Future of the Newspaper

By Vojta Cejka

(vojtech.cejka@centrum.cz)

One thing that I always notice when I watch most of sci-fi films is the absence of paper. The

characters in these stories never open books and they are never shocked by an article in the

newspaper. Moreover, even many seriously meant predictions about our lives in future do not

include these traditional ways of reading. Therefore, one may wonder if the change will really be this

dramatic or if we will just see a bigger diversification. Personally, I think that printed media are still

able play their role in journalism and they still have some future.

To begin with, it is important to realize that in recent years there has been an unprecedented

eruption of new methods and technologies of publishing, sharing and acquiring information. As a

result, to read about current events we can use a computer, a mobile phone, an e-book reader (e.g.

Kindle) or a tablet. Therefore, I think it is only logical that the traditional printed newspapers are now

dealing with a decrease in number of the readers because people are, generally speaking, in favour

of those media which are more comfortable and up-to-date.

One way of dealing with this problem could be connected with the speed, in which the digital

media’s stories are updated and brought to the readers. In my opinion, the price for this speed is

their briefness or even shallowness. Consequently, since the printed newspaper does not have to

„hurry”, it can now or even in the future go really into the depth and immerse into analyses,

commentaries and other complex journalistic genres. To summarise, printed periodicals are

obviously losing their original purpose – to inform about “what” happened because this information

can be, of course, published by many quicker and more modern ways. On the other hand, they may

focus on “why” things happened or on their consequences and influences instead.

When we talk about emerging ways of reading, we should not forget that our opinions and views are

naturally influenced by the cultural setting we are living at. For us, it is normal to own and to use the

latest technologies every day. However, if we stop for a moment and start thinking globally, we will

discover the parts of the world, where electronic devices are not so common. In fact, they are often

used mainly by the richer population. For this reason, the printed media are still serving as the

cheapest and the most accessible way for the people to get the information they may be interested

in.

Although the prices of mobile devices and costs of necessary internet connection are getting lower,

they may still be considered as something unnecessary by some people. In general, I am talking

about older, more conservative generations who sometimes tend to be reluctant to adapt modern

ways of reading. Likewise, even in our society a permanent access to the internet could be perceived

as an inessential luxury for those who are financially challenged. All in all, the people I have just

mentioned may probably still be very interested in printed media because they are cheap, easy to get

and undemanding to use.

On the contrary, one can argue that online media are generally free, thus, always cheaper than

printed copies. After all, it is typically not required to pay for them. Nevertheless, to read them for

free, one needs to invest a considerable amount of money to get a device together with regular

internet fees. Hence, I believe that until the modern technologies become reasonably cheap they

won’t replace printed media.

All things considered, I asked myself if there really is such opposition or rivalry between the digital

and printed media. In my own estimation, I hope that we will soon see even more adaptations and

ways of supplementing between the digital and hard copies of newspaper, magazines and books. I

am convinced that both types of media can easily function together, each having some unique

features which the other type is missing. Therefore, instead of necessity of our adaptation to the

death of paper media we might get used to diverse ways of reading. As a result, it seems to me that

the future journalists will think more about the content which might be also influenced by the type of

media they will be writing for.