What will happen to the newspapers?

[ciphergoth]

Newspapers everywhere are finding it progressively harder to make any money, and their future is in doubt. Lots of people have opinions on what should happen next, or what newspapers should do. I'm interested in a different question here - leaving aside all normative discussion of what we might like or not like, what do people think is actually going to happen?

Comments

[ciphergoth]

Where's the +1 button?

So future newspapers will all be free to the reader and funded either by advertising or by partnering with premier outlets who pay for them in bulk, unless newspapers like "i" can make being cheap instead of free work (but still, like today's newspapers, mostly advertising-funded)?

[purplerabbits]

That's my best guess, although I may be erring on the side of too similar to today...

[babysimon]

cheap instead of free

Very dubious about this. The cost of buying a newspaper doesn't feel like it's really measured in pence; it;s measured in stopping, getting your wallet out, having the right change, queuing up, and wondering if you want the newspaper enough to do all that. At least for me it is.

[ciphergoth]

Yes, me too. If I could somehow have 20p a day debited from my account and an "i" thrust into my hand as I run through the ticket gates, I'd get it every day; as it is I never buy it.