The debate over the future of print student newspapers continues. The Brown Daily Herald currently features a piece countering the printeriffic optimism of a recent Chronicle of Higher Ed report.
In the article, the executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association said the flailing economy and online advertising alternatives are now hitting the student press:
College papers are only now starting to see ad revenue dwindle. But they are suffering from a shortfall in advertising revenue. If people aren’t advertising in local papers, they’re not advertising in college papers either. . . . I think if I had to bet, I’d say college publications will stay around in print longer than commercial newspapers. But they’re ultimately going to have to find a way to make it work financially, just like commercial papers.
The general sentiment of the NSPA exec. director and the student editors quoted seems to be: Print newspapers will die, sooner or later. College print papers will outlast commercial papers, but they too must be ready to present news in a Web-only media universe.
What do you think?
I think its crap to assume the paper medium will ever truly die. Weekly newspapers are doing very well and boast high circulation numbers, particularly college papers as you’ve mentioned.
The bottom line is, with more and more information crammed online (and the fact that most content of the web will never truly be noticed), people will look for other forms to get their filtered news from, and that is where the papers will continue to thrive.
I agree that paper won’t ever truly die, but we’re on the edge of a Cambrian explosion of digital devices. Student newspapers need to go back to their roots and redefine themselves as student news organizations. News will still be relevant on campus, but we need to learn how to deliver our content across a multitude of platforms in a multitude of formats.
@brandonjmendelson, I’m sorry, but your second point is completely erroneous. If you haven’t heard of filtered news sources online, you haven’t been online long enough. Check out Digg, dude, and report back.