'Difficult to survive selling merely newspaper'

It has become very difficult for Afzal to survive by selling merely newspaper as the print media is gradually losing its readers due to influence of internet-based news sources that led him to sell various products at his newspaper sale center.

"Once we sold about 300 copies of newspapers per day but now cannot sell 5-10 too. So I sell various products besides newspapers at the newspaper sale center to survive," Afzal thus told this correspondent on Monday night.

"He cannot pay the subscription of Newspaper Hawkers Cooperative Association, and rent of city corporation if sells only newspaper," he added. 

Now few people buy newspaper to read as they can easily get lastest news from television and online news portals, he explained reasons behind the fall of newspaper sale.

Afzal came to the business by his father who once was a newspaper hawker and run the Newspaper Sale Center in the entrance of New Market in Dhaka.

Though shop was allotted by city corporation for newspaper sale but now it turned into an one of various products that include women's clothes, shoes, some story books, magazine, newspapers and so on.

A decade ago people were seen buying newspapers from the shops of newspaper sale centers in queue and crowded to hawkers for necessary old papers but the scenario has changed verily.

Afzal said like him all who run newspaper sale center sell different products alongside selling newspapers to earn money by which they can lead comparatively a better life.

This correspondent visited different newspaper sale centers and talked people working in these. They all say it is quite impossible to survive by selling just newspapers.