Andy Baxter

What did the arrival of the Internet and 24-hour news mean for British newspapers？

In Britain， before the Internet， people would listen to the news on the radio as they got up. They would then read a newspaper in the morning， perhaps on the train while travelling to work. On the way home， they might even buy another newspaper—an evening newspaper， possibly a local newspaper. Then they would watch the news on television at six oclock， and again at nine or ten oclock before going to bed. And at the weekend they had the big Sunday papers. Yes， before the Internet， there were easy， separate categories of time. Radio， newspapers and television all had a place.

Then things became a bit more complicated. First， 24-hour TV news arrived， and then the Internet. Now people could get the news when they wanted it， rather than waiting for other people to decide what to tell them， and when.

At first， this looked like the end of printed newspapers. The national newspapers were worried that they would lose all their readers， so most of them decided to create an online version of their paper. But many critics said that putting news online for free was business suicide. After all， they said， newspaper companies wouldnt give people free newspapers！

But thats exactly what happened. In London， in particular， one company started to give people free newspapers at railway and underground stations. It was so popular that other papers had to create their own free newspapers in order to keep their advertisers and readers. At one time you couldnt walk around London without people offering you three or four free newspapers. People started to complain about the litter as thousands of pages of old ‘freesheets blew around the streets and carpeted the trains.

There was simply too much news. There was a lot more information ‘out there， but was it accurate？ Whose opinions should we trust？ A survey found that 60 per cent of UK adults think it is worth paying for a ‘good newspaper， and most of those said they believed more of what they read in paid-for newspapers rather than freesheets.

Here was something newspapers understood： they already had specialists and commentators that their readers liked and trusted. Here was what they could offer： news plus comment and opinion.

And the Internet now offered new opportunities. A newspaper was just that： news printed on paper. But the Internet now offered newspapers different places to publish， and on different media. Many newspapers now have podcasts and video， and are beginning to compete with radio and television.

This may explain why the readership of newspapers online in the UK is very different from people who read print newspapers.

The most popular printed newspaper in the UK is The Sun. It has a daily circulation of nearly two million， and is the most popular newspaper written in English in the world. The ‘mid-market audience mainly reads the Daily Mail， which sells nearly 1.7 million copies. Of the ‘quality newspapers， the most popular is The Daily Telegraph， which sells nearly half a million copies， followed by The Times （nearly 400，000） and the Guardian （185，000）.

However， online is a different story. The most popular online site is the Mail Online， which has 1.8 million ‘browsers every day. And the next most popular site is the Guardian， with 1.4 million browsers daily.

Many of these browsers are not from the UK. The popularity of the Mail Online and the Guardian is not limited to the UK， and in fact they are two of the most popular online websites in the US， too. In 2012 the Mail Online became the worlds most popular online English language newspaper， and in 2014 the Guardian moved into second place， overtaking The New York Times.

So， is the newspaper dead？ No， its clearly not dead， just changing form， and now reaching more people than ever.

Activity 1

Match the number and what it describes in the text. The first one has been done for you.

1 24

2 3 or 4

3 too much

4 60

5 almost 2，000，000

6 almost 400，000

7 100，000

8 1，400，000

number of different ‘freesheet newspapers available in London at one time

copies of The Sun sold every day

sales of The Times.

difference between the Daily Mails print and online audience

number of hours a day that some TV news channels work

current online Guardian audience per day

amount of news available

percentage of people who think its worth paying for a printed newspaper

Activity 2

Write the appropriate word in each space. The words marked ‘* are in the text.

a person who reads something is a _____*

a person who listens to things is a _____

a person who criticises things is a _____*

a person who advertises things is an _____

a person who comments on things is a _____*

a person who prints things is a _____

a person who knows a lot about something is a _____*

a person who reads a newspaper online is known as a _____*

The next three are more difficult！

a person who reads the news on TV is a _____

a person who sells newspapers （in the street） is a _____

a person who sells newspapers in a shop is a_____

Over to you

Do you prefer to get your news from a newspaper or online？

Answers

Activity 1

1. e; 2. a; 3. g; 4. h; 5. b; 6. c; 7. d; 8. f

Activity 2

1 reader

2 listener

3 critic

4 advertiser

5 commentator

6 printer

7 specialist

8 browser

9 TV newsreader

10 newspaper seller

11 newsagent