Although people have been predicting the demise of the newspaper for decades, the printed word has adapted to changing conditions and retained a majority of the readership in spite of increased multimedia competition. Instead of being supplanted by the Internet, newspapers have actually become major players on the world wide web, with their sites drawing a growing audience to both their content and their advertising.

According to a recent study conducted by the independent agency, Nielsen Online, 37 percent of all active web users (about 72 million) visited newspaper websites during the fourth quarter of 2009, with visits averaging 45 pages per month. Seen in this way, the rise of the Internet has actually increased the reach of newspaper advertising, rather than inhibited it.

With today’s newspapers, your organization isn’t forced to choose between Internet and print for your advertising needs—you can have both! If you need any more evidence of the continuing effectiveness of newspaper advertising, look no further than Internet colossus Google. They recently spanned their marketing reach into newspapers, on the “old-fashioned” printed page.