Conroy1

HannahConroy
ProfessorKaye
CAS137H
3November2014
NeedforSpeed:JournalismEdition
Overthepastdecade,newspapershavebeenonthedeclineinAmerica.In2002,aPew
ResearchCenterpollaskedAmericansiftheyhadareadaprintnewspaperthepriorday,41%
answeredyes.Onlytenyearslater,in2012,thesamepollfoundonly23%ofAmericanshadthe
numberdropped18percentagepointsin10years.Asnewspaperreadershipdeclines,newspapers
arestrugglingtoturnaprofit,leadingtodrasticbudgetcutsandlayoffs.Internetnewssources
arequicklyreplacingtraditionalprintnewspapersasthepreferredsourceofcurrentevents
information.Onlinenewssourcesofferseveraladvantagesovertraditionalprintpapers,which
allowthemtodrawcustomers.Internetnewsmovesatamuchfasterpacethanprintnewsand
canbequicklyaccessedanytimefortheimportantfactsofastory.Onlinenewscanalsobe
constantlyupdatedandsharedinstantly.However,thefastpacednatureofonlinenewshasledto
anincreasedriskofsharinguninformednews.Theformatofnewshaschanged,andwithitthe
possibilityofmisinformednewsbeingspreadhasrisen.Theriseoftheinternetoverthepast
decadehasledtothedeclineofthenewspaperindustryandhasallowedforanincreaseinthe
paceofnews.
Today,newspaperreadershipandsalesareonthedecline.Newspaperswereoncethe
cornerstoneofAmericannewstheyprovidedpeopleallacrossthecountrywithreputablenews
inareliablemanner.Therelianceonprintnewshaschangedinrecentyears,however.APew


Conroy2

ResearchCenterpollrevealedthenumberofAmericanswhoregularlyreadadailynewspaper
fellfrom54%in2004to38%in2012.Furthermore,twelvemajormetropolitannewspapers
havecloseddownsinceMarch2007,aschronicledbythewebsiteNewspaperDeathWatch.
Americanswhodoreadadailynewspapernowreaditonline,with55%of
NewYorkTimes
readersreadingexclusivelyonline,alongwith48%of
USAToday
readersand44%of
Wall
StreetJournal
readers(PewResearchCenter).Americanshaveshiftedtheirreadershipfrom
printnewspaperstoonlinesourcestheconvenienceofbeingabletosimplyandquicklyclick
oneswaythrougharticleshasledtoamigrationofnewspaperreadershiptotheweb.Asprint
newspaperreadershipdeclinesAmericansarestillinneedofnewsinformation.Onlinenewsis
thenewsourceofinformationfortheAmericanpublic.Theresultsofa2012studybyPew
ResearchCenterrevealthenumberofpeoplewhogettheirnewsfromanonlinesourcenow
surpassesthenumberwhogetitfromaprintnewspaper39%ofrespondentsusedanonlineor
mobilenewssource,while33%readanewspaper.Evidencingtherapidlychanginglandscapeof
newsreadership,only29%ofpeopleutilizedonlineandmobilenewssourcesin2008the
numberrose10%overfouryears.Consumershavecometovalueonlinenewsoverprintnews.
NowthatAmericansaregettingtheirnewsonline,theyarenotpayingtobuynewspapersand
theyarenotseeingtheadsinnewspapers.Newspapersneedtochangethewaytheypresentand
spreadnewsinordertoadjusttothechangingmarket.

Thedeclineinreadershiphasbrought
economichardshiptomanynewspapers.
Newspapersrelyonsubscriptionandadrevenueformuchoftheirprofitsandare
sufferingasaresultofdwindlingreadership.Adecliningreadershiphasbroughtdowntheprice
ofadsinprintnewspapers,decreasingtheavailablerevenueforthepaper.In1950,the


