Newspapers, which are printed products created on a regular basis and released in multiple copies, have existed for centuries, and are still prominent today. The two key types of newspapers are local and national, and they both are very competitive with one another. Several newspapers attempt to reach audiences across the nation, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today; however, many newspapers are shifting to a more local focus. Local newspapers are heavily relied on by the public for a lot of the local information that they need. National newspapers, on the other hand, provide people with stories from across the U.S., and around the world. Therefore, both of these types of newspapers strike popularity among different audiences; local is more popular with older people and national is more popular with younger people. In general, society’s dependence on newspapers for a wide range of local topics, sets it apart from all other sources of local news. Although many people utilize the internet to obtain information, it is a distant second to newspapers in terms of widespread use and value. This is because online newspapers currently do not bring in enough money to support a traditional newspaper, which is why local and national newspaper corporations are vying to obtain more viewers and subscribers. Overall, both national and local newspapers offer a variety of advantages to the public, yet they also have some disadvantages as well.
A key aspect of local newspapers is knowing the location of their consumers very well so that they can effectively provide them with the types of information that they will want to read about. Many newspaper executives have concluded that reporting on the communities in which their readers live gives them a boost in the competition with national newspaper companies. Local news consumers are more connected to their communities than others due to their length of time in the community, and the increased likelihood of them thinking or looking for things that they can become involved in, in the community. About two-thirds of residents in small U.S. communities read local newspapers at least once a week (Fleming). Studies have even found that older adults read local newspapers significantly more than younger adults. This is primarily because the older generations have been a part of the community for a prolonged period of time, when the younger generation has not. Although the readers of local newspapers are aging, local newspapers continue to be the primary source of information about communities in small towns and cities. Community newspapers continue to be highly valuable to communities because they are very informative and fill people in on what is happening in their town. Approximately 72 percent of adults follow local news information, and local newspapers are the main source that they rely on for most of the local information that they obtain (Rosenstiel). Local news has the ability to connect with their readers on a more personal level, and can therefore attract more of an audience.
National newspapers contain a much larger range of topics than local newspapers. In order to attract more viewers, newspapers switched to color presses and embarked on major redesigns that were directed at stopping readers and getting them to want to read every article (Turow). The New York Times, for example, used to only be printed in black and white and had a more traditional layout that contained very proper and informative images. Today, it includes pictures with color, is less organized, and incorporates very graphic images about murders, gun violence, and much more. Furthermore, national newspapers focus on a wide range of topics in order to get the deepest sourcing and the most angles on the news among consumers. Although local newspapers are more focused, so to speak, national newspapers have more information on a much larger set of topics, which is a huge benefit. The more information that a newspaper has, the more people it has the potential to connect to. For instance, someone who would want to read about foreign relations most likely wouldn’t find that much about it in local newspapers; however, they would in national newspapers since they contain a lot of information about foreign relations from around the world. The national news on TV is also where a lot of people get their information from, and a lot of what is on the news is in national newspapers. As a result, people rely more on national newspapers to gain knowledge because they know that they are more relevant to what is occurring around the world compared to the information published in local newspapers. Though national newspapers cover a wider range of topics, local newspapers still tend to be more popular among the public.
Both local and national newspapers across America are attempting to become more well known. For instance, at Penn State, there are newspaper stands in the dining halls, in restaurants, and in class buildings that contain the New York Times, USA Today, and the Collegian. The New York Times and USA Today are national newspapers, when the Collegian is a local newspaper that fills students in on things happening around campus and in State College. A key reason that these three newspaper companies are available in so many places is that they want students, the younger generation, to be more inclined to reading their newspapers. This is because they want to attract a younger audience in order to gain more subscribers in the future, since the internet is used a lot more than newspapers by the younger generation. If the younger generation continues to use technology over newspapers, than physical newspapers, both national and local, could potentially go out of business. Our society today is big on technology, which is why newspapers are so desperate to see a larger and younger audience.
Something that is similar in both local and national newspapers is that they both contain advertisements, yet they use different types of ads. National newspapers incorporate national ads, which are advertisements placed by large, national, and multinational firms that do business in a newspaper’s geographic area. Local newspapers utilize classified ads most of the time, which are short announcements for a product or service that is typically grouped with announcements for other products or services of the same kind (Turow). Classified ads are better for local newspapers because people are going to be looking for things or products that they can buy or use locally, not nationally. National ads are placed in national newspapers since people are already reading about things happening on a national and international level; therefore, they will be more inclined to look at the ads. Another difference between these two types of newspapers is that national newspapers are more opinionated than local newspapers. This is due to the fact that people have a lot more opinions when it comes to national topics, like politics, which results in national newspapers publishing op-eds. Although local newspapers contain opinionated articles, national newspapers contain a lot more since people like to hear other’s views on huge national and international topics. Things, such as the election, ISIS, and immigration are huge topics in the media today, which is why they are covered and talked about more in opinionated articles in national newspapers. People who like to follow local news more closely, however, will prefer to read less opinionated pieces, and will therefore not enjoy national news pieces as much.
Reading the news is a huge part of the media today, whether it be in a newspaper or online. People are always looking for ways to get caught up with what is happening in society, and newspapers are trying to be noticed more across the United States. The newspaper industry as a whole has been such a large influence on the media and public today in that they have provided society with so much information about what is occurring around us. Newspapers also have attracted so many viewers and subscribers just by the design of the paper, because of their appealing titles and intriguing pictures. Local newspapers focus more on what is happening in local counties, when national newspapers emphasize what is going on not only in the United States, but also around the world. Overall, both national and local newspapers offer a variety of advantages to the public, yet they also have some disadvantages as well.
Works Cited
Fleming, Kenneth. “Two-thirds of Residents in Small Towns and Cities Read Community Newspapers.” National Newspaper Association. N.p., n.d. Web.
“Newspaper.” The State of the News Media. N.p., n.d. Web.
Rosenstiel, Tom. “How People Get Local News and Information in Different Communities.” Pew Research Center. N.p., n.d. Web.
Turow, Joseph. Media Today. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
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