Going paperless is thought to be saving the environment, “going-green” and of course a tax write-off. But how does “going-green” really affecting our economy and what are the real reason companies are going paperless?
According the an article on huffingtonpost.com called “Newsweek Ending Print Edition, Going All-Digital In 2013; Job Cuts Expected” by Jack Mirkinson, Newsweek is going paper-less and its not to save the enviroment. Newsweek is just one of many companies being pushed to go all digital for the cost of print is tremendous. Editor of Newsweek, Tina Brown said it costs $42 million to print and distribute the paper. While an all digital version would save the paper a tremendous amount of money.
The all digital newsweek will begin in 2013 and will require a paid subscription. WIth the shift to an all digital magazine layoffs will be necessary. Newsweek is just one of many companies moving towards digital and away from manual. This transition is causing layoffs across the board which has a great affect on the US economy.
Newspaper circulation has dropped 51% in the last five years causing print to phased out. There are three weekly newspapers in the US that stand out as the top papers. Newsweek, US News and World Report and Time. Of these three major papers only time has enough circulation to remain in print in the new year.
Another devastating effect of the lack of paper circulation is discussed in the New York Time article titled, “The Fissures Are Growing For Papers” by David Carr. Newspapers have acquired a tremendous amount of debt. Either from stock shares bought at the wrong time or pension plans they are struggling to pay. With The rising costs of printing, the large amount of debt and the diminishing amount of paper circulation the newspaper industry is taking a turn for the worst.
According to Rick Edmonds, a media business analysis “Most newspapers are in a place right now that they are going to have to make big cuts somewhere, and big seams are bound to show up at some point”. These major cuts equate to job layoffs and a move to digital. There have already been several bankruptcies in the newspaper industry, and the way things are looking there are only more to come. THe shirt to digital isn't promising to increase enough revenue to pull these papers out of debt. It looks more like a last chance to keep journalism alive.
The truth is that printed papers are not a priority in the life of many americans. The digital revolution has provided for a virtual cornucopia of sources for people to obtain daily news updated hourly and streaming live. Not only are online and television sources updated frequently and faster to produce, many are free. There is little reason for a person to pay for a printed press when they can google news and find over 1000 stories written daily covering the latest news both locally and globally. For many people by the time a article goes to press and is distributed that story is old news. Print is just not current enough in the fast pace lives of us living in a digital world.
All newspaper companies are feeling the hard times. Even the local daily papers are having trouble staying afloat. The New York Times Article, “Newspapers Cut Days From Publishing Week” discusses how most daily papers are only distributing 3 days a week to cut spending costs. The hope to cut back on spending does come at an expense. Consumers lose a sense of loyalty to a paper and are invited to look elsewhere for their daily news. Advertisers would also be affected by this cutback. By distributing a paper only 3 days a week instead of daily there are less ads being printed as well.
The push to digitize everything in the new world of instantaneous information at our fingertips we lose a once profitable source of journalism. The newspapers are all going digital, and slowing down print production. This is not to save the environment but caused by financial pressures. Technology has changed what consumers want. People want to have the most current news in their pocket at all times. There is less and less money circulating in the newspaper industry and jobs are being affected.