In today’s world, numerous ways have emerged for accessing news. This article examines the popularity of different methods of viewing news in Egypt, discusses the varied topics of news that are specifically accessed by teenagers, and compares the number of smartphone users and daily newspaper circulation over the years.
Over the years, smartphones have become more prevalent and integral to each individual’s everyday life. This is directly reflected in the data that shows the popularity of different news sources across Egypt. The use of phones, computers, and surprisingly radios has increased over the past few years. Meanwhile, newspapers have become even less popular over the same time period among young people. Adolescents relying on the internet as their primary source and almost completely disregard newspapers would have some lasting effects. For example, teenagers will lose out on hearing local news since that is the focus of local newspapers, but not the internet. Interestingly, TV usage as a source of getting news has also plummeted, but it is still higher than computers’. However, compared to the previous young generation, millennials, this is quite the change. TV, back then, was the primary source of local and global news.
Another aspect worth noting is what exactly adolescents care about regarding news. Data shows that a substantial portion of them follow celebrities. This comes as no surprise, mainly due to the fact that young people from all around the world do the exact same. Although, extreme obsession with this type of news can have some devasting effects on them. To illustrate, this (obsession) might develop into a parasocial relationship and cause young individuals, in rare cases, to commit heinous crimes, ranging from light stalking to straight up blackmailing. Curiously, roughly only a third of them report using news sources to access national and international news. This percentage is considered low when compared to other types of news accessed by them.
When it comes to comparing smartphones and newspaper usage, numbers vary expectedly. Over the past 4 years, the number of mobile phones owners has jumped from about 25 to 65 million. Meanwhile, the number of daily newspaper circulation is decreasing, and most likely will continue to. This is to be expected with the numerous advancements and developments in technology in recent years. Not to mention, newspapers cost money and have become extremely difficult to get a hold of, while there are countless free news articles published on the internet every second. This might cause a part of the Egyptian newspaper culture to disappear, since they always had a column for a very distinct style of humor that was once loved by many.