Friday, February 3, 2017

How can the problem of financing print media be resolved in the future?



One of the most prominent problems print media have to cope with at present is the fact that a majority of readers have refrained from buying paper-copies of newspapers in favor of reading the daily news on their smartphones or tablets. As most readers got accustomed to having free access to all sorts of information on the internet they usually do not want to pay for this convenience. On the contrary, most of them are aware of the fact that the quality and reliability of a newspaper, no matter whether printed on paper or offered on the internet, depends on the journalists who publish it and who need to get paid for their work adequately. Unfortunately, there are only few readers who are voluntarily willing to spend their money on the service they so readily consume without being forced to do so as can regularly be seen when Wikipedia for example calls for donations to support their work every once in a while. Still print media, being the origin of most online-newspapers, have to be financed in order to retain a high quality of indepent journalism. So the only way to make people pay for serious journalism seems to be the raising of a fee for online-users, comparable to the price you have to pay for a printed copy of any paper. (222 words) 

by Anja Reuer

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