Tonight on my drive home from work I learned in a segment on National Public Radio that Newsweek will stop publishing its printed magazine at the end of 2012. It was a sad moment for me.
With so many more people getting their news through social media, blogs and other digital sources, print magazines of a general nature like Newsweek simply can’t attract enough readership and advertising to make ends meet.
For those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, there are other iconic magazines of our youth whose demise has preceded that of Newsweek – think LIFE Magazine.
As someone on the older side of the Baby Boomers generation I feel like I straddle two worlds – the world of magazines, newspapers, and television when there were only the major networks – and the world of all things digital.
Part of me has embraced the new media world. After all, I got on a Facebook account at the age of 60 and got active on my LinkedIn account around that same time. More recently I jumped into the lighting speed world of Twitter, which is legendary for being on top of breaking news before any other source.
And then other part of me lingers over my newspaper at breakfast. Yes, we still get a daily newspaper.
I am curious where the readers of this blog go to get their news. Is it through the traditional channels of newspaper, magazines, radio and television?
Or it is through the Internet and digital providers of news?
Tonight I simply pay tribute to Newsweek and to those other news outlets that are no longer part of our world.
Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers’ Social Media Tutor, helps people relatively new to social media to become more effective and comfortable in their use of this medium. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com
What a timely post. I recently received a copy of Bicycling magazine in my mailbox because it came as part of a service plan I purchased over the summer at the bike shop. I’ve spent several hours reading the magazine, cover to cover. Then, my niece sent me a magazine order form — a fund raiser for her pom squad at school. I didn’t think I wanted any magazines, but I DID want to support her, so I studied the form and picked out two magazines: Fast Company and Wired. I was disappointed to read in fine print that it would be 6-10 weeks before they will arrive. After the enjoyment I got from reading Bicycling magazine, I find myself looking forward to getting my two new subscriptions.
I read all my news on the Internet and have a robust list on Google Reader for blogs that I follow. But I, like you, am a Boomer, and I still like good old-fashioned print media from time to time.
Debi
Thanks for your thoughts, Debi. It reinforces how people in the Baby Boomer generation straddle the print and digital worlds.