Youth publications, generation Y and hopes for the future of newspapers
journal contribution
posted on 2005-07-01, 00:00authored byStephen Quinn
If readership projections are correct, newspapers in the United States will become niche players by 2010. That is, in about half a decade fewer than half of American adults will read a daily newspaper. This will produce major problems in attracting advertising, the lifeblood of the newspaper business. The biggest decline in readership has occurred among Generation Y - people born between 1977 and 1995. They do not read newspapers to the extent their parents did. They get their news elsewhere, mainly online. As part of a process to attract readers, many of America's major publishers launched a series of youth-focused newspapers in the 18 months to March 2004. The aim was to try to get the elusive 18-24-year-old demographic into the habit of daily reading, hoping that over time they would migrate to more traditional outlets. This paper explores the background to these youth-focused publications, describes the main players and issues involved, and provides a case study of a youth-focused pioneer, the Tribune Company s Red Eye, which is published in Chicago.
History
Journal
Australian journalism review
Volume
27
Issue
1
Pagination
195 - 207
Publisher
Journalism Education Association
Location
Brisbane, Qld
ISSN
0810-2686
Language
eng
Notes
Reproduced with the specific permission of the copyright owner.