An MSNBC article by Tony Sclafani tackled the issue of people wanting news, but not the paper. His article reveals that people across the US are turning to free on-line versions of their local paper in lieu of the less tree-friendly paper version.

I’m definitely in the on-line category. I’ve never had a paper subscription. It’s just much easier to peruse news sources on-line — no muss, no fuss, no waste. But the article’s closing paragraph does make a good point:

…if newspapers cease publishing hard copy editions, they’ll be leaving elderly readers without a longstanding resource for news.

While news is a for-profit model in many cases, it’s also a public service. To disregard a sizable demographic of the readership would be irresponsible.

So where’s the compromise? Clearly on-line news sources will only continue to expand, but how can papers responsibly phase out their hard-copies?

There are more questions than answers about the fate of newspapers. One thing is for certain though, it’s not a question of IF newspapers will go away…it’s WHEN & HOW.

~R