It was announced recently, that Newsweek will soon no longer be available in print. This continues the trend of publishing in digital and E-reader formats. Some print publications have become too expensive to produce and distribute, and there is the problem of unsold copies. Add to that the declining interest of people in reading printed materials.
The Newsweek announcement, while not shocking, elicits a lot of nostalgia for those of us who have grown up reading printed newspapers, magazines, and books.
As Keith Hagey writes for the Wall Street Journal: “After 79 years chronicling American life, Newsweek magazine will publish its last print edition at the end of December and become digital-only. The switch will make Newsweek the most widely read magazine yet that has given up on the print media, a signpost of how traditional print news outlets are being battered by an exodus of readers and advertisers to the Web. Since 2005, Newsweek’s circulation has dropped by about half to 1.5 million and advertising pages plunged more than 80%, while the magazine’s annual losses had lately reached roughly $40 million.”
Click the vintage Associated Press photo to see a Wall Street Journal video on Newsweek’s decision.
This decision of newsweek and many news papers worldwide does not really affect me at all. My whole life i have never read an entire newspaper like some people read each day, however i do feel sorry for the people who have made printed newspapers a important part of their everyday routine. My widowed grandmother reads her news paper everyday a few times and refuses to have any kind of computer with internet because the newspaper as always suited her needs. My father reads the newspaper at work every morning with his coffee. The printed newspaper is so engrained into many generations lives i feel bad that they will soon have to live without it. It would be the same thing if they took facebook and smartphones away from my generation. But everyone must adjust and everybody can.