Is their any Future for Tabloid Newspapers in the Digital Age?

The Guardian is one of the most prominent news providers in the UK, with over 250,000 tabloid readers and 30 million online viewers. However, it is very much their online presence that has helped them to recover from troubling times where advertising expenditures are down 40% from 2008, and tabloid readers have almost become a thing of the past. So how did the Guardian take full advantage of the digital age, and what does it mean for the future of Tabloids? Interviewee: Steve Bergen - Spanish correspondent for The Guardian. Subject: The future of the Tabloid and how the digital age will shape our intake of the news. Luke: Over the last ten years or so, we have seen a huge decline in the readership of tabloids and a enormous growth in the digital viewership of news, which is much cheaper to produce and distribute. So, is their any future for tabloid printing in the digital age? Steve: Yes I think there will always be some form of tabloid newspapers. People still like to read a paper, and feel the paper in their hand in front of their face. Readers also tend to be loyal to a particular newspaper, and it is still seen as a way of public identity. People often associate themselves with a particular newspaper. Their political, social, or economic views are often shaped by what paper they might read. Papers can also be a very politically powerful tool, so yes, I do believe there is still a future for tabloids. There are even different models that they can adopt to improve their viewership, and we have seen this happen more recently. For example some local tabloids now only release a weekly journal to cut the costs of newspaper production and distribution whilst also providing readers with a weekly news round up. There are also various subscription models and so on, that papers can choose to adopt to help improve their revenues. Luke: How can news providers survive whilst incurring such great losses? Steve: Well news companies are often owned by wealthy individuals looking to attain political or social status and influence, or by a trust, like the Guardian. And it is in fact true that newspapers rarely turn a profit. However, that being said, they still cannot afford to regularly incur such great losses. The major source of income for newspapers is advertising. However, advertising expenditures are down 40% since 2008, which has caused considerable problems for both tabloids and digital news. This has caused considerable job losses and cost cutting measures to be taken, but now things seem to be gradually improving again. More recently, advertising has become much more focused, by newspaper and by topic, helping pick up revenues, and we have actually found that digital news is actually a much cheaper and more efficient way to provide and distribute news. Luke: Are there more or less opportunities for journalists in the digital age?  Steve: I think that there are more opportunities, but less opportunities to make a living! You only have to look at the music industry as an example.