This makes using the Internet much more desirable for advertisers, who may soon be unwilling to advertise in newspapers at all, especially as the current age demographic of news readers begins to taper off with the inevitable consequences of aging. Of course, it could be argued that people have always had access to free content in the form of libraries, which did not result in the demise of paid, print media. The convenience of reading a book, however, has become less of a factor as laptops grow more streamlined and because of innovations like Amazon's Kindle, which enables users to access printed content on a small, easily transported computer device. In fact, even libraries themselves are becoming more digitally-based, as college students can research journals online from their dorm bedrooms, and many academic journals, facing small subscription pools and high costs of production, are shifting to an online format.

The issue is not simply quality of print, however. There is also the issue of how the industry can financially sustain itself. Producing legitimate media content, with adequately researched stories, can be challenging when consumers are not wiling to pay at all for content, because they can get something similar for free. Even online publications with advertising revenue are not as financially remunerative as sites with solely user-generated content and nonprofessional authors. These sites may also be more popular, even if readers know they are less reliable, because of their partisan content. The readers of today in younger demographics are more used to being able to tailor the content of the opinion and subject matter they read, and to pass by newspapers filled with a variety of information.

The future of print online at present seems grim. Blogs, opinionated posts, and hastily constructed, user-generated content may generate more Internet hits from an opinionated public and spread disinformation rather than information about issues. This problem, once endemic to the music industry, is now...

Its business model is being threatened according to a Lehman Brothers analyst who downgraded all stocks in the conventional the entertainment industry and slashed forecasts for its five of its major companies, "saying digital downloads of movies and TV shows posed a huge threat to profits from DVD sales that the companies rely on," and the fact that consumers are able to DVR shows means that the television advertising revenue such companies rely upon will be in steep decline (Nakashima 2008).
In the future, the old advertising model and the ideal of professionally-produced and written newspapers, magazines, books, and even movies and television shows may come to an end. What will replace it still remains questionable, and it may very well be that the future of print and media entertainment in general lies not in the hands of industry professionals, but in our own hands, on the blogosphere, on YouTube, and in the hands of ordinary individuals with computers, camcorders, and an urge to write and create new media.

Works Cited

More Americans turning to the web for news." (1 Mar 2008). Reuters. Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 at http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2824760420080301

Greenspan, Brian, Theodore Olsen, & Brian Tierney. (28 Apr 2008). "The future of print media:

How to adapt to the digital age." Global Conference 2008. The Milken Institute. Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 at http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/gcprogram.taf?function=detail&eventid=GC08&EvID=1356

Nakashima, Ryan. (7 Jul 2008). "Digital threat prompts movie industry downgrade." AP News

Wire. Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080707/ap_on_hi_te/entertainment_stocks

Walsh, JoCo.(31 Mar 2008). "Print media vs. online media: Who will win?" HiTechBrief.

Retrieved Jul 9, 2008 at ttp:/ / www.thetechbrief.com/2008/03/31/print-media-vs.-online-media-who-will-win