Does anyone actually buy a newspaper any more?

[Wacky Racer]

As per thread title

I'm an avid follower of news, current affairs and football, but I don't think I have bought a newspaper in over ten years.

I just look online and hey presto!

Even my local rag has gone down from about fifty pages to sixteen, (It used to be full of estate agents adverts in the middle)

I really used to look forward to The Manchester Evening News dropping through the letter box, they used to advertise on TV "A friend dropping in".

[dundarach]

Sadly they're like McDonalds now for me.

I very rarely buy one (and then only ever going somewhere by train) and even as I pay for it, I know it'll be a be st and won't enjoy it.

Just like McD's

A couple per year.

[1690cc]

Wacky Racer said:

As per thread title

I'm an avid follower of news, current affairs and football, but I don't think I have bought a newspaper in over ten years.

I just look online and hey presto!

Even my local rag has gone down from about fifty pages to sixteen, (It used to be full of estate agents adverts in the middle)

I really used to look forward to The Manchester Evening News dropping through the letter box, they used to advertise on TV "A friend dropping in".

Only person I know is my Dad who is 86. Last time I bought one must be 20 years ago.

Used to buy the London Evening Standard every night in the 80's on the way home but when it went up to 20p I called time on that habit.

Follow a lot of news and current affairs online so newspapers seem pointless.

[Spare tyre]

My dad has a morning paper and the old boy next door the local,paper

[nuyorican]

I bought one to re-line under the sink when I had a spring clean. Which makes me think: does anyone else do this? Why do we do it?

The paper was bloody expensive from memory, inflation I guess but still a shock after not buying one for decades.

[Porsche-worm]

Not bought one in years, read them online though.

[nicanary]

Sunday morning with a broadsheet and endless coffee - best time of the week.

[Wacky Racer]

nicanary said:

Sunday morning with a broadsheet and endless coffee - best time of the week.

I always used to feel sorry for paper boys doing a Sunday morning round. (Including my young teenage son)
The Sunday Times alone used to weigh about 5kilos with all the free magazines.

I know because he often used to oversleep, so I had to take him round on his round in my car to save him from getting sacked.

[iphonedyou]

FT Weekend every weekend in life. Times during the week if I can.

So yes, definitely! I'm 37 for what that's worth. Online lacks tactility.

[Jambur]

I work in a newspaper print plant (contract, so multiple local, national and a few international papers). 9 years there for me and the decline in circulation figures is huge. It does seem to have stabilised somewhat, but I dont think Ill get retirement out of the place

What is a bigger issue is the lack of advertising outside of the holiday seasons. Also as counts drop, the specialist ink and paper suppliers are also closing, making everything more expensive. This leads to higher costs, higher price per paper, even less purchasing. As the older generation dies out, there is very very few new customers to replace them. I dont even have people asking me for free papers any more.

[Nethybridge]

Discounting the Metro, The Daily Mail has a 2024 circulation [ daily print run ? ] of 735 000.

Heyday of weekday newspaper sales seems to the mid 1960s, with The Mirror flogging 5.3 million a day

The sunday behemoth, News of the World had a stonking 7.9 million print run in 1947.

[sicourt]

I was born in the mid-70’s and grew up in the 80’s - back then I reckon 40% of my street had a daily newspaper, half of those delivered (my brother was a paperboy) and the other half walked to shop. Parents always had a paper delivered which I read, when I left for Uni, I bought a paper perhaps 4 days per week and continued doing so until ipad digital Times sub was cheap and I subscribed to that for a few years. Fast forward to Covid - I saw an offer for free delivery of Times newspaper for few weeks and thought why not? Have to say, loved getting free of my computer (Covid WFH) and relaxing with a printed paper again. From there, I have continued and find it a genuine daily pleasure to take a break and read a physical newspaper. Yes its nowadays very expensive (Printed Times 7 days a week is about £65p/m subscription, delivery from local shop is about £15 p/m I think) and I appreciate all sorts of News is free on internet and non-printed Times is half the price - but to me it is a daily pleasure and well worth the money 👍

[thepeoplespal]

Used to buy The Sunday Times from about 13 as it passed a boring Sunday with enough to read in the week. Stopped when it went over about £2.00 and was particularly weedy weight wise. "Today" was also my paper at work to read sad day for me when that folded.

MOTOR was my weekly car mag, really hated the font and missed the writers and cartoonist when it was subsumed into Autocar and Motor, boycotted it for years until they changed the font.

Had a look at the weekend and the Sunday Times is £4 or £3 if you have a 7 day subscription! FRO thats just a bit too much from this once avid newspaper and magazine reader.

I occasionally get "i" newspaper about once every 6 months if I'm at a loose end, but only read a tabloid paper when at the barbers about every 5 weeks, the biased politics crap just does my head.

[jonsp]

1690cc said:

Used to buy the London Evening Standard every night in the 80's on the way home but when it went up to 20p I called time on that habit.

My old dad was a union leader at the Standard back in the 80s, given how much he was paid (4 day week/5 days pay) he probably took a share of the blame for the price increase

Back then the Standard was essential if you were looking for a job/flat/car whatever, besides just wanting something to read on the train. There was some rule that editorial content had to be at least x the number of advert pages. So the advertising boys would say how many pages they'd sold for that day and editorial would then produce precisely x times that number of pages. The holy grail was 96 pages which put everyone on overtime. But the paper still lost money.

He always said him and his colleagues knew they were killing the business model but just wanted to get as much money as possible - not just wages but the final salary pension he drew for 25 years. He was so committed he was on the picket lines at Wapping every Saturday night after he retired, even though he'd never worked for a Murdoch paper on principle.

Of course none of this mattered when the internet came along.

[Ryyy]

Yes, paul at work.close thread.

[The Gauge]

Wacky Racer said:

I always used to feel sorry for paper boys doing a Sunday morning round. (Including my young teenage son)
The Sunday Times alone used to weigh about 5kilos with all the free magazines.

I used to be a Sunday morning paper boy in the 80's, my bag weighed a tonne at the start of the round. I'd sometimes use my bike to take some of the weight with the bag wrapped around my BMX handlebars

All for £1 per week

[Jambur]

Ryyy said:

Yes, paul at work.close thread.

Hilarious and informative, no wonder people don't buy newspapers when wit like that is so readily available.

[Skeptisk]

I don’t buy one but do read a newspaper on Saturday and Sundays at the cafe where I go for morning coffee. I still enjoy reading a physical newspaper and read more than I would if just online.

[R6tty]

Ryyy said:

Yes, paul at work.close thread.

tt

[robscot]

Pop your 'local' paper into https://www.abc.org.uk and post up the circulation...


(some shockers out there, and certainly not what they are telling prospective advertisers in one case I know of.)