The advent of the internet was one of the biggest technology developments in the history of man. In the blink of an eye, anyone can look up information about any subject. There are many great things that the internet has provided, especially when it comes to information and education. However, there are some things that the internet still is not great at. Many people believe that since the internet is growing in popularity every year that newspapers are becoming irrelevant. However, there are many reasons why this is simply not the case and that newspapers have their place in a society that cares about quality information. Here are a couple of reasons why the internet will not cause newspapers to become extinct.
Quality of Work
One of the great aspects of the internet is the fact that anyone can publish information about any subject. However, with that advantage comes a negative that not all of the information on the internet is correct. One aspect that makes newspapers compelling is that it is a source that must be vetted and checked before being published. There should be no grammatical or information errors in a published newspaper. In addition, the people that are writing the newspaper articles have some sort of experience in the field, vs. people that could be writing on the internet with next to no experience. When reading a newspaper, the experience is often times much better because the quality of writing is higher throughout the entire piece and readers can be confident in the accuracy of the information.
Single Source of Information
Another big advantage that newspapers have is the fact that it can be one source of information. Instead of having to search out multiple web sites to find information, readers of a newspaper can instead have all of the day’s information right at their fingertips and read to their heart’s content. This is a big deal to people that do not want to spend a bunch of time searching for information on the internet and instead want to spend their time reading the news and opinion pieces in a newspaper. This is something that people of older generations tend to value over the younger generations.
Newspaper Feel
One less obvious reason that newspapers are still relevant is simply the look and the feel of a newspaper. No matter how good the internet is at sourcing the information, it can never have the look at feel of an actual newspaper. Many people that grew up in a time before the internet value physical paper over reading in a digital form. Not only is it easier on the eyes, but for many people there is something nostalgic about the experience. As long as there are people that value this physical experience of holding and reading a newspaper, they will always be relevant. At the end of the day, it is all about what the readers and the customers demand, and as long as there is customer demand newspapers will still be relevant.