Introduction

Newspapers have been part of the American reading culture for more than four centuries. Publications have provided a long-lasting impact on readers from different scopes including politics, entertainment, and fashion. Despite the effects, newspapers are experiencing a decline in popularity and revenue profits as a result of emerging trends including internet-based platforms (Accuracy in Media). The current generation prefers internet-based reading compared to actual paper reading. As a result, the reading culture is now shifting rendering the newspaper domain a dying breed. Nonetheless, it can be argued that newspapers still have relevance in modern society on the premise that they provide fresh and pivotal news. The current paper presents an argumentative approach to why publications are relevant in the modern era with a profound explanation of why newspapers still matter.

Newspaper Provide Actual News

Newspapers provide actual news that is concise, deliberative and profound. Publications are associated with traditional and slow reporting. However, the concept of papers is to provide precise and all-around understanding of what happened during an event. This is based on the perceptions of the writer or columnist who has to give accounts from witnesses or refer to legal structures to explain the occurrences. Newspapers, according to Schulhofer-Wohl and Garrido (60) around the United States, therefore, have a profound consideration of how to deliver news that is raw and can provide an understanding of why events occur in the country. Hence, newspapers provide precise and distinct information that is pertinent to society.

On the other hand, it can be argued that newspapers provide information that is already historic and not current. Newspapers currently compete with platforms from social media to SMS. These platforms provide information as it happens. This phenomenon is highly embraced by the modern generation which makes them the most informed production of these times (Accuracy in Media). However, it is critical to note that with these new trends, they only highlight the news and do not provide the actual and explicit bulletin. Thus, newspapers are more critical now than they were yesterday.

Economic and Market Performance

Additionally, newspapers provide editorial aspects concerning the undertakings of current economies and market performances. Newspapers have a tradition where senior columnists offer a neutral and partial explanation of events happening within the society or the country or the world. The ideology behind this is to present a contentious take on why certain individuals, such as those in the government, are doing something against popular concepts as Schulhofer-Wohl and Garrido (60) describe. The premise for such columnists is to present a diversified debate on the happenings. It is a critical factor in newspapers because it broadens the reader’s mind. Therefore, papers are necessary in the modern world since they provide a controversial angle on why society is going through specific issues and how can they be solved. Whereas, the argument is that there is no need to present such information. The reason is that the columnist only presents a biased explanation of why things happen. The process is often connected to shaping the reader’s mind to think in a particular direction and can result in a ‘robotic-mindset.’ The setback to the argument is that having multiple debates on one topic can broaden a reader’s scope in understanding why certain things are happening and question their relevance Schulhofer-Wohl and Garrido (60). As such, it is regarded that newspapers have superiority on such grounds.

Record of History

Newspapers are still relevant because they are tools that record history and can even be retrieved. Publications are known to present information that is recorded in physical form and can be stored. Journalists submit their articles to the printing company who in turn publish the content for the world to read. The world, in turn, can save the information for later use. This serves as the most significant advantage that newspapers have over modern internet sources of information. The current sets of data are easily deleted due to server storage factors.

Additionally, according to Chyi et al. (305) newspaper, as noted earlier, provide a detailed account with pictorial edits of what happened during a specified period. For instance, students who would like to know the events leading and after the assassination of John F. Kennedy would often refer back to the old newspaper for the content. Therefore, newspapers play a pivotal role in society through the storage of information regarding pertinent information in American history as well as the rest of the world. Nonetheless, it is argued that historical data is also stored virtually. This is based on the internet capacity to save millions of information ranging from books to manuscripts to articles (Chyi et al., 308). The element cannot be argued because the internet is an extensive source for any historical information. In spite of this, newspapers present a detailed account of the actual events. Journalists are educated to always provide information in active voice on how events occurred from the tone of the country or the people at the time including witness interviews and landscape of the world at the time. In conclusion, the newspaper present historical information in a light that internet sources cannot illuminate.