Conroy3

NewspaperAssociationofAmericabegantrackingtherevenuenewspapersgainedfromads.In
Aprilof2014,theadrevenueofnewspapershitanalltimelow.Infact,newspaperadrevenueis
downmorethan50percentinjustthepastfiveyearsalone(Weissman).Newspapersneedthe
moneytheyreceivefromadstocontinueoperatingasitcomprisesalargepartoftheirrevenue.
Unfortunately,thedigitaladrevenuenewspapersreceivefromtheironlineeditionscannotkeep
upwiththedeclineofprintads.Inordertocombatthedeclineofrevenueandkeeptheirdoors
openmanynewspapersaremakingdrasticcuts.Somehaveimplementedpaywallsfortheir
onlinecontent,hopingtogainincreasedrevenuefromsubscriptions.Paywallsareblockson
onlinecontenttheypreventareaderfromcontinuingtoreadtheonlinearticleunlesstheypaya
smallfeeorsignupforasubscription.However,somepapershaveseenmoresuccesswiththis
tacticthanothers.Implementationofapaywallhasbeenquitesuccessfulfor
TheNewYork
Times
andhasbroughtthepaperincreasedrevenue.Thepaperhas799,000onlineonly
subscriberswhobroughtinabout$40millioninthefirstfiscalquarterof2014(Somaiya).
However,theirsuccessissomewhatofananomalyintheworldofnewspaperpaywalls.
TheSan
FranciscoChronicle
,ontheotherhand,removedtheironlinepaywallafteronlyfourmonths,as
itwasnothavingthedesiredeffectofincreasingrevenue.Paywallstendtobringsuccessonlyto
large,nationalnewspaperswhohaveadedicatedreadershipthatwillcontinuetopaytogettheir
news.Asnewspapersstruggletofindnewsourcesofrevenuetheymustoftenlayoffscoresof
employeesorselltoanewownerinordertostayafloat.Forexample,thelargestnewspaperin
NewJersey,
TheStarLedger
,cut170jobsinAprilinanattempttoreducecosts(McCarthy).
Anothermajornewspaper,
TheWashingtonPost
soldtoJeffBezosin2013,asthecurrent
ownerscouldnotsustainthenewspaper.BezosisabillionaireduetothesuccessofAmazon.com


Conroy4

andhasthedeeppocketstosustainanenterprisethathasbeenbuffetedforyearsbydeclining
readershipandadvertising,especiallyintheprintedPost(Farhi).Theformerownersof
The
WashingtonPost
hadownedthepaperfor80yearstheygaveuptheirlegacyofcontrolinorder
tokeepthepaperafloat.Drasticmeasuressuchasimplementingpaywalls,layingoffemployees,
andsellingtonewownersarebecomingmoreandmorecommonasnewspapersfightagainst
decliningreadershipandadrevenue.
Inafurtherattempttocontinuebeingprofitableinthisneweraofonlinenews,some
papersareswitchingtoonlineonlyversions,whileothersarecuttingdownonprinteditions.
Severalnewspapersarecuttingtheirprinteditionstoonlythreedaysaweek,orareremoving
Sundayeditions.Thisisacalculatedmoveonthepartofpublishers,whoareattemptingto
removetheprinteditionsondayswhichsellthefewestads,andthereforemaketheleastprofit.
Thedecisionalsohasanotherbenefit,as
newspaperexecutivesarebettingtheycanweanloyal
customersandadvertisersfromtheirdailyprintnewspaperhabit,whileatthesametimedriving
themtotheirownWebsite(Haughney).Newspapersareattemptingtoeasethetransitionof
thosewhostilldesiretheprintversiontotheonlineversion,astheprintversionsarenolonger
economicallyviable.Byslowlycuttingdownonprinteditions,thepapersareforcingreadersto
turntotheirwebsitefornews,andforcingadvertiserstomovetheiradsonlineinordertoreacha
largeaudience.Thecuttingofprinteditionsisasignofthedecliningprintnewspaperindustry,
astheysimplyarenotasprofitableastheyoncewerefornewspapers.Italsodemonstrates,
however,theawarenessnewspapershaveoftheeffectonlinenewsishavingontheirbusiness.
Executivesknowonlinenewsisthenewwaytomakeaprofitablepaper,andareattemptingto


Conroy5

transitionbeforeitistoolate.Cuttingprinteditionsandtransitioningthepapertothewebare
morewaysnewspapersaretryingtocombatdecliningreadership.
Theshifttointernetnewssourceshasfurtherimplicationsforjournalismasawhole,not
onlynewspapers.Readers,andjournalists,nowgetnewsveryquickly.Thespeedwithwhich
readerscanreadandsharenewsisavaluableassetofonlinenews.Readerswantinformation
rightaway,andthereforemaynotconsiderthevalidityofthesourcetheyarereading.Itisvery
easytosimplyclickshareonarticlesthatcontainexcitinginformationmanypeopledonot
takethetimetostopandthinkaboutthevalidityofthenewstheyarespreading.Articlesfrom
the
Onion
,ahighprofilesatiricalnewssite,areaprimeexampleoftheconsequencesofhastily
sharingandbelievingonlinenews.Severalprominentpeoplehavebeenfooledby
Onion
articles,
includingpoliticians.Oneexampleofthisphenomenonwasthesharingofan
Onion
article
entitledPlannedParenthoodOpens$8BillionAbortionplex.Severalpeopletookthisarticle
seriously,theybelievedtheabortionplexwasrealandwouldbeopenedsoon.Understandably,
manyofthosepeoplewereupsetbythearticle,andtooktotheinternettoexpresstheir
displeasureandfeelingsofoffense.Oneofthosefooledbythearticlewasarepresentativefrom
LouisianabythenameofJohnFleming.HepostedthearticleonhisFacebookpageasifitwere
fact,withthecaptionMoreonPlannedParenthood,abortionbywholesale(Grandoni).An
electedleaderofthepeople,someonewhoshouldbeveryintelligentandtrustworthy,wasfooled
byonlinenews.Thedesiretosharethenextbigheadlineandtogetinformationquicklycanlead
tothespreadofmisinformation,orjustplainwronginformation.Concernoverthecredibilityof
sourcesappearstofallbythewaysideasreadersrushtosharethenextexcitingstory.


