There is widespread concern that newspapers face an uncertain future, and many fear a long-term decline due to the rise of the electronic media, economic pressure from a loss of advertising share and increasing costs of production and distribution, and falling sales. Changes in the newspaper industry are believed to have led to concentration of ownership, erosion of news standards, and narrowing of the readership. To address these concerns, this chapter focuses on four interrelated issues: In the postwar era, have the electronic media gradually replaced newspapers, as some fear, so that the press is heading towards the technological graveyard, rather like hand-cranked phonographs, vinyl long-playing records, and post-office telegraphs? Second, have sagging sales in the print sector fuelled down-market pressures towards tabloid sensationalism in the pursuit of readers and a decline of traditional journalistic standards? Third, has greater concentration of newspaper ownership led to fewer choices and less diversity for consumers? And lastly, does the press continue to reach all sectors of society, or is readership increasingly concentrated among the more affluent, well-educated, and older population?

The belief that newspapers are in decline has triggered major alarmbells, because, as argued earlier, it is assumed that the news media can best fulfill their functions in a democracy if there is a rich and pluralistic information environment that is easily available to all citizens.