Search toughens for daily reading fix

A newsstand in Beijing's Sanlitun area is closed on Aug 14 amid the latest urban management measures. Zhu Xingxin / China Daily

Advertising revenue from newspapers has also dropped. Since 2012, it has been declining by an average of 20 percent a year, Tian said.

According to a report by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, China printed 209.78 billion sheets of newspapers last year, down by 11.32 billion from that in 2012.

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The figures clearly point to the impact of increasingly popular digital and new forms of information over traditional media among younger audiences, said Fan Haibo, director of the business development department at the China Newspaper Association.

Network, social and mobile media have broken the monopoly of traditional print and eroded the number of its readers, Fan said, adding that the onslaught is expected to continue.

Other reasons for the decline of newspaper readership include economic ones, Fan said. Economic growth has been slowing - clocking 7.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, a 24-year low, Fan said.

"With the changes in media and technology, marketing communications strategies have also changed. But traditional media have been lagging behind the changes," Fan said.

There is not enough market competition in China, unlike the long-term competition and integration experienced by the industry in developed countries, he said.

Fan said Chinese newspapers that are not competitive might still be kept afloat while those that want to expand might fail because of the domestic market's unique situation, and that is a "cruel fact".

Zhang Zhi'an, director of the School of Communication and Design at Sun Yat-sen University, said many newspaper groups are also trying to develop businesses in other industries to reduce their primary reliance on advertising.

Some of these groups turn to the real estate, financial and hotel and hospitality sectors to increase their revenue channels.

The Zheijiang Daily Press Group has even invested in video games companies, while the Sichuan Daily Press Group has turned its office building into a hotel after moving to new premises and renting out the ground floor of its new office to banks.

Many other media organizations continue to look for new profit models, Zhang said.

Important role

Still, other journalism professors said the perceived decline in the industry does not signal the end of newspapers just yet because of the continued demand for information and the role of traditional print in the country.

That also means the needs and demands of readers should not be ignored, they said.

Chen Lidan, a journalism professor from Renmin University of China, said: "The situation seems tough in metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for newspapers, but there is still a market for the industry in regions where the provision of information remains underdeveloped."

Yu Guoming, deputy director of the journalism school at Renmin University of China, said newspaper circulation will not decline sharply in the near future.

It might fall for a while from the impact of new media but it will stabilize because it still provides an experience different from that of cellphones, said Yu, adding that a large number of senior residents still have newspaper reading habits.

Preferential policies from the government will also soften the impact of digital players, he said, adding that online social networks that provide information are still not authorized for news gathering.

That means newspapers will remain important for seniors like Ma Xueying.

"I cannot live without reading newspapers," Ma said.

"The newsstands allow me to get the newspapers for the latest news first thing in the morning."

Contact the writer at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn