How long can the mainstream media survive?

Surfing the internet the other day, I saw another headline about ever lower ratings for Cable News Network. I’m old enough to remember when CNN first came out and the skeptical reaction it received from the general public. At the time, there were still tens of millions of households in America that didn’t have cable, and the days of satellite television for the masses weren’t even a concept yet. CNN was considered a novelty at the time, and most people thought it wouldn’t last. But it prospered and became one of the world’s leading sources of news. Now, however, it appears to be losing steam and its future is in doubt.

CNN is not alone, of course. Viewership ratings for the nightly newscasts of the three oldest television networks are also in steady and relentless decline. CBS had pinned high hopes on Katie Couric to reverse this trend, but so far it has had no impact on the downward direction of the ratings. The story is the same for ABC and NBC, as well as for MSNBC. Except for talk shows like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, which keep FOX News ratings high, there doesn’t seem to be much of a market for TV news these days.

The situation is not better for the newspapers and, in many cases, it is much worse. It is common knowledge that many people under the age of 30 have never bought a newspaper in their entire life; Papers are increasingly viewed as outdated and completely useless by the younger generation. By the time the newspaper comes out in the morning, they have read all the stories, commented on them, and emailed them to their friends. While the future of television news looks bleak, the situation for newspapers looks dire.

This is a real shame in my opinion. I enjoy watching the evening news and have always enjoyed sitting down in the morning with my newspaper and a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, unless there is a radical change in the tastes and habits of younger people, these habits will become obsolete in the not too distant future. For my part, I will be saddened to see them go.