• by Amanda , February 21, 2008

Besides thumbing through our campus newspaper, I have to admit that I haven’t read a newspaper in - well - I can’t remember how long. That is unless we’re looking at online newspaper publications. I have to admit there are several sites I visit regularly which have tangible counterparts I have never seen. And it seems like I’m not the only one.

In an article I read last week (online), newspaper readership increased 21% between 2004-2007 for the 18-34 year olds who admit to reading stories online, not in print. Despite the grumbling surrounding the rapid decline in print newspaper readership, this study seems like really good news! Websites can be expensive with development costs, but this study makes the point that the audience growth online offsets the profit losses for print publications by 28%.

And readers like myself get to reap the benefits. Just this evening, I went online to read reactions to the Democratic debate in Texas. Every major newspaper had updates. The information is easier to search on these sites, and it’s reliable. So everyone wins. Newspapers are gaining readership with a difficult demographic (so I’m told) and I get well-rounded information.