With Money magazine folding up in June 2019, the prophecy that print media is a dying breed is being fulfilled. In many parts of the world, print readership is on a decline as online publications bask in glory. No worries–the publication that was once considered as one of the top seven best financial magazines–has been resurrected into a dot com.
So in the final analysis, the experience of Money magazine isn’t entirely a sob story or a tragedy. Just imagine how a caterpillar nearly dies inside a cocoon only to be later transformed into a beautiful butterfly. Old habits die hard as senior citizens cling to buying their favorite paper either at the newsstand or the vending machine by the street. It’s part of their daily routine. Like having coffee in the morning.
Unfortunately, the biggest segment of the population doesn’t want to buy a newspaper in the morning let alone read one. The vast majority would rather catch the news from their smart phones or tablets while en-route to work. So maybe there ought to be a movement, revolution or advertising campaign to bring the love for newspapers and magazines back.
However, a movement of such nature can be kind of counter-intuitive or anticlimactic, considering that many individuals are rather fanatical about saving trees by minimizing the usage of paper. For now, publications on the brink are quick to offer steep discounts for continuing to patronize paper journalism.
It’s a wise move, with usually a rather quick segue to online publication offers just like Money magazine. It’s not that people don’t read anymore. It’s just that they prefer to read when, say they are caught in traffic in order to make the most of the lost time.
And besides, paper publications like Money magazine have a handicap in that they have to go to the printing press in order to be read. With HTML, publishing is instantaneous. Also, corrections, if any can be made at the drop of a hat. So no big mishap there if a name is misspelled or even if the entire news story is erroneous.
For another, online news agencies can add as much depth to the coverage as much as they like. They can add more information on the fly and link to other sources of information on the topic. So it’s not like humanity just wants to make it all easy and convenient. At the end of the day, there are far more bytes of information or data served and an endless room for analysis on the Internet.