Print Media Need to Connect with Today's Readers and Times Print Media Need to Connect with Today's Readers and Times by Barb Tarczon Newspapers, those in print anyway, are diminishing in popularity, but their value as a carrier of information and function in society are vital. Print journalism as we know it may be in for a facelift, a turn for the better. Denton writes as if he believes the future of the newspaper to be doomed. But if we are to determine whether or not there is truth to this, we must look deeper. He attributes much of the problem of newspapers' declining readership to the fall of advertising.
Newspapers have two kinds of customers readers and advertisers.
Flat circulation numbers, as Denton says, certainly hurt revenue. But the future of the newspaper industry is far from over because of this. In the field of print journalism, more emphasis should be placed on the synergy between readers and advertisers. Journalists must start thinking more altruistically and place themselves in their readers' shoes rather than simply counting the cost. Although the free-fall of advertising was not caused solely by a declining readership, Denton believes that this factor has contributed to the decline of newspapers.