Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- PART I THE NEWS MEDIA AND CIVIC MALAISE
- PART II TRENDS IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS
- 4 The Decline of Newspapers?
- 5 The Rise (and Fall?) of the Television Age
- 6 The Emerging Internet Era
- 7 The Evolution of Campaign Communications
- 8 The Rise of the Postmodern Campaign?
- PART III THE IMPACT ON DEMOCRACY
- CONCLUSIONS
- Technical Appendix
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
4 - The Decline of Newspapers?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- PART I THE NEWS MEDIA AND CIVIC MALAISE
- PART II TRENDS IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS
- 4 The Decline of Newspapers?
- 5 The Rise (and Fall?) of the Television Age
- 6 The Emerging Internet Era
- 7 The Evolution of Campaign Communications
- 8 The Rise of the Postmodern Campaign?
- PART III THE IMPACT ON DEMOCRACY
- CONCLUSIONS
- Technical Appendix
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
There is widespread concern that newspapers face an uncertain future, and many fear a long-term decline due to the rise of the electronic media, economic pressure from a loss of advertising share and increasing costs of production and distribution, and falling sales. Changes in the newspaper industry are believed to have led to concentration of ownership, erosion of news standards, and narrowing of the readership. To address these concerns, this chapter focuses on four interrelated issues: In the postwar era, have the electronic media gradually replaced newspapers, as some fear, so that the press is heading towards the technological graveyard, rather like hand-cranked phonographs, vinyl long-playing records, and post-office telegraphs? Second, have sagging sales in the print sector fuelled down-market pressures towards tabloid sensationalism in the pursuit of readers and a decline of traditional journalistic standards? Third, has greater concentration of newspaper ownership led to fewer choices and less diversity for consumers? And lastly, does the press continue to reach all sectors of society, or is readership increasingly concentrated among the more affluent, well-educated, and older population?
The belief that newspapers are in decline has triggered major alarmbells, because, as argued earlier, it is assumed that the news media can best fulfill their functions in a democracy if there is a rich and pluralistic information environment that is easily available to all citizens.
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- Information
- A Virtuous CirclePolitical Communications in Postindustrial Societies, pp. 63 - 89Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000