Investigative Journalism

Newspapers present investigative journalism which is pertinent to the notion that papers are the ‘mirror to the society.’ The premise to this fact is that newspaper provides the best interpretation of what a society is going through, what the political atmosphere comprises and how they society is dealing with its issues (Gerber, Karlan and Bergan, 35). Newspapers raise awareness in all aspects of the society ranging from politics, entertainment, economic and market landscapes as well as family problems and solutions. The ideology is that newspapers reflect a wide-ranging area with attention to detail which allows the reader to absorb content. From the scope, the reader is informed and current with what is happening around them. Therefore, the newspaper allows journalists to present news that maintains the integrity of the society through the past, the present and the future aspects (Gerber, Karlan and Bergan, 35). There are a lot of critics who state that newspapers are not the right platform for such illumination of what the society endures (Accuracy in Media). The reasoning behind this is that newspapers cannot catch up to the ever-changing trends in information. In the modern era where internet-based information is considered the holy grail, newspapers are considered the best voice for the society and ensure that each’s issue is aired and is well understood.

Convenience and Variety

Newspapers are associated with variety and convenience across all ages. Newspapers produce a lot of content that is diverse and encapsulates a lot of factors in the modern world as historic — these range from politics to social tenets including entertainment and fashion as well as contemporary news. Pellechia (50) elucidates that the availability of newspapers to produce such content is matched with affordability. Publications ranging from local to national have different prices but, all are accommodative of its reader’s financial pocket. As such, convenience is an element that is a beneficial aspect of the newspaper that cannot be matched by any other information-based outlets including a television to internet sources. The summary, therefore, is that papers can reach a lot of people through one mass media which is supportive of any community or nation as well as the world (Pellichia 59). However, there are arguments that newspapers are not as convenient and affordable as claimed. The reason is that there are issues concerning publications in the modern age which is encapsulated with internet-based sources including Twitter and Facebook. The impact that these internet platforms have created are more influential compared to newspapers (Pellechia 60). On the other hand, papers are constant and provide information that is not truncated and is investigative journalism. These features are commendable for an ancient and slow-based media source.

Advertising

Additionally, newspapers are relevant in the current era due to the numerous advertising opportunities it presents to companies as well as individuals. Publications, from a commercial point of view, give an advertiser’s paradise. There is no biased opportunity for businesses where certain enterprises either from the industrial sector to the service industry (Greer and Ferguson 210). The public relations platform that newspapers provide for such entities is a phenomenon in ensuring that their customers and possible clients can sample the advertisement. As such, papers can send the appropriate message to the readers with a broader reach even in the rural areas. There are critics on this argument reasoning that newspapers are not user-ended. User-ended means that entities can understand reactions from clients and the public. This is referred to as the epitome of advertisement in sales and marketing. Greer and Ferguson (211) determine that companies ought to sample what their clients think about their products. The current internet platforms including social media are used to advertise company products and services from which the companies can generate information on the reaction from the public. However, the downside on these platforms is that the companies no longer have control of the type of advertisement they generate. These platforms require specialized care from content creators who have to manage social media platform accounts for the companies. The downside is that companies may not be reaching the necessary clientele due to the need to please the general public (Greer and Ferguson 211). Marketing and advertisement require companies to have control over their content. Therefore, newspapers provide such tenets from which the companies can regulate how much material to deliver on the type of products and or services they bring.

Conclusion

Newspapers are still relevant in the current era. The present paper has provided at least five points as to why publications are still relevant. These range from economic and advertisement portfolio to investigative journalism. The factors are confounding and give a real debate that newspapers are still pertinent and will stand the test of time.

Work Cited

Accuracy in Media, “ALT-Weekly Village Voice Shuts Down After 63-Years.” Accuracy in Media, 2018.  [web]. https://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/village-voice-shuts-down/

Chyi, Hsiang Iris, Seth C. Lewis, and Nan Zheng. “A matter of life and death? Examining how newspapers covered the newspaper “Crisis.” Journalism Studies, 13.3, 2012, pp. 305-324.

Gerber, Alan S., Dean Karlan, and Daniel Bergan. “Does the media matter? A field experiment is measuring the effect of newspapers on voting behavior and political opinions.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1.2, 2009, pp. 35-52.

Greer, Clark F., and Douglas A. Ferguson. “Most local newspapers use Pinterest only for news.” Newspaper Research Journal, 37.3, 2016, pp. 206-219.

Pellechia, Marianne G. “Trends in science coverage: a content analysis of three US newspapers.” Public Understanding of Science, 6.1, 2010, pp. 49-68.

Schulhofer-Wohl, Sam, and Miguel Garrido. “Do newspapers matter? Short-run and long-run evidence from the closure of The Cincinnati Post.” Journal of Media Economics, 26.2, 2013, pp.60-81.