Print media characteristics are determined by the message, the delivery and the production. When using print media, it’s advantageous to know what you want to say and the best way to say it. Whether it’s direct mail, magazines, newspapers or fliers and business cards handed out in grocery stores, all are characteristics of print media fulfilling its determined purpose.

Newspapers are the most common printed mass media. Delivered to the home or sold at a newsstand, newspapers can be published daily, or regularly over the course of a week or month. Newspaper have the advantage of providing quick, inexpensive and tangible delivery of both news and advertising. You can’t clip a pizza coupon from a radio advertisement. Magazines provide on a weekly or other periodic basis what the newspaper cannot: in-depth coverage and analysis of specific events or issues, not just the news of today. In most cases for newspaper and magazine print media, the information is a way to bring readers–and potential customers– to the advertisements. A few specialty newspapers and magazines are supported solely by subscription and stand sales but they are not the norm.