What Did the Growth of TV News Mean to Newspapers?

With the growth of television news in the 1960s, newspapers confronted their first formidable competitor. Today, ABC News claims that more Americans get their news from ABC than from any other source -- and it's probably true. The United States' 1,600 daily newspapers continue to serve millions of readers, but newspapers are no longer the country's dominant mass medium. How to survive and even flourish in a culture more attuned to electronic media than to printer's ink is the most serious issue facing the newspaper industry as it enters the 21st century.

Are Newspapers On The Way Out?
It is safe to say that newspapers are not about to follow the Morse telegraph into oblivion. Newspapers are a portable, convenient medium. No one lugs a computer monitor to the breakfast table to get the morning news. And, newspapers are proving surprisingly adept at reinventing themselves for today's readers by emphasizing good design, color photography and detailed stories that report and interpret current events. As a Manhattan reader might say of the venerable New York Times, there's a lot of life left in the "Old Gray Lady."

If you take the time to see how a newspaper reproduces itself every 24 hours, you will find it fascinating! Many different individuals and departments contribute to a process that resembles a river with numerous tributaries. Among these streams are five with daily importance to a newspaper's readers -- news, editorial, advertising, production and distribution. Let's look at how these streams merge into a Niagara of words and images flowing through a computer network and onto huge rolls of paper racing through thunderous presses, all while most of us are sleeping.