Young subscribers flock to old media

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico




Shunning Trump, the millennial generation does what it once resisted: pay for news.

By JASON SCHWARTZ 10/21/2017 06:59 AM EDT

As President Donald Trump wages daily war against the press, millennials are subscribing to legacy news publications in record numbers—and at a growth rate, data suggests, far outpacing any other age group.

Since November's election, the New Yorker, for instance, has seen its number of new millennial subscribers more than double from over the same period a year earlier. According to the magazine's figures, it has 106 percent more new subscribers in the 18-34 age range and 129 percent more from 25-34.

The Atlantic has a similar story: since the election, its number of new subscribers aged 18-24 jumped 130 percent for print and digital subscriptions combined over the same period a year earlier, while 18-44 went up 70 percent.

Newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times typically do not share specific subscriber data, but according to a Post spokesperson, its subscriber growth rate is highest among millennials. A New York Times representative relayed that the paper was “seeing similar trends” in subscriptions and pointed to public data on digital traffic that showed its online reach among millennials to be up 9 percent from the same period a year ago.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/21/millennials-trump-paying-for-news-244001

[Stuart G]

1. Great Post, thanks for posting this...n.t.

[tymorial]

2. I still get newspapers everyday

Regarding the millennial thing, Back when I was in college and for about 6 or seven years after I was considered gen y but then the dates changed and I became firmly placed in gen x. I don't really care, I often find myself identifying with traits and "experiences" from both.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. I always knew the Internet was just a passing fad. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The article is a bit confusing

but I think most of the subs are the digital versions of the print... The article did note -

“Millennials are choosing print overwhelmingly, or digital and print,” he said. “It’s a physical manifestation of the relationship. You’re on the subway or you’re in the airport and you’re carrying your New Yorker, that’s another signal of what you care about and what you choose to read.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/21/millennials-trump-paying-for-news-244001

I am not a millennial (am a tail-end boomer) but have subbed to the NYT (since 1976) & Philly Inquirer (since the '90s - but grew up with the defunct Philadelphia Morning/Evening Bulletin) and recently switched to all-digital (as I was mostly reading them online). I also picked up the WaPo (digital) and get NatGeo (since 1967 - both print & digital).

I think it was inevitable that they would pay because of the paywalls, but then those publications have added extra things like videos associated with the stories & interviews, which have enhanced the digital versions... plus digital is literally updating 24/7 for breaking news whereas print can't do that (but are good for the long-form/investigative stories).

[Sunlei]

6. Because trump hates the NYTs, I'm going to sub to Sunday real paper delivery & digital again.

you hear that Republicans, I'm going to sub for a fucking year plus. I don't want to miss the impeachment OR Federal CHARGES PRESSED ON REPUBLICAN PARTY COLLUDERS.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. When you start getting the NY Times again

you will have access to ALL of their articles going back to their inception - and you will see all the stuff they wrote about Drumpf back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s! Their archive is amazing.

[Sunlei]

8. hey thats cool news, I can post a bit of those old trump articles on DU :P

have an old subscription I canceled, waiting for password reset so I can start my new sub.

Treating myself to 7 days a week daily 'real paper' & all the digital stuff- offer includes "2 bonus all access subs to give to anyone you like"

I am not gifting those subs to any of those Russian media trolls

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Yup.

I know I have!

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/07/business/the-empire-and-ego-of-donald-trump.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/07/business/empire-risk-trump-s-atlantic-city-debt-forcing-trump-play-for-higher-stakes.html?pagewanted=all

[Sunlei]

5. Think about it, a national emergency, cable/internet down.regular tv* only- CBS/NBC/PBS only for me.

*RADIO


Many millennials aren't stupid, they don't want fake bullshit news or to be scammed with propaganda. They understand the difference between real Journalists and tabloid-TV stars.

[Hortensis]

9. This trend has to be GOOD for America and bad

for the Republicans. I remember that the NYT had a very significant jump in subscriptions after Rump was elected and the pubs took over DC.

Millennials, of course, are a big part of the demographic “rising american electorate” of increasing numbers of unmarried women, millennials 18 to 34, African-Americans, Latinos and other POC. They didn't "rise" (as in vote) quite as much as expected in 2016, but together for the first time in 2016 these groups together outnumbered any others.

[canetoad]

11. K&R

Good article. I hope it become ultra-cool to be found with a copy of the NYT, Atlantic, New Yorker.....

[RandomAccess]

12. So

Not only was Trump good for TV ratings, he's good for print media subscriptions too.

[Sunlei]

16. t(R)ump NOT good for people who fucking can't afford to PAY for real NEWS-have to take fox lies free

fuck those Republicans who spam Americans with their fucking fox lies propaganda TV and their RW Russian attacks against America.

[PatrickforO]

13. Thank you! This is very encouraging.

Let's hope it is enough, because Trump is getting ready to push off on the toboggan run that will destroy our republic.

[procon]

14. They hate Trump so much that they're willing to pay for access to the truth.

“The big boost we saw in subscriptions in the U.S.,” Newman said, “is driven by people on the left and younger people are more likely to be on the left. That is really a lot of what’s driving it: young people who don’t like Trump who subscribe to news organizations that they see as being a bulwark against him.”
...
Newman said that 29 percent of Americans responded to the survey that their reason for paying for news was, “wanting to help support or fund journalism,” which was twice the average for all countries included in the study. Americans on the political left were four times more likely than those on the right to cite supporting journalism as their reason for paying, Newman said.

[Kaleva]

15. I subscribe to digital WP ($9.99 mo.) and The Guardian ($6.99 mo.)

[SunSeeker]

17. Best news I heard all week. nt