photo credit: popwatch.ew.com
By: Jessica Farley
As Christian Bale once demonstrated in the cult classic “Newsies,” being a paper boy is not a job to be taken lightly.
For years, the paperboy has been a symbol of hard work, youthful determination, and American values. However, in today’s world of Kindles and Twitter, the paperboy is rapidly becoming nothing more than a symbol of nostalgia.
With more and more consumers switching to electronic or online outlets as their source of news, the demand for paperboys has steadily dwindled. This past May, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed in its semiannual circulation report that The New York Times’ daily digital circulation now exceeds its daily print circulation by approximately 27,000 readers. Moreover, between 2003 and 2008, the annual circulation rate for daily papers dropped over 3 percent- and 4.5 percent for Sunday editions.
Conversely, major US news sources, like the aforementioned New York Times, have seen an increase in overall circulation rates, which include both digital and print outlets.
I think it is safe to say that the paperboy will be joining the milkman and meatman in the realm of “Obsolete American Occupations.”
…Let’s just hope, for the sake of young workers everywhere, Apple Inc. doesn’t come up with a way to have your iPhone walk the family dog.
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