The problem of financing print media

It’s no secret that print media is drastically losing readers and therefore the problem whether print media will be taken away from us soon is a current highly debated question. Comparing print media and the internet it’s clear that the internet has taken over and is gaining more and more followers every day. Like people tend to read books on their e-readers or smartphones, they prefer to read articles or the news online instead of buying actual newspaper or magazines.

Is there a solution for financing print media?

Print media is financed mostly by advertisement and subscriptions. Since advertising agencies prefer to spend their money on ads online the print media has to find a strategy to sell more and get the advertisers back on their side. If the advertisers cannot be convinced to keep on finance print media, the government might be able to help. With subsidies from the government print media can probably survive.

An additional idea might be to try to attract readers with certain offers. I’ve actually seen a couple of offers at the airport while traveling. For example buy a certain newspaper and get a water for free with it. Another common problem is the quality of the writing, or rather the degree of truth. People tend to question the degree of truth and thus are not willing to spend money on certain tabloids or newspaper. Business magazines might be able to stay alive longer since the status of these readers is usually higher and they are willing to spend money.

The bottom line of it all is this; print media needs external help to survive in our ever changing modern technical world.