Post Visit: Growing Viewership

The Washington Post has always been an incredibly well known source of information for the people of the United States, in both print newspapers and their online outlets. After a comprehensive tour of a Washington Post building, I learned a lot about what goes on to make this incredible platform work and glide so smoothly. But also, through observation, I have a couple suggestions that I think may benefit the Washington Post, to help cater to the future and it's ever changing elements.

First, I think the Washington Post's main problem now, is the danger of losing viewership. As our tour guide, Mark Smith, who is a mobile editor for the Washington Post showed us the vast history of the Washington Post, and how they have transitioned from print to more online platforms. But at the same time, I think they would benefit by really focusing on what the growing population would want. As of now, not as many people read the newspaper as ever before, and with the help of mobile devices, the internet has become the greatest market. I think to cater to the young generations, the Post needs to focus more energy and time into how to please younger viewers, so that the legacy of the Washington Post doesn't die out at this generation.

Specifically, I think that the Washington Post would focus on more culture, and more drama like stories. Not to undermine real news, such as politics, and huge updates happening in the world, because that is the basis of what the Washington Post was built on: to inform people. But I think they would benefit by putting more articles and studies on comedic, or leisure articles, that may focus on celebrities, or pop culture, especially when they have free space and the time. Whether we like it or not, the younger generation is more into drama and celebrities than any other generation before, and if so, the Washington Post should try their best to cater to this new generation.

Lastly, I think it was awesome that they already began to use some newer technologies, such as the Virtual Reality, because these technologies will keep the Washington Post relevant. This way, the viewership will increase because everybody loves new technology. I think the Post is doing a good job keeping up with technological updates, but I think maybe creating or designing their own new ideas would be amazing as well. If the Washington Post itself could develop something never seen before, viewership would sky rocket, and at the same time News would be incredibly important again. Either way the Post just needs to continue to keep up with trends, and try their best to be a forerunner, instead of a follower of other newer platforms.

The Washington Post has always been an iconic name, and a behemoth in the News industry. If they continue to plan strategically, they will be able to continuously attract more eyeballs, and hopefully help them complete their original goal, which is to provide the news, to the people.