Does anyone actually buy a newspaper any more?

Does anyone actually buy a newspaper any more?

Author
Discussion

Mont Blanc

725 posts

45 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
dandarez said:
When I left my safe job to start my own book publishing business I was told in no uncertain terms by some 'experts' that I was more than foolish, I wouldn't last five mins because the (physical) 'book is dead, no future in it. And they also told me that the 'paperless office' was imminent. That wasn't in 2007, that was in 1990.
I shut up shop, so to speak, retiring last year after 33 yrs! I could actually have continued but you have to call a halt at some point. .
Yep.

Whilst most offices are now indeed paperless, which I see as a good thing for all kinds of reasons, the prediction that printed books would be practically obsolete by "the end of the 2010's" was completely incorrect.

Anyway, I enjoyed a copy of the FT Weekend whilst sat in the garden over the last couple of days, in the sunshine, with a nice coffee smile

vikingaero

10,520 posts

171 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Everyone that I see walking out of newsagents and supermarkets with a daily newspaper is north of 50.

Dg504

273 posts

165 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
It won’t help sales but it’s worth reminding everyone that via your local authority library online login you have access to all of the daily papers and lots of magazines (minus the FT and probably some more niche ones) - you can setup an account in a minute and have access to the whole lot, for free, I still feel like I’m cheating somehow but it’s genuine!

Very different to reading a real paper too, there is something about a physical Sunday Times and a pot of coffee which can’t be replicated by an iPad.

Lotusgone

1,211 posts

129 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Mont Blanc said:
Whilst most offices are now indeed paperless, which I see as a good thing for all kinds of reasons, the prediction that printed books would be practically obsolete by "the end of the 2010's" was completely incorrect.
I remember visiting an office once that was very proud to be paperless.

I didn't ask to use their loo.


robscot

2,270 posts

192 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Back in the 80s and 90s my father used to buy the local paper every week and I grew up reading it. I havent even seen a copy since the late 90s and the circulation figures according to ABC are now 688.

688! it is made up of 649 single copies and 39 subscriptions, how is this even viable?
Big expensive public notices that the law says have to be in them?

Councils, governments, local licences... the law says you have to give several hundred quid or grand to a newspaper group.

Why? It is 2024.

dukeboy749r

2,807 posts

212 months

Monday 20th May
quotequote all
Dg504 said:
It won’t help sales but it’s worth reminding everyone that via your local authority library online login you have access to all of the daily papers and lots of magazines (minus the FT and probably some more niche ones) - you can setup an account in a minute and have access to the whole lot, for free, I still feel like I’m cheating somehow but it’s genuine!

Very different to reading a real paper too, there is something about a physical Sunday Times and a pot of coffee which can’t be replicated by an iPad.
I think this is true for all physical books/papers.