The paper press faces several problems that make their survival complicated. In fact, some renowned newspapers have already announced they will concentrate on the Internet and that the Internet will be their core strategy; others have already closed down their paper version. The Independent has done so after 30 years of life decided to switch directly to be online only, and thus became front page news in the press of half the world. There were many tho who saw in this movement a clear indication of the way things are going in the immediate future.
What has led the press to this complex situation?
First, we must take into account that the traditional press paper has been mired in crisis for a long time. As one study concluded, the Internet is not responsible for the crisis in the conventional newspaper. It is not that, as it is always accused, which has brought the newspapers into decline. On one hand, consumers had already begun to stop reading paper newspapers between 1980 and 1995, when the decline in weight in the news market began. On the other, we cannot point the finger at Internet and its cheaper prices as being guilty for the fall in newspaper advertising sales network (the study shows that it is like comparing apples with oranges).
Secondly, readers of newspapers are in retreat. Young people are not buying newspapers and are not reading because they prefer the information in other formats. Thirdly and closely linked to this, brands are putting advertising in newspapers as much as before, because audiences they are seeking are to be found in other places.
And finally, the traditional written media find themselves in a serious situation: whilst their readers take flight, new media and formats take an increasingly prominent position and more importantly, they are trying to maintain the status quo. This is not only important because they are lobbying to create rules that favour them, or apply the rules of the traditional press to a new (and different) world as is the case of the online press (and AEDE tax would be a good example) or continue trying to promote the idea that they are more influential.
