During my senior year of college, I was part of an intensive journalism program where I had to show up Monday-Friday from 9-5 to further develop my skills before entering the scary real world. It was almost like a forced internship, if you will. My concentration within the school of journalism was print, rather than broadcast, multimedia, advertising or public relations.

It was a rather sunny day in South Carolina, as I raced across campus for the first day of my new program. Hung-over, disheveled, and now awkwardly sweaty, I made it through the classroom door with just a few seconds to spare.

“I don’t know why you’re even here,” professor Fisher said to the class. “You’ve spent four years learning about a dying industry.” Wow. Not what you want to hear while calculating your looming student loans in your head. I thought I was just going to receive the syllabus and call it a day! He went on to explain dwindling advertising revenues and circulation rates for newspapers as the reason for his dark humor.

Things have changed even more dramatically since that spring day a few years ago. Newspapers have continued to fade, and TV has begun to fade as well, as the Internet continues to gain steam as our society’s main platform for entertainment and news. The ad spend budget for the Internet is now poised to surpass TV in the UK. As with popular music trends, it’s only a matter of time before that’s the scenario in the U.S., as well.

That same South Carolina professor once read a quote from Molly Ivans that I still have trouble shaking. “I don’t so much mind newspapers dying—it’s watching them commit suicide that pisses me off.” As a magazine focused on educating multichannel marketers, we urge those in traditional media spaces not to be the next medium to meet their demise. With the research, webinars, seminars and conferences that ERA and Electronic Retailer put on throughout the year, you can be sure to remain relevant and viable in this ever-changing media landscape.

If you think a world without newspapers seems likely down the road, check out this hilarious clip from South Park that highlights a world without Internet, and what effect it has on our behavior and media consumption.

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer Magazine’s eMedia Editor

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