ABSTRACT

The newspaper industry has been an integral part of the Ghanaian society for more than 190 years. Newspapers are very common to the old and youth due to its important role in connecting government with its people. However, since the inception of new media technology, the newspaper industry has been experiencing dwindling sales of hard copies; making it difficult for newspaper organization to generate enough revenue to survive in the digital space. The study used Daily Graphic and Daily Guide as a case to examine the threats facing newspapers and some strategies newspaper organizations have employed to adjust to current technology and stay relevant.

The study found that before newspapers are sold, most of the top stories were already online. Hence, the ease with which information is accessed online make stories carried by newspapers less interesting, leaving readers with little incentive to purchase them. Using in-depth interviews, the research tackled questions from various perspectives to reach a multi-faceted conclusion.

Despite the decline in sales of newspapers, this research explained why the newspaper industry will not be a ‘dying business.’ The study revealed that Daily Graphic and Daily Guide have considered easy accessibility and low cost in using the Internet to gather information. Hence, the two newspapers have gone digital to reach the growing number of consumers online. The study also found that, newspapers are keeping the hardcopies interactive by printing out a Quick Response Code (QRC) that easily leads consumers to audios or videos attached to a story. Based on findings of this study, it is recommended that Daily Graphic and Daily Guide must take full advantage of Internet technologies in all phases of newspaper production as well as develop a business model that would compensate for the free readership of online news on newspaper websites.