Every morning while I am eating breakfast before school, I open the New York Times app on my phone and skim through the daily news. Whether I’m only skimming the first few headlines, reading each article in depth or just playing Wordle, reading the newspaper online keeps me updated on the world and entertained.
According to Pew Research Center, as of August 2024, 57% of U.S. adults read their news on digital devices, while only 6% read their news in print. Each year, the number of people reading news on paper continues to decline, while the amount of people reading news online steadily increases. I believe the reason for this growing disparity is the clear superiority of online news.
One major reason I prefer to read my news on an app is because I am able to find what I want to read quickly and easily. Not only is the most recent information in a clear order from top to bottom but also the search function makes it easy to find any article I want.
In contrast, I often find that print newspapers are difficult to navigate. Instead of just reading an article, I have to spend time flipping through the whole print. When I finally find the article I want to read, I am not as entertained because printed newspapers are not as graphically pleasing as online alternatives. They lack the interactive aspects, such as videos and live graphs, that bring news to life.
In a world where people are able to find things out moments after they happen, paper newspapers simply aren’t prompt enough. Online newspapers have the advantage of live updates with news outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post all constantly updating their breaking news. This not only makes the news more accurate, but also ensures that readers stay informed in real time, allowing them to follow unfolding events as they happen.
There is much less to do on a printed newspaper than on an online platform. For example, one big thing I enjoy about the New York Times is their plethora of game options updated daily, and their weekly quizzes to see how much news I’ve read each week. While printed newspapers do often have crossword puzzles, sudoku and trivia, online apps offer many more creative games. Printed newspapers simply don’t have as much to offer as online alternatives.
The amount of time readers spend on news websites far outweighs the time spent reading a printed newspaper according to Brookings Institution, a fact I attribute to the lack of options in printed newspapers.
Onlines newspapers, which provide the same amount of information as print newspapers, are also much cheaper. An online subscription to the Washington Post is over five times cheaper than a print subscription, with the median online news subscription only costing $2.31 a week. This affordability makes online newspapers more accessible to a broader audience, ensuring that quality journalism is available to people from diverse economic backgrounds.
While I understand the charm of sitting down on a Sunday morning with a newspaper and a cup of coffee in hand, in general, online news surpasses print in almost every aspect. As the world of news rapidly evolves, printed newspapers are struggling to keep pace, demonstrating the clear superiority of online news.
