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In all our favorite sitcoms, the classic morning routine often features a character reading the daily newspaper over a cup of coffee.

As digital notifications replace the rustling of paper, this scene has become a nostalgic ritual of the past, an unrealistic practice in our electronic world. The case for doing away with printed newspapers has become increasingly necessary, and urges reconsideration of media consumption, environmental impact and modern news circulation.

A multitude of evidence supports the out-of-date nature of print newspapers.

According to the Pew Research Center, 97% of Americans own a cell phone. With devices glued to the hand of nearly every U.S. citizen, readership of physical newspapers is at an all-time low.

A recent survey by Marketing Charts sheds light on the changing landscape of printed newspapers among Americans. Only 32.1% reported reading the paper a few times a week, while a staggering 66.9% either rarely or never engaged with it.

In another notable study from 2021, Redline discovered that weekly printed newspaper circulation had plummeted to an average of just 24.3 million, a dramatic decline from the 63.2 million in 1990. The financial toll has been equally brutal, with revenue for American newspaper publishers dropping by an alarming 52% between 2002 and 2020.

Much of this downturn can be attributed to the rise of digital news. Redline’s research indicates that around 86% of American adults now get their news online, with 60% accessing it on a regular basis.

The shift to digital news is unsurprising, as online media emerges superior to traditional newspapers. Digital news allows for real-time updates on pressing events, whereas newspapers are limited to a daily or weekly publication. Our world overflows with breaking news and political events, making the immediacy of online reports absolutely essential. Especially with the upcoming presidential election, instant updates have never been so important.

Additionally, digital news can be more accessible to individuals with disabilities through features such as text-to-speech, high-contrast mode and adjustable text sizes. Text-to-speech and adjustable text sizes are helpful for individuals with reading disabilities or visual impairments, and high-contrast mode can aid those with color blindness or weak vision.

Printed newspapers fail to offer this level of convenience and inclusivity.

As the digital landscape of media continues to evolve, print newspapers become increasingly obsolete.

Readership and revenue have hit all-time lows, and newspapers also present major environmental risks. Print newspapers contribute to the epidemic of deforestation, as the production of paper tears through the world’s forests and displaces millions of species.

According to The World Counts organization, paper accounts for approximately 26% of the total waste in landfills. From 2001 to 2019, global deforestation resulted in the loss of 386 million hectares of forest land, causing a 10% decrease in tree coverage since 2000. Alarmingly, 42% of the world’s wood harvest goes toward paper production, underscoring the significant environmental impact of our reliance on paper.

These disconcerting numbers highlight a distressing reality: the high demand for paper driven by newspapers is not only worsening environmental degradation, but is also accelerating climate change.

Forests act as carbon sinks, or entities that absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. By destroying these environments, deforestation causes these sinks to become massive net emitters of carbon, drastically hastening climate change.

Deforestation also displaces indigenous communities. The loss of forest land destroys their dwellings and resources, and they are often forced to migrate elsewhere. In the name of consumerism, we often forget that our cultural norms rely on the purging of resources, negatively impacting livelihoods.

Considering the environmental impact and impracticality of newspapers, ending their production would be immensely beneficial for society. By reducing deforestation, cutting carbon emissions and minimizing waste, the elimination of printed articles will foster a more sustainable future.

Even so, some continue to argue in defense of maintaining their existence.

In the name of preserving tradition, some consumers value the routine of unfolding a newspaper at the start of their day. Printed newspapers are deeply rooted in American culture, so it’s understandable that some would prefer to maintain this custom.

However, adapting to digital formats does not equate to abandoning tradition.

Rather, newspapers provide new ways to preserve and celebrate culture. Online platforms make cultural content available to a global audience, sharing traditional practices and art forms with a wider range of people. Thus, digital media enriches our traditions by allowing for greater accessibility and interaction with future generations.

Banning print newspapers wouldn’t displace American tradition—it would simply conform it to the modern era.

Another concern that arises with ending print is the loss of credibility in stories. The general public often perceives printed articles to be more trustworthy and reliable than online sources. The publication process of physical newspapers cultivates a sense of authority and truth in the paper, a factor that readers may gravitate toward when searching for credible sources.

The dependability of printed newspapers versus online media is not the heart of the problem. News reliability lies in the quality of the news source. Although it can be easier to spread false information online, digital platforms counter these attacks by providing tools to verify and back up information.

Myriad online media sites continue to maintain a high journalistic standard and have amassed vast audiences, including NPR, Sage Publishing and the Wall Street Journal. These websites are just a few among the numerous reliable networks online, proving that the credibility of information does not rely on the medium of the source, but the source itself.

In the face of an increasingly digitized environment, job losses have emerged as an additional concern. According to Forbes, 43,000 journalists have left the writing scene since 2005, and the majority of these writers worked for daily print newspapers.

Some contend that ending printed papers threatens to accelerate this job decline and disrupt the economy of the journalism industry. These beliefs uphold that the displacement of writers will diminish the revenue of publishers and cause the success of journalistic fields to dwindle as a whole.

However, shifting from printed to digital media does not mean increased job loss. Transitioning to digital news can open doors for new job opportunities as media, technology and content creation continue to evolve. For instance, digital news outlets require specialists in social media management, data analysis and multimedia content creation. These roles are essential to optimizing online content and ensuring that news of the latest events reaches a large population.

The case for ending print newspapers has never been more relevant. The threats of deforestation and declined readership have rendered print newspapers largely unnecessary and obsolete. The American custom of newspapers can be preserved in a digital format, enabling greater accessibility and increased circulation of information.

Digital media has a strong grip on society and is here to stay. It’s time to fully embrace the online era.

The end of printed articles will bring us one step closer to a more efficient, more effective society.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 print edition.