Bird Droppings and Silly Putty

Given my ongoing research on games and journalism, along with the occasional publications of my games by news organizations, I often think about the fate of the newspaper. I’m talking about the print newspaper, that big, black and white thing one folds and unfolds and holds in front of one’s face. There’s lots of talk about the death of the newspaper, a name that shorthands both the transition of news communication to digital forms and the increasing threat of insolvency at news organizations, which are having increasing trouble making ends meet in print or online.

One pain point is newspaper subscriptions. Rates are down as people increasingly read news online, watch news on television, or listen to news on the car radio instead. Ebay and Craigslist have all but eliminated the appeal of classifieds. Yet, some people still do subscribe to newspapers. The question I have is, who?

One possible answer: people who don’t use the web as much, ergo, older people or those without connectivity. It seems an unsatisfactory answer to me, a misleading and overly simple one. In fact, my suspicion toward such an answer makes me wonder how much news organizations really know about the people who do subscribe to the print edition.

This weekend I visted my parents, who both take the print newspaper and read lots of news online. It got me thinking: how come? Well, for one part they just enjoy reading the paper in physical form. For another part, I think they feel that they get better local coverage in print. But then I realized something important.

My mother has several pet birds. She’s very fond of them and indulges them (as much as birds are capable of being babied, anyway). She’s very careful to clean their cages regularly. And like everyone who keeps a bird as a pet, she uses newspaper in the bottoms of their cages.

Think about it: doesn’t it make sense that bird owners would be much more likely to subscribe to a newspaper? Sure, I suppose they could just pick up the free alt weekly while out for burritos, but isn’t it much more convenient to get it delivered? Besides, one can also read the thing before using it as a bird toilet.

Donna Friedman notes a whole array of other post-reading uses of newspapers, from fish and chips substrates to antique wrappings. There are many more: what will come of papier mâché? What will protect the dining room table when junior makes his model airplane (or more likely, his model robot)? Onto what will the future press its Silly Putty?

This may all seem like little more than jest, but there’s something serious underlying my point here. How much do news organizations know about why people who subscribe to print do so? And might they benefit from that knowledge, even if only to address that market for the three, five, ten, whatever years remain of print news as a going concern? I’d really like to know if newspaper subscribership among bird owners is higher than that of other populations. Does anyone know? I doubt it.