Sad time in the business

For the past three weeks, I have been in major metro areas on Sundays. Just for giggles, I stopped at major areas where the local paper was being served. I was shocked and saddened that the number of people under 30 who DID NOT purchase the Sunday edition. This past Sunday, I didn't count a single person under 30 who made a paper purchase and I was there for an hour and a half. Are others saddened by this?

 

I don't want to discount what you're saying, but you've got to admit that your observations are a little bit unscientific. How can you tell who's 30 and under? How do you know people didn't get the paper at their house or read a leftover copy at Starbucks, etc.?

Every readership study shows downward trends in readership for people under 30, but let's not exaggerate the problem.

 

This has been going on for years.

Why buy it, when you can read it all online for free? I'll only buy the sunday times if we're going out to a park for the day or if i'm flying.

 

Boots, I am not sure the situation would have been appreciably different two decades ago. Twenty years ago, I don't think I knew any non-journalists in their 20s who were reading the paper. And, sad to say, pre-Internet I knew plenty of journalists who may not have admitted it, but it was obvious from working with them that they didn't read the paper, or at least more than the sports section, either.

 

Around 75 percent of the population in the town I just moved from is under 35. Population is around 50,000. It was well-acknowledged that the younger adults were not buying the paper and changes were being made to gear toward a younger readership. Unfortunately for them, I'm not sure it will work. I just don't think people care about buying the paper anymore, at least not young people.

 

Say, Tits,

How'd ya get that nickname?

I am assuming that it IS a nickname.

 

Before long their kids will start playing little league sports and then they will demand coverage. Unfortunately, they'll probably still not be subscribers.

 

Again, people grow into the newspaper habit, it's part of getting more serious about life. We should have a product to move up to, not one that reaches down.

 

Good point, Very good point.

 

Amen to that!

 

I'm in my mid 20s and most of my friends do read the news in some shape or form - usually online. They read a few national sites and then also the local (it's a metro) paper. I wholeheartedly agree that young people aren't buying the paper at gas stations, but I would argue that people in their 20s do indeed read the news. Newspapers/websites just have to find a way to make their habits profitable. (Not saying that's easy)