Newspaper readership up among youth

The under-35 set has always been a tough grab for
newspapers and the evening news alike, but, despite talks of the decline of
newspapers, a new study shows that readership among those aged 24-34 has risen 37
percent from what it was three years ago.

Paul Gillin of Newspaper Death Watch wrote about
the study, which was conducted by McKinsey Quarterly and examines readership
trends in the UK. The study found that the youngins prefer to get
their news on the Internet, but it also found that as a group, they trust
newspapers more than any other source.

The study author seemed to think this was bad news, as it means
traditional news business models will continue to hurt, but Gillin disagreed:

“In our view, this is news organizations’ best shot. As
the volume of online information grows by leaps and bounds, the need for
trusted sources grows with it. Publishers need to discard their
not-invented-here thinking and look for ways to aggregate information in ways
that command a premium value. We also really like the transaction fee idea.
We’ve been pushing that one for about a year.”