by Tricia Psarreas Murray

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: June 12, 2009

Statistics show that interest in daily newspapers is declining. What statistics fail to mention is why. Sure, newspapers are challenged by problems with advertising, web transition, and clustering. But what is the real reason for the decline in readership? In this reader's opinion, there are two culprits for the grim future of print journalism: the Internet and today's youth.

Before technology advanced to the point where life without technology seemed all but impossible, younger generations had plenty of time to read the daily newspaper. More importantly, younger generations had plenty of desire to read the daily newspaper. During ages of war, protests, and a general interest in cultural or world events, the majority of the younger generations could not wait to get their hands on the latest newspapers. After all, that was the primary way for people to access the happenings in the rest of the world.

Now times have changed and people have changed, too. Younger generations would rather watch the news, read the latest stories on the Internet, or completely forsake contemporary issues in favor of watching reality TV. Those who are interested in the news can get up to date material with the click of a button. They do not have to wait for the morning paper to reveal everything that happened yesterday. Instead, they can simply read a story online and either continue to follow it or move on to the top rated stories about food eating contests and ugly dog competitions. In a fast food, fast moving world, time really is essential.

So even though the world's population continues to increase, the desire to read newspapers continues to decrease. Inevitably, people from the elderly generations continue to suffer from diminished eyesight, sickness, and eventually death. Though this is the natural way of life, today's youth is less likely to carry on the newspaper tradition that the older generations lived by. The Internet is the now and today's youth are the future.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Some teenagers and young adults are just as interested - if not more interested - in newspapers as their older family members are. In large part, this denigration of newspaper interest amongst younger generations strictly depends on the individuals in question. There will always be people who would rather hold a fresh newspaper in their hands than hover over a computer monitor, and technology will not change that fact. However, as younger societal norms prove, it is much easier to click a button than to flip through oversized pages - and when it comes to the future role of print journalism, ease will most likely beat quality any day.

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