Is written media a declining standard or a revitalized essential? When was the last time that you read a really good book? I do not know many people my age who still pick up the daily paper, and I think it's safe to assume that those numbers will decline greatly throughout the generations following mine. In The Decline of Print Doesn't Mean the End of Journalism, Mary Kissel states, “There’s no indication that print media will suddenly have a grand rebirth and the heady days of pages of classified ads and shareholder notices will return. The paper copies of newspapers may continue to lose money, which is why they should be purchased by owners who can afford to foot the red ink in exchange for the power that a newspaper’s bald-faced headlines afford them.”
Although I would not normally pick up a newspaper myself, I still prefer to read an actual book as opposed to an e-book today. “The British marketing research agency Voxburner recently surveyed more than 1,400 people, ages 16 to 24, about their media-consumption habits. The survey found that 62% of the respondents said they prefer printed books to e-books” When Voxburner asked a young reader named Zoe about her reading habits, she responded, “The only reason I haven’t bought an e-reader is because I love the feeling of holding a book in hand and seeing the creases in the spine when I'm done. It’s like a little trophy.” Zoe is not alone. While most young adults own an e-reader of some sort, many others young prefer print books to digital. Just because print news is a dying art does not mean that all written media is dying as well. Written media is not only a revitalized essential but also that it may never die out.
Pricilla Coit Murphy supports this in her article, "Books are Dead, Long Live Books." She states, “There is, of course, undeniable validity to the ideas that audiences do not ‘use’ two media for precisely the same function and that audiences will discriminate among media when they spend time and money. And one must thereby also acknowledge the point that competition could be ‘good’ if it improves or refines the communication process. Yet as recently as 1998, when William Mitchell offered a text simultaneously on-line and in paperback, he was surprised to find many using cyberspace to order the paper book. ‘Why would anyone buy a copy when the online version was right there at no cost?’ He declined to answer his own question, but the answer is highly relevant to the future of books. History has thus far shown that no new medium has ever completely replaced an earlier medium, although some have been profoundly altered from their original form." Although e-books are on the rise, and may potentially become the dominant way we read books in the future, it is simply not the same experience as being immersed in a physical, paper, page-turning book.
There are also limitations to the e-book when it comes to the category of children’s books. First of all, not many parents actually want their small children dragging around an expensive and breakable e-reader device whenever they want to read a story. Secondly, e-books cannot be as physically interactive as a print touch-and-feel children’s book. When a small child reads that a baby duck is soft and fluffy and a fish is smooth and scaly in a book about animals, the interactive touch-and-feel part of the book is often the most captivating and educational aspect for the child. This is a quality that e-books are not yet able to achieve.
It is true that electronic and digital forms of media have seemingly replaced most traditional paper media. However, as I mentioned before, there are still a few areas where digital media is simply not suitable. Written media is still used for purposes other than entertainment, but is also utilized in the advertising industry as well. If one takes a walk around the campus, he or she will notice flyers in the hallways, on doors and on sides of buildings advertising events such as Greek life, clubs and sports. This is because printing out a paper flyer is still cheap, easy and functional; as opposed to taping a tablet to the wall. Samuel Thimothy, Vice President of sales and marketing at OneIMS, supports print advertising in his article, “Is Print Media Still Important for Marketing?” Thimothy states, “While there are many different advertising channels, print media is still widely used in advertising. Brochures, flyers, pamphlets, catalogs, and posters are just a few examples. Most importantly, they exist in places where electronic media cannot.” What’s important to note about this statement is that there are still many places where electronic media cannot even exist. Most third world countries don't have the same technology readily available that the United States and Europe does, so it may be safe to say that print media will be used for advertising and entertainment purposes in places such as these for a greater period of time. Also, there are many places, even in the United States, that lack network services necessary for this type of technology to operate. How is one to download an e-book or surf the web if there is no service provided to do so?
However, just because many forms of paper media are on the decline, the written (or typed) word is not. Although we may be bombarded daily with visual media such as images and videos, many people still prefer to read print articles as well. Times may change, but people are still much the same. As mentioned earlier, many people, young and old, still like to read. John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of The Economist, Affirms this in his article, “People Like to Read.” Micklethwait states, “If you really want to discover about something in as short a time as possible, reading is still the best and most effective way to do it. If you wanted to find out about the situation with Syria, for instance, you could watch 24 hours of news footage on YouTube or you could read a four or five-page article that breaks it down. Print is still the most efficient medium to get across detailed information.”
It is true that many publishing and newspaper companies have quite completely been defeated by the digital age. However, the best of the best have learned to adapt. National Geographic for example, was most commonly known as a magazine years ago. Now, in the digital age, National Geographic uses digital media forms such as television and internet websites as it’s dominate mediums. Other publishers such as New York Times and USA Today have also adapted to the digital age by using websites as dominate mediums.
Although paper may unfortunately be on the decline, social media websites, e-books, news sites and digital magazines continue to keep written media alive digitally. Whether you're reading a book, a friend’s status update or the daily news, many people still read written media quite often in combination with other media such as pictures and videos.
In conclusion, young people still do prefer print to digital books. There are capabilities of print books that e-books cannot fulfill (especially in the realm of children’s books). Print media is still widely used in advertising, reading an article is still the most efficient way to receive news (whether digital or not), publishing companies are successfully adapting in this new age and even though much of our written media has gone digital, these digital mediums keep the written word alive and well. Written media is an essential part of our culture and one that truly may never die.
