Goodbye, printed Lidovka. This sentence appeared on the headline of the last printed Lidové noviny today. The newspaper, which has existed on and off for more than 130 years, will cease to exist from tomorrow. Readers will only be able to browse the lidovky.cz news website. “Publishing was unprofitable. Unlike online titles and social networks, however, paper newspapers represented a source of verified information,” says Martina Vojtěchovská, editor-in-chief of the MediaGuru.cz server. Will other print media face a similar fate?
In its rich history, Lidové noviny was associated with names such as Eduard Bass, Jan Drda, the Čapková brothers or Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Does this end an entire era in the Czech media space?
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The end of the printed Lidové noviny is a factual confirmation that its stage is ending and that it is giving way to other sources of information, especially digital ones. Although we have known for a long time that print newspapers are sold less every year, no publisher has yet resorted to stopping publication. In the case of Lidové noviny, however, the publisher is clearly saying that it is no longer willing to bear the million-dollar losses that newspaper publishing brings.
But in general, I think it’s bad news, because paper newspapers represent a source of information on the media map that follows professional journalistic rules, especially when it comes to verifying and processing information. However, this cannot be offered by social networks or digital media, which bring unverified information. As a result, the reception of information breaks up into small groups, society becomes polarized and atomized, and it lacks the necessary cohesion.
What will happen to the readers of Lidové noviny? Will they stick with their online version or move elsewhere? Listen to the full interview.
