The present and future
A year or so ago, I was sitting in the middle of a large family dinner. On one side of me were the family patriarchs, talking about repairing car engines and replacing carburetors. On the other were the teenagers and young 20-somethings talking about switching out motherboards and dreaming of the newest computer gadgets.
I thought of this divide as I read the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Tons of information there -- 32% of Americans do not go online at all! -- but the most interesting statistic for this post is this one:
* 26% of Americans age 65 and older go online, compared with 67% of those age 50- 64, 80% of those age 30-49, and 84% of those age 18-29.
Bridging the news and information needs of the various generations is the greatest challenge we face. It explains our interest in experimenting with new forms of journalism online. It also illustrates the delicate balance we have in the newspaper itself trying to serve our core audience of middle-age readers while we attract our audience of the future.
That said, I was impressed with the number of (us) gray hairs at ConvergeSouth.
Comments (2)
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I think I remember reading that those older groups are the fastest-growing online users. But once they shift to the web, who'll be left to read the paper?
Posted on October 9, 2005 8:44 PM
Printed press is always going to exist. I believe that one finds more information in a newspaper than their online version because it would be impossible for a newspaper to post every single thing online and still maintain order and the ability to update daily in an efficient manner.
However, more to the point, I feel that there will always be printed press because of mankinds deep need to document our existence for all time which began with the cavemen drawing upon the walls of their home.
Posted on October 10, 2005 12:15 AM