The Values of Print: Affordances and Sensemaking for Newspaper Consumers

Abstract

This paper examines print affordances based on Gibson’s conceptualization. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with long-time newspaper subscribers to understand three kinds of affordances: physical affordances germane to the print medium, perceived affordances utilized by experienced readers, and relational affordances generated in the transactional process of news consumption. We argued that affordances offer a theoretical lens to understand print, or any other media, and in how they facilitate information acquisition in news consumption and sensemaking of the consumption process. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.