Effect of Electronic Newspaper on Print Newspaper Patronage in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Information is necessary if people want to take meaningful part in the affairs of that society. The Internet has taken over other forms of media with the availability of digitization and online publication. This study assessed the effect of electronic newspapers on print newspaper patronage in Lagos State, Nigeria, Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select I, 113 newspaper readers from four local government areas of Lagos State for survey Data were obtained with the use of structured questionnaire, The study is anchored in Technological Determinism Theory which holds that all technology is communication, Findings revealed that electronic newspaper is negatively affecting print newspaper because electronic newspaper is the mam source of news of respondents because it meets their information needs faster than print newspaper. There is also the gradual replacement of print with electronic newspaper. This study concluded that the Internet has transformed the media world especially in newspaper publication thus negatively affecting print newspaper readership. The paper recommended that publishers should consider the publication of evening print newspaper to meet the information need of the public faster and update newspaper readers on the latest events or breaking news to be able to retain and gain more readership for print newspaper.