November 29, 2005
Kamloops Daily News



Internet use is being blamed for a decline in newspaper
circulation in the U.S.   It seems to make sense.  If the
internet provides immediate access to news around the globe,
why would anyone want to read a newspaper?

It may make sense but it's not true in Canada.  Canadian
newspaper circulation is stable despite the fact that
Canadians use the internet more than any country in the
world.

And Canadian internet users read newspapers more than
non-internet users, according to a survey by the Canadian
Internet Project.

Of those surveyed, 59 per cent of Canadian internet users
read newspapers compared to 50 per cent of non-users.  The
same trend occurred for magazines and radio - - Canadian
internet surfers also used those media more than
non-internet users.  "Internet users, it would seem, are
simply more media-oriented than are non-users." says the
study

The exception was TV, where internet users watched less.

Unlike TV, the internet is interactive, encouraging users to
bring their own content to the Web.  This reverses a trend
of "450 years of spoon-feeding by the media,"

"The audience is now posting huge amounts of content," the
study continues, pointing to the rising popularity of online
journals such as blogs or peer-to-peer file trading
networks.  "We're no longer just consumers of information,
but providers of information."

But since newspapers are not interactive, so why would
internet users still read them?   There are two reasons. 
First, they want confirmation of what they are reading on
other media.

And interactivity aside, internet news still looks very much
like newspapers and magazines.   Internet news pages are
laid out like newspaper pages with stories in columns.  The
pictures merely illustrate the text. 

Given the amount of text in internet news, it's predictable
that literacy is also a factor.  Canadians who read well
seek the printed word, wherever they can find it. 

There is a growing gulf between readers and non-readers. 
Statistics Canada tested the literacy of 23,000 adults over
the age of 16 and found that 42 per cent scored below a
threshold considered necessary to cope in our complex
society.   This represents a reading skill level beyond mere
word recognition.

Reading skills were tested in four areas: prose literacy,
document comprehension, numeracy skills, and problem
solving.  Prose literacy included reading newspapers,
magazines, and books.  Document comprehension tested the
reader's ability in filling out forms and reading charts and
graphs.

Of course, not all internet users read news and reports.   A
lot of internet bandwidth is occupied with viewing images.  
But compared to TV, the internet is slow and clumsy.

The decline in U.S. newspaper circulation is puzzling. 
Perhaps it's a result of the growing distrust of U.S.
newspapers.  It's now dawning on millions of Americans just
how complicit the media were in promoting the pretenses
leading to the invasion of Iraq.

The results of the Canadian study are easier to explain.  
"The internet serves more as a supplement to traditional
media rather than a replacement," concludes the Canadian
Internet Project.

The internet serves as a counterbalance to corporate
ownership of media.  Canadians once feared that convergence
of media would result in fewer points of view as one
reporter's news story was recycled on affiliated print,
radio, TV, magazine and web media.  Instead, we are becoming
a nation of a thousand points of view.

Canadian newspapers have had their problems.  Media barons
like Conrad Black treated his newspaper empire as a personal
piggybank.

Newspaper owners have harmed the reputation of newspapers. 
The owner of Canada's largest newspaper chain, the late Izzy
Asper, attempted to control reporting about Israel.  He
refused to print any article that was critical of Israel and
attempted to bring editorial control for all his newspapers
to his Winnipeg headquarters.

Then, in 1998, the owner of a number of B.C. community
newspapers, David Black, directed his editorial writers to
be critical of the government's proposed Nisga'a Treaty.  
Newspapers loose credibility when they lose balance,
especially when reader's can check the veracity of reports
from other sources.

Newspapers are especially vital in small cities like
Kamloops where internet news is patchy.   TV and radio don't
have the resources to produce in-depth reports. 
Kamloopsians rely on newspapers as a medium of record.

You don't need any special piece of technology to read a
newspaper.   A comfortable chair and a good light can bring
the world to the printed page.

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