Is there a need for a press in today's world?

Abstract. In this article the author examines the role of print media in modern times, its use by society and its future.

Аннотация. В данной статье автор рассматривает роль печатных изданий в современное время, их использование обществом и их тенденцию.

Keywords: media, press.

Ключевые слова: СМИ, пресса.

The press is a set of mass periodicals (newspapers, magazines and other publications). The term derives from the name of the first mass newspaper «La Presse», published in Paris in 1836 [2, c. 432].

But the history of printing goes as far back as the eighth century in China. It is believed that the world's first printed newspaper was «The Jin bao» («Capital Bulletin»), that  consisted of characters cut out on a board, which were filled with paint and printed in single copies, it required a lot of effort and time.

The printing revolution took place at the end of the 15th century when John Gutenberg printed the first book. Since then, books and newspapers have filled the information space and the press has become the daily voice of news. Newspaper boys ran around the streets shouting catchy headlines. A fresh newspaper was an indispensable attribute of the morning coffee of the English gentleman, the French bourgeois and the Russian merchant.

The next seminal moment was in the 1950s in the United States of America - establishment of the computer network. A tool created for American intelligence agencies, it eventually took over the world.

However today, more and more consumers of information are following the news online, in keeping with the demands of the times. This is why there is increasing talk of the demise of the print press.

«Newspapers printed on paper have no future, which is why they will disappear in the next few years» - the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the founder and irreplaceable owner of News Corporation, the world's largest media holding company with hundreds of newspapers and magazines, television stations, networks and film studios around the world, believes.

Journalist Andrey Miroshnichenko in his book «When Will Newspapers Die?» took the liberty of naming a date for the «death» of print media: 28 December 2037 at 4 p.m. – «that's when the last newspaper generation will disappear» [3].

Miroshnichenko's theory seems absurd. There is no doubt that technological advances and the internet are displacing paper media, but it is impossible to imagine that they will disappear without a trace. The older generation is still attached to newspapers and magazines to hold in their hands.

In addition, the print press continues to have geographical areas where it competes only with radio and television. In Cuba, for example, as in many developing countries, where mobile phone service was not officially introduced until 2008 and internet is still handed out at airports, hotels and other public access points by card, radio and newspapers are the main channels of communication.

Also the people who defend the advantages of the print press make the following arguments in favour of this type of media:

1. The newspaper will not get a virus and the battery will not run out. Somehow it is not mentioned that the newspaper may get torn, crumpled or wet. Plus it is unreadable in low light.

2. When reading the news on a smartphone or computer, you are constantly distracted by other apps and notifications. In a newspaper, there aren't any. And this is terrible because the electronic version of the text gives one the opportunity to share it with friends, thus increasing the number of views.

When a person reads the newspaper, it doesn't prevent their phone from receiving notifications, therefore the level of attention will be the same.

3. The internet is full of fake news, while the newspaper always gives verified information [4].

Anyway print media had already been subjected to extinction when television came along. At the time, TV operator Rudolf said that in time TV would transform the life of all humanity. There would be nothing: no movies, no theatre, no books, no newspapers, just television. But fortunately, as we can see, his prediction has not come true.

A year ago, the UK's leading publishers, at the request of «The Guardian», shared their thoughts on what lies ahead for the print press in the near and distant future. Putting the opinions together, the bottom line is this: newspaper publishers don't want 'paper' to die, but they don't understand how it will be popular with a generation that has grown up with devices in their hands.

According to a 2019 poll by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre, only 12% of Russians read paper media daily, while 26% read it a couple of times a month.

More important is the age of the audience: among people over 60, 84% are more likely to read the print press. And only 61% of respondents aged 18-24. Internet media are read by 80% of young people aged 18-24 (compared to 29% of those over 60) [1].

When people speak of the death of the print press, they do not mean its complete destruction. Rather, it is a rethinking to perform some specific function rather than simply providing information. Content in today's world lives and dies so fast that it can only be followed virtually.

The visible reduction in the number of print publications in the hands of readers demonstrates the reorientation of the press market. One of the main trends in the Western periodical press market is becoming a complete abandonment of the paper format of newspapers and magazines or at least their supplementation with online versions. Falling advertising revenues in print media in Western Europe and the USA, cuts in professional staff, as well as the entry of the press into the now ultra-popular social media make the future of the paper-based periodical press somewhat uncertain.

Despite rapidly changing realities, print media remains the primary source of information for people around the world. According to the World Association of Newspapers and Newspapers (WAN-IFRA), more than half of the world's adult population reads newspapers every day, with 2.5 billion people reading them on paper and more than 600 million reading them digitally. The Internet, however rapidly its audience is growing, cannot yet boast such impressive results. According to Oskin, people prefer comfortable reading, not just the speed of information consumption.