what's the biggest challenge to newpapers today? would it be the internet?

Yes.

Whether potential readers are getting their news from the internet or TV, newspapers have seen their readership and thus their advertising revenue decrease dramatically. Some papers have gone out of business, and other daily papers are only publishing two or three times a week. In order to garner more readers and advertising funds, many papers have turned to supplying news on the internet.

thanks ms. sue!

You're welcome, Blaze.

P.S. I'm still a loyal Kalamazoo Gazette subscriber, as I have been for over 50 years. :-) I also take the Sunday New York Times.

Yes, the internet is often considered as one of the biggest challenges faced by newspapers today. The rise of the internet has significantly transformed the way people consume news and has posed numerous challenges to traditional newspapers. Here's how you can explain this to someone:

1. Accessibility: The internet provides easy access to an abundance of news sources, allowing people to access news from various websites, blogs, social media platforms, and online news aggregators. This has led to a decline in newspaper readership as people can now access news instantly and conveniently online.

2. Changing Consumer Behavior: With the advent of smartphones and other mobile devices, people now prefer to consume news on digital platforms. This shift in consumer behavior has further eroded newspaper subscriptions and circulation, as people increasingly rely on online news sources that offer real-time updates and convenience.

3. Revenue and Monetization: Traditional newspapers have historically relied on advertising revenue, classified ads, and subscriptions to sustain their operations. However, the internet disrupted this business model. Online advertising is often cheaper and more measurable, leading advertisers to allocate more of their budgets to digital platforms. Consequently, newspapers have struggled to find sustainable revenue models to fund high-quality journalism.

4. Competition and Fragmentation: The internet has lowered barriers to entry, enabling anyone to become a publisher and distribute news content online. This has resulted in a highly competitive media landscape, with numerous news websites and blogs vying for readers' attention. The widespread availability of free online news content has also created a challenge for newspapers to convince readers to pay for their digital subscriptions.

5. Trust and Misinformation: The internet has democratized information dissemination, but it has also given rise to the spread of misinformation and "fake news." This abundance of unverified or misleading information has eroded trust in traditional news outlets, making it challenging for newspapers to differentiate themselves and maintain credibility.

To combat these challenges, newspapers have had to adapt their strategies by embracing digital platforms, offering online subscription models, innovating in terms of content delivery and formats, and focusing on investigative and high-quality journalism to provide value that is distinct from the abundance of free news available online.