Thursday, December 17, 2015

Printing vs. Internet

Adam Wiesman
Economics
Mr. Reuter
December 14, 2015
Printed vs Posted
I case you haven’t noticed buying the newspaper and magazines have decreased in popularity considerably in in the recent past. Internet sites instead of hardcopies that you must pay for have taken over the industry. As the newer generations age and grow up with internet availability and the older leave it can be expected that even less people will buy hard copies of things simply because you can view it on the internet for free.
However there is opportunity cost and tradeoffs involved in the huge media shift. The Bureau of Labor Statistics listed that in 2012 there was 276,000 with a job outlook ar -5% American employed in the printing industry. Not to mention the business manufacturing companies and electrically power companies would lose from building the machines and keeping them running. Also there would be an extremely large dip in the paper being produced and the even more people would lose jobs. With moving into internet media and news would be mostly free for consumers the opportunity cost for the US economy would be a substantial rise in the unemployment rate.  With less people working and making money there will be less money to buy products could slow the economy and move it in the direction of a recession.
Although the journalists who write the articles would keep their jobs, there just wouldn't be enough jobs created for people who run the websites that display local and national news. it takes a lot more people to run a printing plant rather than a website because a hard copy must be printed for every individual that wishes to view it.
Substituting hard copy news and media for internet posted articles could be a huge detriment to the US economy putting thousand out of jobs and affected tons of companies and all that goes into the printing industry.
Works Cited

" future Printers of America." Quad Graphics. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
"Printing Workers." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.  


14 comments:

  1. This is an interesting piece, because it relates to more than just newspaper. In school, the majority of students would choose hard copies, or hand written notes, rather than an online copy, or an online presentation. So not only has the internet sort of "taken over" the newspaper industry, it's trickled down into the education department. In interesting stat to find out, would be how much money is saved or wasted from this move? Are they saving more money economically from making more things an online source, rather than printing out hard copies. Also boys basketball game tomorrow, December 18th, @ Pius.

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  2. There is no doubt that digital media has had a greater increase in demand compared to hard copy prints. However, I do not think that printing will every go away, because official documents are stored in computers and in hard copies. In addition to that, many people still enjoy the ease of picking up a newspaper or magazine instead of heading to news apps on their phones. Just looking around the school, we can see all the advertisements printed and posted on the walls; they definitely get more attention than the reminders through email that go straight to the trash. There are trade offs between using internet files versus printed papers, but it comes down to the consumers' taste.

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  3. I completely agree with you. I mean even in the classes we take today, the teachers are providing us with online sources for literally everything. Some might think that in the long run it will help that the internet articles are taking over because then there is less paper needed for printed articles and books, meaning less deforestation, but using the internet means using electricity, which still effects the environment. Anyways, you're right, a lot of good working people would be losing their jobs if there were no need for printing factories and paper factories, our unemployment rate as a country would sky rocket. I don't think there is a specific way to stop this, people love the internet; Nooks, tablets, iphones, ipads, smart tvs! One click of a button or a tap on the screen and you have something that would usually cost you money, for free. There's no turning back now.

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  4. I think that it is crazy how everything is all accessible right at our finger tips. However it is sad how many people's jobs will be lost. This would cause the unemployment rate to increase dramatically. Personally I prefer to read things on paper it seems so much more clumsy and reliable because when the wifi goes out then what. I think it would be a bad idea if everything was being posted online with no backup plan.

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  5. I never knew how many jobs existed in newspaper and magazine printing and I think its super interesting how jobs in media publishing and app production don't amount to the jobs they're replaced. However, I disagree with what you said about the new media being free, the money we pay for apps and e-newspaper subscriptions has to go to someone. Hopefully, new jobs will be created for online journalists and we will not go into a recession like you predict, but into a new revolution of jobs in technology as our generation ages into the workforce.

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  6. I believe this issue has already come into play in the world today. Although there are a few newspapers out there that still produce paper copies all journals are online to subscribe to. I also do not believe that this is a major problem. Although production jobs may be lost it is very possible that those jobs would have been automated. Also I think that newspaper production is not a major player in the job market. Paper production is neither a highly need or desired job and factories and capital can be sold and reprocessed to create different goods. Overall I disagree that this is a major problem for the economy.

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  7. I believe this issue has already come into play in the world today. Although there are a few newspapers out there that still produce paper copies all journals are online to subscribe to. I also do not believe that this is a major problem. Although production jobs may be lost it is very possible that those jobs would have been automated. Also I think that newspaper production is not a major player in the job market. Paper production is neither a highly need or desired job and factories and capital can be sold and reprocessed to create different goods. Overall I disagree that this is a major problem for the economy.

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  8. I like the topic, I still feel as if the power companies won't take to big of a hit due to the amount of energy needed for things such as computers which would compensate for the printers not being as operational. It isn't too much of a surprise that newspapers are starting to die because the internet is just too convenient.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. I agree with Evan. I don't think this is a big enough problem to shift our economy into a recession. Sure, some jobs will be lost, but people will be needed to fill new jobs as well. You said there are less positions available for running a website than running a printing plant, however, I think there are just as many jobs needed, if not more. Someone has to design the website, it's not just about the writing anymore. This was a great topic though!

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  11. This change in the way the industry operates is also happening in other areas of the economy as there is a transition from paper to electronic documents. Companies that produce paper and distributors will be phased out as electronics take over. This is shown with newspapers as it is cheaper to run an online company compared to one that only prints paper copies.

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  12. It's interesting that there are so many jobs in the newspaper industry. Although they loose their jobs because of the changing world they could always go back to school and learn to do the same profession, but with technology. This way they can still do the job they previously had, and they learn new skills along the way.

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  13. The same thing cannot be done with old methods of printing. With lithographic printing or any other type of old printing process, you have to scratch the unwanted letters to eliminate it from your banner or poster. Whatever you do the result will not look flawless. Cheap canvas prints new york

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  14. I found this topic very interesting as I recenetly toured 'Quadgraphics', a major printing company within the newspaper and magazine industry. This caused me to think about all the jobs and opportunities we are diminsihing through the conversion to online newspapers and magazines. This will have major effects on the economy and an overall worsening in the already paramount unemployment rate within the USA. Overall I think we should work to maintain the newspaper and magazines industries such as 'quadgraphics'.

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