Why youngsters aren't reading papers

Follow the Media has an interesting article ,if one sided article,on the reasons why young people are not reading newspapers anymore.

The comments are directed at his local paper in Orlando Florida and he describes himself as

"a 28 year-old who has a genuine interest in national news and current events, as well as a profound interest in the local and national sports scene. I am what could be considered a typical male in his upper 20’s"

So why has he shunned his local paper:

It is out of date and with the plethora of constantly updated news on the eb,why wait 24 hours to get that news.Perhaps obvious comments but he then complains that

"Now the logical response to that is that the newspaper has its own web site, so one should read there the updated news that outdates the print edition. That would be fine if newspapers did that right, but for the most part they don’t’. Some newspapers are now saying that filing online comes first before print, but for many that is still not so, and it shows in their web product. That is why most newspaper web sites don’t satisfy my national and international news needs. They rely on AP updates and that’s it."


And continues

"I believe the Internet has decimated print’s ability to provide the information I want quickly and relevantly, but it should be able to do it on the Internet. My generation does not know what it means not to have the internet. High speed internet can be bought in some cases for less than a subscription to your paper. "

But is it better to have all content on one site.He continues

“Now while I realize that you run your own web site, I challenge you to compare it to the most popular Internet news outlets across the country. Our world has become a global one, and it is my feeling that you have remained content to localize your audience. Sure we want the local news, even hyper-local news, but you have to be compettitve on the state, national and international coverage, too. Web stories are not updated as often as they should be, and thus newspaper sites fall far behind in my list of websites to check as I go on my quest of information.


Fair point,but is it reasonable for a local site to cater for all information needs.Certainly in the UK,the local press are doing the opposite.Thet are trying to concentrate on a niche market on their web sites and can do this by being more specific to local needs than they can in their print additions.