Well a very important factor is for sure – new media is forcing traditional newspapers to adapt and stay up to date with the times. And many local newspapers especially are doing just that. Change might be inevitable, but to express that local newspapers will be irrelevant any time soon is not really true. Let’s look at the reality of the situation…

Are Blogs the Answer?

It’s been suggested that the entire world of online blogging is overtaking the clout once held by the newspaper industry exclusively. Obviously, blogs have brought more to the table and made news more realtime and reader-centric. Blogging has been glorified as citizen journalism at its finest.

But here’s the thing… As great as blogs are (and they have made a difference), a large proportion of them don’t exactly comply with the depth, quality, and variety of information that real journalism excels at providing via newspapers. The newspaper continues to be viewed as perhaps the most authoritative naija news  and accurate source for news, instead of the blogosphere’s reputation for being opinionated and possibly even somewhat crude.

Newspapers Support Communities.

Local newspapers really shine in regards to serving as a trustworthy community resource. This implies readers can be confident that every time they get a newspaper, the most recent problems that matter probably the most and the breaking news are practically guaranteed to be covered. Put simply, the local paper is a positive thing.

Additionally, local newspapers tend to take it a step more than news alone by promoting community events. Actually, quite often local newspapers almost even serve as a kind of clearinghouse for local communication. It is hard for any medium other than the usual local newspaper to produce inroads in regards to serving and supporting a residential area like this.

The Format is Preferred.

Gimmicks and technologies come and go. Today, a popular thing to do is to read the most recent news in realtime right from a smartphone or some other kind of handheld gizmo. Sure, that is convenient, but will it last as a tendency?

Newspapers are actually a perfected format after all. Granted, they’re not in realtime, but they’re very portable, they’re easy on the eyes, they don’t have batteries that have to be charged or replaced, they don’t be determined by signal strength, and the list just continues and on.