I am a HUGE proponent of print media and even I find this to be ridiculous. I understand as the Internet and other alternate news sources have become more and more common and mainstream that the newspaper industry is suffering. This is a tragic yet expected reality. I love the history of the newspaper industry, the mental romanticized image of the printing presses and excited/haggard news-writers working round the clock in dingy offices to meet their deadlines. Unfortunately this image is no longer the reality. As technology has rightfully and necessarily exploded, the newspaper offices of old are no longer. As the alternate news sources have become mainstream the readership/subscription to these print papers are dwindling. There are a few niches that will retain their subscriptions for some time (ie: the intense old fashioned college professor, elderly folks, the stubborn), however these numbers are not enough to sustain and are also dwindling. The newspaper industry has responded with the explosion of Internet news by placing their newspapers online. They are attempting to regain some financial control by charging fees (either on a per article basis or by an annual subscription). In my opinion this will be one of the final nails in the proverbial coffin. Aside from the truly staunch readers most people with even a minuscule amount of Internet savvy will be able to come up with at least a half dozen FREE news sources without having to strain a braincell.
In Canada our primary national newspaper are The Globe and Mail and The National Post. National news is the easiest to find in alternate sources than those papers. CBC.ca is a good option as it's already paid for by our taxes.
The tougher niche to fill will be the local papers. It is difficult to find in depth LOCAL news anywhere other than your local paper. Certainly there are websites with the big stories, however, if you want to know what happened on the corner of Main St today when you saw some police lights - this will likely not appear anywhere other than your local paper. People read local paper to find out national stories as well as all the local goings on: events, flyers, obituaries, weddings, funerals, news, human interest stories - all of which pertain to the local level. These local papers which are starting to charge are going to be in big trouble. The Victoria Times Colonist site, for example, is starting to give people 20 free views and then it will be $9.95/month to subscribe to their digital edition. If you don't want to pay this you can continue to purchase the print edition which works for many folks - however- in this digital day and age of laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops at work, digital media is more convenient and faster. In order to compete with certain free sites that begin to popup (like my local www.discovermoosejaw.com) the local papers are not going to be able to charge $120/year for digital edition. Also, it's been proven time and time again - people like to purchase TANGIBLE goods that they can retain, review, reflect, and otherwise interact with in a TANGIBLE manner. People (especially in the 40+ age category) are less inclined to purchase something that they cannot touch.
I don't have a solution to this problem. Unfortunately. However, it is absolutely required that if the newspaper industry wants any chance at survival then they absolutely are required to become competitive and up-to-date.
I, for one, will never ever purchase a digital newspaper. If it is free I will read it. I read a lot of news online and have not yet had to pay for anything. If anyone needs to pay for a paper they are not looking hard enough for their news (not that you have to look hard at all). That being said, if I (or someone I love) appears in the news paper I may trundle off to my local newsstand to buy a paper in order to clip the article and save it for posterity (at this point this is the only true advantage of print media over digital).
