One of the main challenges facing the newspaper industry if it is to arrest the trend of declining sales is to reach out to young people, many of whom are showing ambivalence to the printed word.
Attracting and Retaining Young Readers, a new report from the
World Association of Newspapers seeks to address the issue of youth readership in a multimedia world. It is the latest report from the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project which provides analysis of operational and strategic developments in the press.
“Young people buy fewer newspapers and spend less time reading them than older generations. With a small number of exceptions, such as Finland, this is true in almost every country of the world,” said Jim Chisholm, Strategy Advisor to WAN.
“It is still received wisdom in many parts of the industry that the serious reading habit is something that generations will somehow acquire as they grow older. But the latest research shows that this view may be misplaced. That makes the need for clear strategy to attract and retain young readers all the more pressing,” he added.
The problem facing newspapers is that the internet generation are used to getting all the news whenever they want for free and have no requirement for a daily newspaper. Methods to address this issue will form the backdrop to the 5th World Young Reader Conference to be held in Helsinki from 7 to 10 September.
