Effect of Growing Internet Newspapers on Circulation of Print Newspapers in the U.S.
Effect of Growing Internet Newspapers on Circulation of Print Newspapers in the U.S.
A paper submitted to 54 Conference of International Communication Conference for consideration for presentation th October 2003
ABSTRACT An Internet survey of publishers and online editors found that growth of the Internet newspaper yielded a slightly negative effect on print newspapers’ circulation. The findings suggest that the smaller the newspaper, the larger effect the Internet newspapers had on the print newspapers. Small and medium-sized print newspapers showed obvious decreasing circulation since 1990 while the declining trend was not evident for large newspapers. The readership of the Internet newspaper had been considerably growing since 1995. However, scale of the circulation decline of print newspapers did not show evident replacing effect of the Internet newspapers. About half of the publishers and online editors did not regard the Internet newspaper as a major factor that reduced readership of print newspapers.
Keywords: Online newspaper, relative constancy, replacing effect, newspaper circulation, Internet survey
2
Effect of Growing Internet Newspapers on Circulation of Print Newspapers in the U.S.
Early in 1986, when new interactive technologies had been available only for several years in the United States, Rogers pointed out that “their potential effect was quite high.” He argued the new media were shaking the foundations of how communication could occur. The potential uses were intriguing and the scale of effects was “staggering.”1 As the Internet newspaper developed in the early 1990s, enthusiasm for online newspapers led some media analysts to predict that “printed newspapers would disappear in the near future.”2 As the Internet grew, print newspaper users appeared to be shrinking.3 Considering the advantages of the Internet newspaper over print newspapers, a question arises: Has the Internet newspaper already derived readers from print newspapers? The
A paper submitted to 54 Conference of International Communication Conference for consideration for presentation th October 2003
ABSTRACT An Internet survey of publishers and online editors found that growth of the Internet newspaper yielded a slightly negative effect on print newspapers’ circulation. The findings suggest that the smaller the newspaper, the larger effect the Internet newspapers had on the print newspapers. Small and medium-sized print newspapers showed obvious decreasing circulation since 1990 while the declining trend was not evident for large newspapers. The readership of the Internet newspaper had been considerably growing since 1995. However, scale of the circulation decline of print newspapers did not show evident replacing effect of the Internet newspapers. About half of the publishers and online editors did not regard the Internet newspaper as a major factor that reduced readership of print newspapers.
Keywords: Online newspaper, relative constancy, replacing effect, newspaper circulation, Internet survey
2
Effect of Growing Internet Newspapers on Circulation of Print Newspapers in the U.S.
Early in 1986, when new interactive technologies had been available only for several years in the United States, Rogers pointed out that “their potential effect was quite high.” He argued the new media were shaking the foundations of how communication could occur. The potential uses were intriguing and the scale of effects was “staggering.”1 As the Internet newspaper developed in the early 1990s, enthusiasm for online newspapers led some media analysts to predict that “printed newspapers would disappear in the near future.”2 As the Internet grew, print newspaper users appeared to be shrinking.3 Considering the advantages of the Internet newspaper over print newspapers, a question arises: Has the Internet newspaper already derived readers from print newspapers? The