Millennials, Digital Natives and the Future of Print Newspapers By Bolaji Mohammed Akinola (16100440575) October 2020 ii Millennials, Digital Natives and the Future of Print Newspapers By Bolaji Mohammed Akinola (16100440575) A thesis submitted to the School of Media and Communication, Pan - Atlantic University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Communic ation of Pan - Atlantic University October 2020 iii Abstract The study was designed to examine the news consumption habits of millennials and digital natives – two different generational cohorts born into the world of tablets, smartphones, apps, social media and series of messaging platforms – and the significance of these habits on the future of printed newspapers in Nigeria. The study utilised mixed instrument s to gather relevant data. These include the moderator’s guide for the focus group discussions , used to obtain data from 96 purposively selected millennials and digital natives in the six geopolitical zones of the country , and the structured in - depth inter view guide , used to obtain data from three purposively selected editors of the three oldest surviving newspapers in Nigeria. The study found that the millennials and digital natives are active news consumers. Entertainment news, sports news and news on polit ics are the most preferred news by the generational cohorts. The study also found that the rapid rise of affordable smartphones, increasing Internet penetration and the individualisation of online news have created a virtual proximity that enables the millennials and digital natives stay regularly in touch with their chosen news medium and to consume only that which they desire and when they desire it. This is not the kind of imperishable litheness print newspapers ar e able to offer the generational co horts , thereby leading to a progressive displacement of printed copies in the world of the young news consumers. The study further found that the cost of newspaper s, location of the respondents and the inconvenience associated with acquiring newspaper copi es contribute to the avoidance of printed newspapers by the millennials and digital natives. The study concludes that print newspapers may face severe economic pressure if they do not take steps to attract the interest of the young adults. The study, there fore, recommends that print newspapers need to rethink the concept of storytelling and overhaul their circulation system s to attract the interest of the two generational cohorts. iv Acknowledgements I owe my gratitude for the commencement and completion of this work to many people. First, I would express gratitude and appreciation to God Almighty, the author and finisher of our faith, who made it possible for me to undertake this study and who provided the resources necessary for its timely completion. I am also grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Ikechukwu Obiaya , for his ideas, patience, guidance and encouragement. Dr. Obiaya’s positive attitude and belief in my ability to complete the study within schedule were the elixir that spurred me on. I also wish to thank the f aculty members of the School of Media and Communication – Professor Emevwo Biakolo (who retired before the completion of this work), Dr. Ngozi Okpara, Dr. Silk Ogbu, Dr. Ruth Oji , Dr. Nelson Okorie and many others – who helped me to understand the rudiments of rigorous research work of this nature and whose inputs helped a great deal in giving direction to the work. I would also like to acknowledge the constant encouragement of Mrs. Ijeoma Nwachukwu, who, throughout the time I studied at the School of Media and Communication, never failed to call me or send text messages praying and encouraging me to forge ahead. Whenever I felt exhausted (and this happened many times) in the course of the study, Mrs. Nwachukwu’s messages and telephone calls re - energised me. Many other members of staff of SMC were also supportive and helpful in the course of my study at the school. I also wish to express my appreciation to all my colleagues at Ships & Ports Communicat ion Company – Eucharia Udoaka, Enajite Eriabie, Shulammite Olowofoyeku, Tosin Olawale - Rotimi, Shade Adedokun, Muyiwa Sonuyi, Oluwatoyin Amao, Aminat Kareem, John Omoaka, and Seun Mosaku for their support in completing this project. I also thank Comfort Ose ghale, Sunday Kanu and Emmanuella Ojarikre who worked with me at various stages of the project as resea rch v assistants. My co - traveller in the PhD programme, Gabriel Omozuwa , also deserves appreciation for providing critical feedback on some sections of the work. I also must not fail to thank Dr. Kizito Alakwe who helped sharpen my understanding on the use of Nvivo software for analysing qualitative research data. This research project would not have been possible without the willing participants of the foc us group discussions and in - depth interviews. I therefore wish to thank all the 96 focus group discussion participants spread across various parts of the country and the three newspaper editors who agreed to be interviewed for the study. The participation of all the respondents supplied the rich qualitative data for the research. Finally, I want to say a big thank you to my loving and supportive wife, Mrs. Adeyemi Bolaji - Akinola and our adorable children, Ibukun and Jinmi. It is impossible to successfully embark on a project of this magnitude and travel round the country for several days without good support on the home front. I count myself blessed to have such support in good measure from my wife and children , and I will be eternally grateful to them for this. vi Dedication This research is dedicated to the memory of my late grandmother, Mrs Taiwo Oliyide - Akinola ( Iya E lek o) ; my late father, Alhaji Abdulkadri Olusoji Akinola and my late uncle, Mr. Olatunji Adisa Akinola for the invaluable roles they played in