Conroy6

Journalistscanalsofallvictimtothisneedforspeedandneglecttofullyfactcheckthe
newstheypublish.Reportersknowreaderswantnew,excitinginformation,andtheywantit
now.ThebombingsattheBostonMarathonin2013showcaseanunfortunatetrendinthisarea.
CNNandtheAssociatedPress,amongothernewssources,reportedasuspectwasincustody
afterthebombings,wheninfact,onewasnot.Specifically,CNNreporterJohnCarrreporteda
suspecthadbeenarrested.Itwasabigscoopthatturnedouttobefalse(Carr).Thereportsofa
suspectincustodywerenotconfirmed,yetnewschannelscontinuedtodiscussandreportthe
informationasfact,untiltheyreceivedwordtheinformationwasfalse.Thenewsnetworksknew
thepublicwasdesperatefornews,foranynewdevelopment.Thisledtoseveralnewssources,
includingtwoverytrustedones,reportinginformationthatwasfalse.Informationneedstobe
confirmedandthistakestime,butintodaysmediaclimateofTwitterfeedsandconstantly
updatedwebsites,timeisoftheessence.JudyMuller,aformerjournalistwhonowteachesatthe
UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,wroteto
The

NewYorkTimes
saying,
Therushtobefirsthas
sothoroughlyswalloweduptheprincipleofbeingrightandfirstthatitseemsalittleeggonthe
faceisnowdeemedworththerisk(MullerinCarter).
Somejournalistshavecometovalue

beingthefirsttoreportastoryoverensuringthenewstheyarereportingiscorrectandfactual.
Thedesiretobefirstandtobreakthestoryhasoverriddenthedesiretobecorrect,thevaluesof
journalistsandtheirreadershasshifted.

Theneedtoalwayshavethenews,tohavethebig
scoopandtohaveitnow,canhaveunintendedconsequenceswhenreportersandnews
networksfallvictimtotheneedforspeedandneglectjournalisticintegrity.
Despitetheopportunityformisinformation,Americanstrustonlinenews.Overall,
Americanshaverelativelylowconfidenceinallformsofnewsmedia,howeverinternetnews


Conroy7

rankscomparativelyhigh.AccordingtoapollconductedbyGallupinJuneof2014,19%of
Americanstrustonlinenewssources,morethanthe18%whotrustTVnews(Dugan).Only
slightlymoreAmericans,22%,trustnewspapers(Dugan).Internetnewssourcesareatrusted
sourceofnewsAmericansfeeltheycanbelievetheinformation,evenmoresothanthatwhich
theyseeonTV.Americansimplicitlytrustthenewstheyseeonlineratherthantakingthetime
toevaluateasourceandconsiderthevalidityofthefactsinvolved,readerssimplysharethe
article.Thetrustisgood,asmanyonlinenewssourcesarereliableandofferconvenienceand
speed.However,theimplicittrustalsomeansAmericansmaynotbeasdiscerningwhen
examiningonlinenewsandmayacceptfalsefactsatfacevalue.Thisriskofsharinguninformed
newsisnotashighwithprintnewspapers,astheytendtoemployastaffoffactcheckersand
holdtheirjournaliststoahighcodeofdependabilityandtruthinreporting.Severalonlinenews
sourcesfollowthiscodeofprintjournalismandreportonlyverifiedstories,howeverothersdo
not.Themisinformationcanspreadatunparalleledspeedsonline,creatingagreatriskforuntrue
information.
Anotherunfortunateimplicationoftheshifttoonlinenewsisalossofdepthinreporting.
Readerswantthefactsofacasequickly,andtheywantthemnow.Peoplesimplywantthefacts
ofstorysotheycanthenmoveontothenextthing.Asaresult,manynewspapersarechanging
thecontentoftheironlinesite,ascomparedtotheirprintedition.The
ArizonaRepublic
newspaperexemplifiesthedifferencebetweenonlineandprinteditions.Acomparisondoneby
PaulGrabowiczforUCBerkeleyGraduateSchoolofJournalismhighlightsthekeydifferences
betweenthetwoeditions:


