Without it, America would further be driven to more illiteracy. Some Americans only read the news becasue they have to. If al print media went strictly to broadcast, there would be less of a need to read to see if any information is important.
It provides more people with jobs. There are many steps to publishing a story in a newspaper. These people all see the paper before it is in the hands of consumers: writer, editor, copy editor, print editor, publisher, his workers who bundle them up, newspaper carriers, newsstand owners. (Lots of money being provided in jobs) In broadcast, the script is approved between fewer number of people and some newsstations can run with as little as six people now that we have automation on cameras.
It's useful for domestic things, like dog potty training, and starting fires, and packaging.
Disadvantages:
Lots of paper is used in such production.
Some people can't read, but everyone can understand English. (well not the illegals, but still) And is therefore more accessible to more people.
People don't wanna take the time out of their day to sit down and read the latest when they can listen to it on their iPod on the way to work.