shaping my life. I pray that God will continue to rest their souls in peace. vii Student’s Declaration I have read and understood the School of Media and Communication Policy on plagiarism. I declare that this disse rtation/project is my own work and that all sources are fully referenced. I also declare that I have not submitted this work for any other purpose. ............................................... BOLAJI AKINOLA 16100440575 viii CERTIFICATION I certify that this work was carried out by Bolaji Akinola in the School of Media and Communication, Pan - Atlantic University, under my supervision -------------------------------------- Supervisor Dr. Ikechukwu Obiaya Lecturer, School of Media and Communication Pan - Atlantic University Lagos, Nigeria ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... iii Acknowledgements ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... iv Dedication ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... vi Student’s Declaration ................................ ................................ ................................ .... vii C ertification ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... viii Table of Contents ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. ix List of Tables ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................... xii List of Figures ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... xii List of Appendices ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................ ................................ ................... 1 1.1. Background to the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 1 1.1.1. Print Newspaper ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 10 1.1.3. Previous Threat to Printed Newspapers ................................ ................................ .............. 16 1.1.4. Millennials ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 18 1.1.5. Digital Natives ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 21 1.1.6. Living in a Different World ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 24 1.2. Statement of the Problem ................................ ................................ ................................ 25 1.3. Objectives of the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 27 1.4. Research Questions ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 27 1.5. Rationale for the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 28 x 1.6. Significance of the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 28 1.7. Scope/Delimitations of the Study ................................ ................................ .................... 29 1.8 Operational Definition of Terms ................................ ................................ ...................... 30 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................ ................................ .... 34 2.1. Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 34 2.2. Conceptual Review ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 35 2.3. Theoretical Framework ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 41 2.3.1. Uses and Gratifications Theory ................................ ................................ ............................. 42 2.3.2. Technological Determinism ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 54 2.4. Empirical Literature ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 65 2.5. Methodological Review ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 91 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................ ................................ ........... 98 3.1. Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 98 3.2. Research Design ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 99 3.3. Population of the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 104 3.4. Sampling Procedure ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 106 3.4.1. The Focus Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 106 3.4.2. The In - depth Interviews ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 112 3.5. Data Collection Procedure ................................ ................................ ............................ 113 3.6. Data Collection Instruments ................................ ................................ ......................... 115 3.7. Ethical Consideration ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 117 3.8. Data Analysis Procedure ................................ ................................ ............................... 118 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ....... 120 4.1. Presentation of Focus Group Data ................................ ................................ .............. 121 4.2. Presentation of In - depth Interview Data ................................ ................................ ... 138 4.3. Analysis of Data ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 146 xi 4.4. Summary of Findings ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 161 4.5. Discussion of Findings ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 163 4.5.1. Immediacy ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 167 4.5.2. Inconvenience ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 168 4.5.3. Lack of Time ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 169 4.5.4. Boredom ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 170 4.5.5. Cost ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 171 4.5.6. Incidental News Consumption ................................ ................................ ............................. 172 4.5.7. In - group versus Out - group ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 172 4.5.8. Nigeria’s Socio - Economic Peculiarities and the News Consumption Habits of Millennials and Digital Natives ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 173 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 176 5.1. Summary of the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 176 5.2. Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 183 5.3. Recommendations ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 185 5.4. Contribution to Knowledge ................................ ................................ ........................... 188 5.5. Limitations of the Study ................................ ................................ ................................ 189 5.6. Suggestions for Further Studies ................................ ................................ ................... 190 References ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 191 Appendices ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 227 xii List of Tables Table 1 Decline in newspaper in newspaper sales in the UK ................ 7 Table 2 Summary of Previous Studies ... ... ................................... 86 Table 3 Focus group discussion schedule ...................................... 110 List of Figures Figure 1 Focus Group Discussion itinerary ........................................ 111 Figure 2 News preference of Nigeria’s millennia ls and digital natives ......... 1 47 Figure 3 Most preferred news by Nigeria’s mille nnials and digital natives ... 147 Figure 4 Millenni als and digital natives’ pre ferred news media ................ 149 Figure 5 Millennials and digital natives’ mos t preferred news medium ........ 150 Figure 6 Readership of print ed newspapers ........................................ 151 Figure 7 Purchase of printe d newspapers ........................................... 152 Figure 8 Potential readership of prin ted newspapers ............................... 153 Figure 9 Potential readership of prin ted newspapers ............................... 154 Figure 10 Potential buyers of print ed newspapers .................................. 154 Figure 11 Potential buyers of printed newspapers ..................... ............. 155 Figure 12 Role of Nigeria’s socio - economic peculiarities on the news consumption habits of its millennials and digital natives ......................................... 158 Figure 13 Circulation figures of select newspaper s ................................. 160 L ist of Appendices Appendix 1: Research Instrument: Focus Grou p Discussion Moderator‘s Guide 227 Appendix 2: Research Instrum ent: In - depth Interview Guide ....................... 229 Appendix 3: Focus Group Discussion Photog raphs .................................. 232 Appendix 4: Transcript of Focus Group Discussions ................................... 238 Appendix 5: Tran script of In - depth Interviews ....................................... 319 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to the Study The young adults of today, identified in this study as millennials and digital natives – who represent 76 per cent of Nigeria’s population ( National Bureau of Statistics, 2018 ) – appear not to be significantly interested in printed newspapers. Some studies ( Galam, Osserman, Parker & Taylor, 2019; Agbawe, 2018 ; see also Mahmud, Rasaq & Abdulkadir, 2012 ; Turner, 2015 ) have shown that the millennials and digital natives, otherwise known as Generation Y and Generation Z respectively, have a preference for consu ming news stories on the digital platform. This preference raises questions about the future prospects of print newspapers in N igeria. It is also a stark reminder of how the Internet has reshaped traditional communication media, including telephony, radio, television, paper mail and newspapers. New media such as websites, email, instant messaging, digital books, digital newspapers, online news aggregators, video streaming, blogs, microblogs, and several others, which are all by - products of the Internet, ar e the toasts of Generations Y and Z. Businesses, government and virtually all facets of human endeavours have been significantly impac ted by the Internet revolution. In addition to creating room for flexibility in working hours and in work locations, the Internet has led to a de - territorialized news ecology ( Widholm, 2018) , which has been widely researched in terms of content and distribution while its broader consequences for the newspaper industry ha ve been less s tudied Because the Internet can be accessed wirelessly from almost anywhere on the surface of the earth through various means, including portable and affordable modems and mobile telephone devices, the dynamics of human communication ha ve been altered. 2 A s the decisive technology of the information age (Castells, 2014 ; Puspita & Rohedi, 2018 ), the Internet has expanded human communication in all cultures through increased social interaction, civic engagement and the intensity of family and friendship relat ionships. The Internet has truly networked humanity and indeed made the world a global village (Patel, Patel, Scholar & Salazar, 2016). The virtual life, made possible by the Internet, is fast becoming more social than the physical life, facilitating real - life work and urban living (Castells, 2014). The most significant expression of the Internet’s transformation is visible in the human communication processes. No known form of human communication – intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, mass and public comm unication – has been able to avoid the transformational power of the Internet. In addition to becoming instantaneous, messages no longer flow solely from the few to the many, with little interactivity. Now, messages also flow from the many to the many, mul timodally and interactively. By disintermediating government and corporate control of communication, horizontal communication networks have created a new landscape of social and political change. Online and particularly wireless communication have helped s ocial