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Figuratively, the circulation of daily English newspapers in 2015 declined to 98,548 copies from 2014's 102,000 marking a by 3.4 percent drop/FILE

Kenya

Newspaper circulation in Kenya facing imminent death?

Charles Kimani, a Nairobi Advocate for instance, says that the reading experience of a printed newspaper is much better and cannot be compared to the online version.

He admits that although he reads websites and social media updates, he still turns to newspapers for the added variety.

“There’s much more that is offered by newspapers that online news content does not offer. Such include informational advertisements, obituaries and the added photos among other features.”

– A global Phenomena –

The decline of newspapers circulation is not isolated to Kenya.

In fact, countries where Internet and mobile penetration is very high have witnessed major newspapers close their printing shops entirely to migrate to online news portals.

Such include the UK’s Independent Newspaper which earlier this year announced that it would stop printing and move to the web after Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev bought the paper terming it a more profitable venture.

Others, especially in America, have ended up operating on losses, with a majority letting go off journalists in a bid to stay afloat.

While foreseeing the impending decline of newspaper circulation owing to online readership, international newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Financial Times have been pushing for digital subscription plans in the hope that readers will pay to preserve traditional news gathering, reports Bloomberg.

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The same model has been piloted here, by magazines especially, as they try to beat online content.

Will the model work in Kenya?

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