Business News

USA to Lead the Extinction of Newspapers in 2017 Followed by UK and Rest of the World, Says Leading Media Futurist Ross Dawson

Monday 01. November 2010 - Media industry think-tank Future Exploration Network today releases its Newspaper Extinction Timeline, specifying the years in which "newspapers in their current form will become insignificant," beginning with the US in 2017, the UK and Iceland in 2019, Canada and Norway in 2020, followed by 47 other countries where newspapers will not survive until 2040.

“In the developed world newspapers are in the process of becoming extinct, driven by rapidly changing use of media and revenues out of line with cost structures,” says Ross Dawson, chairman of Future Exploration Network. “These pressures will be compounded by the rise of tablet devices and the coming availability of low-cost digital paper with exceptional qualities.”
“In stark contrast, in many developing countries newspapers are growing rapidly,” says Dawson. “This is resulting in a rapid divergence in media markets around the world, changing how marketers build global campaigns.”
In August Dawson attracted global attention when he gave the closing keynote at the Newspaper Publishers Association conference in Sydney, predicting the irrelevance of newspapers in Australia in 2022. Future Exploration Network is now providing more detailed global forecasts. “Every country is different,” says Dawson. “The pace of change in media structure is being led by the US and UK, with other countries not far behind.”
Download the Newspaper Extinction Timeline (pdf 1MB):