A new study by the London School of Economics has found strong evidence for the decline in newspaper sales.
Professor Delman reported that, ‘It may not be obvious to the layman but if you sell something for x and y and give away the same product for absolutely nothing, in this case online newspapers, then sales will suffer. It may be counterintuitive but the data gathered over the last five years clearly show this link.’
Other researchers dispute this view and cite tap water and walking that are effectively free but people still buy bottled water and pay to walk on a treadmill in a gym. Professor Delman says the argument in that case doesn’t hold and that this is a case of ‘idiots’ skewing the data.
The team at LSE also found strong positive correlation between the decline in British TV comedy and the presence of talented comedy writers giving their services for free via online satirical websites.