pajamas sitting on Twitter.

Because of the Twitter software producers can now see which ideas catch on through twitter updates/thoughts. Through the 'twitter chatter' they can start to turn these ideas into features available for the public to use. In the New York Times article they discuss all the new features that Twitter is making readily available for their users to start using. By doing this, they will be making the world of tweets have many more options for all of its tweeters! Some of the new features include: your very own Twitter search engine, the @ symbol section, marking conversation about a certain topic with the # symbol, Lists, and Follow Friday. These are all features that make perfect since in the world of Twitter.

Isn't it odd to think about what we could potentially come up with if we just payed attention to our own trends! Ah ... maybe one day we could sit at our desk at home, making millions in our pajamas, realizing we were the "brilliant" ones all along!