The dwindling fate of the fourth estate
THE 19-century Scottish historian, Thomas Carlyle, famously described newspapers as the "fourth estate," the others being the Crown and the two Houses of Parliament. This power was recognised earlier also by Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who is reported to have once remarked: "Were it left to us to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." But that was before he became the president and himself a target of much media criticism.
Some two centuries after Jefferson's pronouncements, the newspapers in his own country, one of the world's most vibrant democracies, are in deep crisis. So much so that the Christian Science Monitor, a highly respected newspaper that has just celebrated 100 years in print, will cease to be a daily newspaper and will only be published as a web-based edition from now onwards.
Other venerable US newspapers, like Los Angeles Times, San Fransisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe, have suffered a loss of 30% to 40% of their readership during recent years and are likely to follow suit.
The decline of the newspaper industry is, ironically, caused not by any restrictions imposed by the authorities, but by the modern information age, the advent of internet, and the disinclination of younger generation to subscribe to printed editions of newspapers which are redundant in a globalised world connected by e-mail, fax machines, computer technology and television channels bringing news instantly to anyone's doorstep.
As a result, the newspapers, shrunken in size and volume, are experiencing sharply declining circulation and, most significantly, a reduction in their income from ads. The circulation of daily newspapers has declined newly 3% during the past six months alone. The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) recently estimated that in 2007, concordant with the general decrease in readership, the revenue from ads was reduced by more than nine percent -- one of the sharpest losses recorded in half a century.
It is well known that only a small fraction of the cost of running a newspaper is covered by subscriptions. Over 80% of it is borne by advertisers who constitute the main source of income, if any, of the newspapers. A significant number of businesses are now promoting their products -- automobiles, appliances, real estate -- on the internet. Both the reduced readership and the progressive decline in income from ads have been exacerbated by the current economic slump in the US.
The NAA reckons that the newspaper industry suffered a loss of 11.5% in its advertisement income in 2008, which would translate into a loss of more than $40 billion.
Obviously, to overcome some of their difficulties, the newspapers have adopted a variety of measures, which would have their own adverse effect on the related field. For example, many have reduced their staff and closed down foreign news bureaus. This will certainly affect the quality of the publication and its versatility. To save money and attract readers some newspapers have turn parochial, highlighting local news on crimes and scandals. This has been made possible only at the cost of de-emphasising important international and national news stories.
Worse still, in the unavoidable process of cutting costs, some of the most experienced and respected journalists will have to be laid off, and the interested readers will be deprived of their intellectual inputs. Even today, newspaper editors and correspondents continue to hold great power over public opinion, which serves to hold governments accountable for their policies and actions. Many critics, however, believe that the news media failed in its duty by not aggressively questioning the Bush administration about its bogus rationale for leading the country into the disastrous Iraq war.
If the predictions come true and the print editions of newspapers become extinct in future, it is difficult to imagine haw the world will be like without that great source of pleasure. Men of letters may never feel at ease with the disembodied internet version, however convenient and inexpensive it might be. That is apart from throwing millions out of their great intellectual pursuit.
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