Why Americans Do Not Read the Newspaper, Essay Example

Americans have been innovators and creators from the very time settlers stepped foot upon the North American soil. Resilience and adaptability are key attributes to the American psyche and way of life. This emerged from the necessity to endure the hardships and sacrifices of building the greatest nation in the world. From these trials and tribulations, the Americans infused their adaptability and flexibility into their everyday lives. In order to become proactive or respond to situation information must be received fast, contain the most up to date data and be readily accessible at any time. Printed newspapers are no longer the sole source of media updates and rely on outdated means of transferring information to the consumer. Americans have shifted from the antiquated medium of printed newspaper to the more fluid, flexible and on-demand mediums of web-based news content.

Newspapers do not have the flexibility to keep current on the ever changing, “always on”, flow of data that current media resources utilize such as web based news providers, twitter feeds and other social media outlets. In the not so far past, receiving the newspaper at the front door or driving to the local grocery store to pick up the paper was common place due to the forced unavailability of news content. The local news and radio stations provided updates via their broadcasts in the mid-day or evening broadcasts. The newspaper was the only on demand sourcing of information available. Although people have veered away from newspapers there is still a high demand for news content. The law of supply and demand is in full effect when it comes to news content. The consumers of the news content did not realize their full demand until the availability was present. With more availability came more demand which required a broad and deeper scope for news content that a traditional newspaper could not handle. With the advent of the internet, the delivery, availability and speed of updated information to the consumer diverted the core group of newspaper readers to retrieve their news content through online web sources.

Web content for news media is also perceived to be free in most instances. Although the computer in which the consumer is viewing the media has an associated cost and the internet service, electric and hardware have associated costs, accessing the web content has traditionally been paid for through marketing and selling advertising space which provided the funds to present a free and on-demand media sources. Newspapers cost money to purchase individually or require a subscription. Their lifespan is almost immediately ended once the article is read in which the newspaper now takes up space and requires effort to either recycle or even worse just throw away. There is a slight commitment when buying a newspaper that hinders the consumer from purchasing. There is a direct outlay of funding for the paper and a social responsibility to properly dispose of the newspaper once it has reached the end of its useful lifecycle. Newspapers have the associated responsibilities that web based content does not which drives Americans to choose other means than printed new content for their intake of information.

Americans use their information to make informed decisions, enjoy their entertaining news stories and provide insight into their world in which they take part. Newspapers occupy the same space as web based news content providers and not only are they trying to serve the same market the newspapers provide it slower, inefficiently, stagnantly and with a greater economical drain that that of web based providers. Americans read more news content while using less newspapers based on these factors.