movements pose more of a challenge to state power. The Internet and the web constitute the technological infrastructure of the global network society. Digital communication technology has already become second skin for many people, especially the you ng. At present, more than half of the world has access to the Internet, and the number is growing rapidly, with deliberate efforts being made by governments and non - governmental organisations to make it more readily available and affordable across the glob e ( International Telecommunications Union, 2019). The Internet has become an important element of man’s everyday life to the extent that the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a non - binding resolution in 3 June 2016 condemning countries that intentionally take away or disrupt their citizens’ access to it (Velocci, 2016). The UN resolution lends credence to a general belief among online folks that access to the Internet is a fundamental human right, which must be respected by all governmental a uthorities (BBC, 2010; Internet Society, 2016). The Internet has grown from about one billion users in 2005 to more than 3.5 billion users by the end of 2017 (International Tel ecommunication Union, 2018) and to 4.1 billion users in 2019 (ITU Publications, 2020 ). Between 2005 and 2019, the number of Internet users grew on average by 10 per cent every year (International Telecommunications Union, 2019). According to ITU Publications (2020) , 70% of the world’s youth (aged 15 - 24) are online while more than 80% of the popula tion in 104 countries are digitally connected . In developed countries, 94% of young people aged 15 - 24 use the Internet compared with 67% in develo ping countries and only 30% in least developed countries Nearly 9 out of 10 young individuals n ot using the Internet live in Africa or Asia and the Pacific. The Internet has at least two major effects on the availability of news and information: It has provided opportunities for citizens to discuss current affairs and has enhanced the vitality of th e public sphere ( Wurff, 2005 ; Gaskins & Jerit, 2012 ). Online news services have also expanded the supply of news, information and discussion forums, and forced traditional news media to reinvent themselves and adapt their roles in information markets to a new competitive situation. Internet usage in Africa is however limited by a relatively low penetration rate and infrastructural challenges . But while the African Internet market is still at an early stage of development, it is reputed to be one of the fas test growing in the world ( Anie, 2015). The spread of Internet penetration across the continent has given rise to a 4 booming telecommunications industry, with mobile telephone usage becoming more widespread in comparison to fixed line telephones. In Sub - Sa haran Africa, South Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles are the leading countries in Internet development while Morocco and Egypt are the leading countries in Internet development in North Africa (International Telecommunications Union, 2018). The Internet bo om has also given rise to r eaders’ rapidly shifting preferences from getting the news on their doorsteps and at the newsstands to reading it on their telephones , tablets, laptops and desktops, thereby exerting considerable pressure on printed newspapers. As a result, the print media is shrinking both in size and in circulation. Orimalade (2018), Olieh (2017), Oshimade (2015) and Adeyemo ( 20 15) suggest that as the digital space expands, thereby attracting more news consumers, print newspapers may be losing out as major revenue earners f or publishing houses. While the mass media landscape was altered dramatically with the spectacular rise of the modern commercial mass newspaper in the 20 th century (Hendriks, 1999), t he modern day challenge posed by the new me dia implies that the newspaper industry has to adapt to new models to cope with a rapidly changing world. The almost instant availability of news t hrough various online platforms (Pew Research Center, 2018) portends that the newspaper business is fast runn ing out of time to transform its modus operandi ( Purdy, Wong & Harris, 2016; Saba, 2009). The decline in the fortunes of the newspaper industry can be seen in the rapid decline in the number of readers, copy sales and advertisement revenue over the past 20 years (Purdy, Wong & Harris, 2016) Hard copy newspapers are rapidly losing advertisers, readers, market value, and, in some cases, their sense of mission at a pace that would have been difficult to imagine two decades ago. The newspaper industry’s decli ne has been well discussed as the 5 industry is progressively battling with escalating costs of production, high prices of newsprint, increasingly declin ing advertisement income and a persistent decline in circulation (Abubakar & Abubakar, 2015; Ekhareafo & Asemah, 2013). In recent times, several newspapers across the world have either ceased operations entirely or discontinued printing hard copies ( Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, 2018; Thornton, 2016; Meyer, 2009). The rapid decline of newspapers cuts across various countries. In the United States of America, the pressures facing traditional newspapers have intensified , leading to nothing less than a reorganization of the industry itself (Pew Research Centre , 2016). Over the past decade, hundreds of newspapers in the world’s most powerful country have either closed shop or drastically reduced their print run and staff ( Pew Research Centre, 2016; Lieberman, 2009). Some have also seen their news offering reduced to a bare - bone s Internet ope ration. One of the country’s oldest newspapers, the Seattle Post - Intelligencer , ceased printing in 2009 after 146 years in the business (Rosenthal, 2009). Another popular newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle