Opinion: People increasingly consume their news through their phones or other devices. This focus on online news, while somewhat beneficial, also aids the spread of fake news. This could be avoided if we returned to a focus on print news and bring it back to life.
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When I was younger, my grandparents used to have a bin full of that week’s newspapers and magazines next to this big comfy chair right by the fireplace. That bin isn’t there anymore, but as I pulled into their driveway recently, I saw the little red bag sitting there with the day’s paper. They are the only people I know who still get the paper delivered to their house regularly. My family occasionally got it when I was younger, but like most people, we have transitioned to getting most of our news online.
According to data from Pew Research Center from 2021, 86% of people said they got their news from a smartphone, computer or tablet compared to only 32% of people who said they got their news from a print publication.
This comes as no surprise, though. Why would you pick up a physical paper when you could just open an app on your phone that you were probably already on? Sure, it’s more convenient, but there is something timeless about newspapers, and I think it’s time to reinvent and re-establish their position in the journalism industry.
While the concept of newspapers can be traced all the way back to the Romans, modern news printing truly got its start with the invention of the printing press in 1440. Fast forward a few centuries of government censorship and increases in print technology to 1833 and the beginning of the penny press: Papers sold just for a penny by The Sun. The penny press rapidly increased the speed and capacity for newspaper production –– marked by The Sun’s goal to “lay before the public, at a price within the means of every one, all the news of the day, and at the same time offer an advantageous medium for advertisements.”
Skip ahead another few centuries to today, and one is now in an age where readily available access to the internet and simple technologies allows for the news to be delivered at a moment’s notice.
This may be the only feature of online news I enjoy and find beneficial; being able to be in the know when something happens almost instantaneously. That being said, it isn’t without faults.
In 2013, after the Boston Marathon bombing, misinformation spread like a wildfire on both social media platforms and news organizations. On social media, people posted Tweets rumoring about alleged suspects and victims of the attack, many of which were proven to be untrue. In the news, organizations including CNN, Fox News, The Associated Press and more reported that an arrest had been made until later corrected by the FBI.
That readily available access to the internet and simple technologies not only makes it easier for legitimate news organizations to produce and share content, but it also makes it easier for the creation and spreading of fake news.
Besides just false reports of breaking news, there are dozens, if not more, entire websites designed to “report” fake news. These websites look convincingly similar to trusted news organizations and, without a careful eye, would be mistaken for one.
And as it turns out, not many people have that careful eye. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that 75% of people overestimate their ability to recognize fake news. The problem with this is that these people are also the most likely to visit these fake news websites and share its content, creating a never-ending cycle of the spread of false information among people who are unable to detect it.
This is where print publications come into play.
As far as I’m aware, there are no print publications designed to share fake news. You know that when you go to pick up a copy of the day’s paper that it is from a reputable source. The issue is then, how do we go about increasing the amount of people who revert back to print publications?
I think there are two possibilities: make it more engaging and target younger audiences.
On the first point, newspapers can seem so dense with information sometimes. A paper filled with nothing but tiny print and a few photos here and there is not engaging. That’s not to say we scrap the model altogether, but there should be an increase in puzzles, games and potentially comics in papers, particularly if the paper doesn’t have them to begin with. Personally, I am much more likely to pick up a copy of the paper if I know there is a Sudoku or crossword puzzle in there. It serves as motivation to read till that page and then acts as a break in articles before continuing on.
Secondly, and this ties into making newspapers more engaging, newspapers aren’t targeted towards younger audiences, but it wouldn’t be hard to do so. Not only would making the paper more engaging potentially drive more young folks to pick up a copy, but Gen Z loves to bring back trends, and this could be one of them.
Gen Z has already brought back a ton of trends including wired headphones and fashion from the ‘80s and ‘90s, in part due to popular TV shows and movies such as “Stranger Things” and “Top Gun.” I see no reason as to why print newspapers cannot become one of these trends with the generation’s love for nostalgia.
I refuse to accept that our industry is ready to let print news die rather than making a few simple and easy strategies, especially in a time in which fake news so heavily influences people’s beliefs and fuels distrust in journalism.
