I’m one of the more than 14.7 million Canadians reading newspapers. Many of whom likely didn’t know that the newspaper industry is thriving.
Prior to seeing this Toronto Star story about this surprisingly robust medium, I thought I might be out of touch and wasting time on broadsheets visa vis digital information sources. You see, I enjoy the feel of daily papers and I think there’s a physiological advantage to reading hard copy. I process the offline info differently; I might even retain it better.
That said, I of course get most of my news digitally and have learned to efficiently (mostly) embrace the rich, fragmented, hyperlinked reality of social media. There are, after all, many credible, purely digital news sources, some of them led by talented ex-journalists, who will ensure that online media continues to grow.
However, old media will also continue to thrive because newspapers have far more trained journalists skilled at researching and writing interesting stories. These writers and their papers are trusted. Also, many of these old media companies are effectively embracing the new. The result: even if people aren’t reading offline, they’re paying attention online.
At least that’s what I read on a website.
Campbell Communications 