Conroy8

Theprinteditioncontainslongerfeaturestories,sitdownnewstobeperused,or
articlesaboutmoreleisurelyactivities.Thewebsiteisupdatedthroughoutthedaywith
breakingnewsandshorterarticles,andofferssearchableserviceslikeeventscalendars,
diningguides,etc.tocatertothedifferentinterestsofanonlineaudience.
Readerssimplywantthefactsonlinetheywantbreakingnewsandashortsnippetaboutthe
story.Sittingdownandreadingalengthyarticleaboutalltheindepthdetailsisthestoryis
simplynotdesirableitisnotthepurposeofonlinejournalism.Thosewhositdownwithaprint
newspaperaremakingatimecommitment.Theywantindepthinformationaboutstories,they
wanttoperusethelongstoriesandtaketheirtimereadingthem.Online,however,speedis
moredesirablethandepth,andnewspapershavechangedtheirreportingtoreflectthechangein
consumersdesires.PrintnewsnolongerofferswhatAmericansvalue,andasaresult,
Americansareturningtoonlinenews.
Sincetheriseoftheinternetinthe1990s,newspapersinAmericahavebeenonthe
decline.Newspapersarelosingreadersyearbyyear,andbyextensionlosingmoneyandad
sales.Inordertocombatthisdeclineinreadershipnewspapersmustmakechanges,including
cuttingbackonthenumberofprinteditionsperweek,lettingemployeesgo,orsellingtheir
paperaltogether.Thereadersareleavingprintnewspapersinfavorofonlinenewssources.
Onlinenewsisconvenient,asreaderscanaccessitanywhere,anditisconstantlyupdatedwith
breakingnews.Theshifttoonlinenewsdoeshavenegativeimplication,however.Itiseasyto
getcaughtupinthespeedofonlinenewsandtrustinformationthatdoesnotcomefromreliable
sources.Reportersandreadersbothfallvictimtothis,asbotharelookingforthenextbig
headline.Onlinenewshasalsosacrificeddepthforspeed,asreaderswantthesimplefactsof


Conroy9

case,onlinereadersdesiretheimportantinformationpresentedinaquickandefficientmanner.
Newspapersarefallingbythewaysideinfavorofonlinenews,whichhaspositiveandnegative
implicationsforsociety.Onlinenewsprovidesreaderswithuptodateinformationondeveloping
stories,butsacrificesreliabilityanddepthforthisspeed.Fornow,itappearsthepositives
outweighthenegativesinthemindsofconsumers,whodonotseemtomournthedeathofprint
news.HopefullytheabandonmentofnewspapersisnotashiftAmericanscometoregretinthe
future.


Conroy10

WorksCited
Carr,David."ThePressuretoBetheTVNewsLeaderTarnishesaBigBrand."
TheNewYork
Times
.TheNewYorkTimes,21Apr.2013.Web.02Nov.2014.
Carter,Bill."TheF.B.I.CriticizestheNewsMediaAfterSeveralMistakenReportsofan
Arrest."
TheNewYorkTimes
.TheNewYorkTimes,17Apr.2013.Web.08Nov.
2014.
Dugan,Andrew."Americans'ConfidenceinNewsMediaRemainsLow."
Americans'
ConfidenceinNewsMediaRemainsLow
.Gallup,2014.Web.02Nov.2014.
Farhi,Paul."WashingtonPostClosesSaletoAmazonFounderJeffBezos."
WashingtonPost
.
TheWashingtonPost,1Oct.2013.Web.06Nov.2014.
Gillin,Paul.
NewspaperDeathWatch
.N.p.,Mar.2007.Web.02Nov.2014.
Grabowicz,Paul."TheTransitiontoDigitalJournalism."
PrintEditionsDecline
.UCBerkeley
GraduateSchoolofJournalism,19Sept.2014.Web.02Nov.2014.
Grandoni,Dino."CongressmanFallsforTheOnion'sPlannedParenthood'Abortionplex'Story."
TheWire
.TheAtlantic,6Feb.2012.Web.02Nov.2014.
Haughney,Christine."NewspapersCutDaysFromPublishingWeek."
TheNewYorkTimes
.The
NewYorkTimes,03June2012.Web.08Nov.2014.
McCarthy,Tom."NewJersey'sLargestPaper,theStarLedger,toAxe40NewJobs."
The
Guardian
.N.p.,3Apr.2014.Web.6Nov.2014.
"NumberofAmericansWhoReadPrintNewspapersContinuesDecline."
PewResearchCenter
RSS
.N.p.,11Oct.2012.Web.02Nov.2014.


Conroy11

Somaiya,Ravi."TheTimesCo.Reportsa2.6%RiseinRevenue."
TheNewYorkTimes
.The
NewYorkTimes,24Apr.2014.Web.02Nov.2014.
Weissmann,Jordan."TheDeclineofNewspapersHitsaStunningMilestone."
SlateMagazine
.
N.p.,28Apr.2014.Web.02Nov.2014.