In the past 20 years, media and technology and progresses so rapidly that already, the number of hard copy newspaper sales have gradually dropped. Print sales have declined for a number of reasons, the main reason being technology and social media. With things like Facebook, Instagram, snapchat, twitter etc… news can be spread much faster and to a significantly larger audience of both larger age groups and locations around the world. So social media on its own is a worthy reason to why newspaper sales have decreased.
Another reason to which newspaper sales has decreased is online News websites. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s news papers began setting up their own online databases and websites to host their newspapers on the internet. To the current day, nearly all tabloid and broadsheet companies own their own website alongside the hard copy of their paper. This is another reason behind actual newspapers having a lower sale rate over the last 20 years.
However, although there has been a decline in news 'print' circulation, social media and technology together have allowed major newspaper companies to broaden their audience and send their name/reputation around the world.
Having newspapers online makes it easier for anyone to read to latest stories and headlines. For example if anyone is unable to access a hard copy, they can find the whole paper online. Furthermore, this allows for news to reach a younger audience alongside grownups and 'old agers'. As a result of this, the world as a whole can be made more aware of any political, conflict or citizen related news. Online news websites also provide other services beside articles and headlines, such as interactive features for all audiences and sub categories for all ethnicities, genders and interests (which can't always be found in a printed issue). Online newspapers overall seem more appealing than a printed copy, both pricewise and accessibility. Furthermore, television and the internet have enabled news to reach the consumer much faster and at a lower daily/weekly/annual price. This has also resulted in large newspapers like 'The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mail to lose revenue and subscription fees. This, alongside adverts, is the traditional main profit source for such companies. Online news and media requires much less to no payment at all, making newspapers seem like an added and now unnecessary expense in everyday life.
According to the BBC, some newspapers have declined by up to 28% since 2013.
According to the Guardian newspaper (Objective), the Daily Express for example sold an average of 391,626 each day in December 2016, which was 2.3% lower than the same month a year before.
Another example is the Daily Mail, which has a 'year on year' decrease in sales by 6.7%. Yet another case involving the "market leading" Sun, which sold 10.5% less in 2017 than it did 2016.
These statistics only support the fact that since the ever-improving online news websites have established, sales of hard copy newspapers have increasingly declined… and will undoubtedly continue to do so.
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