Is Print Media Truly Dying?
WORDS BY SOPHIE HOLDER (ON THE RECORD, UNI SA).
When I began my double degree of law and journalism four years ago, I recall people politely telling me that
I won’t get a job as a journalist, so it’s good that I am studying law too. I got told that print media is dying and that there is no point in becoming a journalist, since everything will be on the internet soon. Now that I am nearly finished my degree, my first journalism job is as a print media journalist.
As a 22-year-old, this is one of the last places I expected to be as a journalist, given I consume the majority of my news via my phone. But I also never expected to buy a film camera, be gifted a vinyl album for my last birthday or snap my most recent night out on a digital camera from 2012. It seems ridiculous, right? In a world where everyone has a camera and every musician’s discography at our fingertips, many of us turn to the more considered and tangible options. Why? What makes us want to use a film camera when we have no clue how the image will turn out? Why do we want to listen to a clunky vinyl? why do we want to read printed books? When we can access all of these things so easily, there is a certain pleasure that comes from holding something physical, that isn’t the phones or laptops that we are glued to.
For many though, this does not extend to newspapers. Perhaps, because newspapers are not a memory or a form of art for many people in this day and age. Mainstream print media can be tiring for many people to consume, and we have often already seen the ‘breaking news’ on our phones.
Print media in its mainstream form is slowly dying, we have seen these statistics for years. We saw this decline too with vinyl music, cassettes, film cameras, videotapes, and DVD’s. This is nothing new, and yet, many of us cherish these items more than we did before.
Perhaps, it is time for mainstream print media to do the same. In the death of mainstream print media, we would simultaneously see a resurgence of the art that it leaves behind.
If we let mainstream print media die, it leaves behind a niche of people
and creators that are truly interested in writing and sharing not just the breaking news, but more personal and intimate stories.
This is when we are able to share stories in print media form that
are worth remembering and worth keeping as a memory for our children and grandchildren.
As new technologies are created, it leaves a pathway for the dying technology to become historical and artistic. Perhaps mainstream print media needs to die in order for people who truly care about the sharing of meaningful stories through print media, both consumers and creators, to fill this void.
EDITORIAL NOTE: This article has been reuploaded and was originally published in 2022.