narrowly escaped closure after employees made steep concessions (Rogers, 2009). Several other large newspaper firms like Tribune Company, the Journal Register Company, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, Sun - Times Media Group and Freedom Communications have all filed for bankru ptcy (Marshall, 2008). According to Marshall (2008), the situation is so bad that some newspaper chains that had acquired other newspapers recorded a steep decline in their stock values, with at least four newspaper chains listed on the New York Stock Exch ange having their shares deleted for falling below $1. Large news conglomerates like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and The Washington Post have not been spared the harsh effect of the newspaper industry’s negative downturn. The decline in the United 6 States ne wspaper industry was so significant it led to a s enator sponsoring a bill to allow newspapers to restructure and run as non - profit corporations with an array of tax breaks (Ferraro, 2009). The number of newspapers per hundred million people in the United S tates fell from 1,200 in 1945 to 400 in 2014. Over that same period, circulation per capita declined from 35 per cent in the mid - 1940s to under 15 per cent while t he number of newspaper journalists decreased from 43,000 in 1978 to 33,000 in 2015 (Kamarck & Gabriele, 2015). The year 2015 , in particular , was considered “the worst year since the recession and its immediate aftermath” for the newspaper industry in the U.S., with average weekday newspaper circulation falling by 7% – the greatest decline since 20 10 (Pew Research Centre , 2016). Total advertising revenue among publicly traded newspaper companies also declined by 8%. The European newspaper industry has not been faring any better. In the United Kingdom, top newspapers like The Independent, Daily Mail and Telegraph have been badly hit by the downturn in the industry. A 2017 Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) report confirms a consistent downward trend for top British newspapers as shown in Table 1 . The popular Daily Express , for example, sold an av erage of 391,626 copies a day in December 2016, down by 2.3% in the same month the year before, while its stablemate, the cut - price Daily Star , was down by 2.5% to 440,471 (Greensdale, 2017). The ABC report further indicates that the circulation figure for Daily Star Sunday fell by 13.2% to 257,790 copies; Sunday Mirror fell 16.3% to 620,861; while Sunday People dropped by 15.1% to 239,364 copies. Sun on Sunday fell 5.83% to 1,383,048 copies; Sunday Express 5.6% to 335,271; and Mail on Sunday 7.34% to 1,284 ,121 copies (Greenslade, 2017). 7 Another British newspaper, The Guardian , now runs a notice on its website soliciting funds from readers ( The Guardian , 2018) The notice is an undisguised indicator of the challenges facing The Guardian and other newspapers across the world. Newspapers in other parts of Europe such as Switzerland and the Netherlands are also struggling. They have lost a substantial portion of their advertising revenue over the past decade (Zubair, 2015; The Economist , 2006). Table 1 Declin e in N ewspaper S ales in the UK Newspaper 2015 Average daily sales 2016 Average daily sales Decline Daily Express 400,845 391,626 2.3% Daily Star 451,765 440,471 2.5% Daily Star Sunday 296,993 257,790 13.2% Sunday Mirror 741,769 620,861 16.3% Sunday People 281.936 239,364 15.1% Sun On Sunday 1,468,671 1,383,048 5.8% Sunday Express 355,160 335,271 5.6% Mail On Sunday 1,385,842 1,284,121 7.34% Source: Greenslade ( 2017 ) Newspapers in Nigeria have not been spared the turbulent times facing the global newspaper industry ( Zubair, 2015). Prelimin ary findings by this study show that several newspapers have shut down their operations in recent times. These include Champion, Next, Observer, National Mirror, Newswatch Daily, Daily Sketch , and 8 New Nigeria , am ong several others, while newspapers like PM News , which wa s an evening only newspaper, has ceased hardcopy production, maintaining only online presence. Surviving top newspapers like The Guardian, Thisday, Punch, Independent and Vanguard have reduced their workforce and the size of their publication depending on the quantum of advertisement realized per edition. The newspapers, like their counterparts in other parts of the world, have developed strong online presence even as their daily c opies are believed to have dipped despite Nigeria’s growing population. While other factors may have contributed to the demise of some of these publications, the influence of the young adults of today – the m ille nnials and digital n atives – cannot be over looked. The Internet and its plethora of social media platforms, which offer news for free and do not provide commensurate revenue to newspaper publishing houses as printed newspapers did, remain the pr eference of these young adults. These new media forms have blown the economic model of traditional journalism sky - high, and the rush to find a new model that will provide profits is prompting both innovation and relentless cost - cutting by the newspapers (Jones, 2009). Across the world, newspaper publishers a re inexorably striving to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by digital disruption and economic shifts. While there is no shortage of consumer demand for their core offering of news and information, newspapers are faced with competition fr om a multiplicity of alternative sources, many of them available online for free. As a result, newspaper publishers are faced with some fundamental questions. For example, what does it take to be – and remain – a trusted source of information for consumers in a world full of digital content and social media noise? How can newspapers continue to attract the modern day young adult to their content no matter where or how it is consumed? And going