Bad news

[claymore]

Do you think that newspapers have had their day,that they are a waste of natural resources and the cause of much pollution? We can get all our news and information electronically these days, nearly as soon as it happens. with the amount of tripe being printed these days I reckon their demise is long overdue.

[Ethel]

Well I haven't bought or read a newspaper for 5 years or so.

Even the local newspaper is available on line, so I don't have the free papers either.

[daffy654]

Believe it or not there are still people in the world who don't have access to the internet.

[Ethel]

That is true, daffy, but most of the Western world has 24/7news via radio or tv

[boogieboogie]

Today I had to sit in my car & wait for 1hr. I dropped off my son at golf and decided to stay as there was a bad accident on the road.
Anyway I sat there reading my car manual, wishing I'd bought a newspaper. People were emerging with dogs from the woods and one very old man returned with his dog & sat in the car with a flask, poured himself a drink, put on his birdsong tape (very loud) ate a sandwich and read a newspaper for 45mins.
Online news was no good to him or me this morning.

[Lonnie]

I travel on trains to and from work, and almost everyone has a newspaper, bought or free, I also drive Underground trains, and at the terminals, there are literally hundreds left on the seats.

I reckon, as long as people commute to work, there'll be a demand for them.

[Ethel]

You can buy eReaders and download your daily paper. It is much smaller than any broadsheet or tabloid, and so much easier to read on public transport.

[littleoldme]

The only newspapers I ever buy these days (and then only rarely) are local ones. I know they're full of stories about school fetes, letters complaining about inconsiderate parking, and major scoops about Mr Wilberforce's prize-winning pumpkins, but at least they don't try to brainwash you into a certain thought process. I get my "proper" news from television and radio.

[blackcat77]

I like doing (or trying to do) the crossword; it is really not the same trying to do it online. The only thing I do think is silly is having so many supplements at the weekends.

[jno]

Ethel, if newspapers have had their day then there won't be any to look at on your eReader; they'll have gone bust. You'll have to rely instead on TV news - and I believe their viewing figures are also in slow decline - or news websites. The latter are not necessarily reliable. If you read the Telegraph, you know a long-respected name is responsible for giving you the news (this doesn't mean it will always be accurate, but there will be someone to carry the can if it isn't). If you see a story on the Drudge Report, who knows whether it's any more accurate than anything in the News of the World or those American newspapers that carry reports of Elvis being found on the moon?

Newspapers have other functions, of course: carrying opinion pieces, gossip, entertainment listings and so on. These are more easily replicated online. But the retailing of actual news comes down to who you'd trust to give it to you straight - or of course whether you could care less. It seems quite a few younger Americans thought the Georgia that was invaded by Russia was the state in the southern USA; clearly, they're not paying too much attention to public affairs anyway.

[Ethel]

The question refers to newspapers and waste of natural resources.

A digital newspaper does not waste paper and there are plenty of respectable tv and radio current affairs programmes where respected journalists make their views known.

[Abdulmajid]

But Ethel, do you ever click on the adverts from on-line newspapers?

I am imagine, with the vast majority of the populus, is a resounding "no"

They are a commercial enterprise and must print to exist. Who or what else will pay the reporters and editors wages?

[puddicat]

Love my newspaper when i finish with it my cat does her business on it everyone happy!!!!

[JonnyBoy12]

Television will never replace the role of newspapers. Have you ever tried to swat a fly with a television set?

Seriously though, newspapers do support recycling, and are doing their bit with a recycling rate of 80.3%, and counting. I do my bit for the environment by not buying a paper. I find them free every day on the buses and trains I commute to work in!

[Ice.Maiden]

No, no - with the price of electricity shooting up, it'll soon be cheaper to read a paper than have computers on all day!

[jno]

I realise that, Ethel; but pretty much the only online newspapers are those set up on the back of real printed newspapers. If people stop buying these papers, to save time, money or natural resources, the whole lot goes bust, online versions included. Few papers have found an online business model that works. I could foresee bbc.co.uk being the only reliable news source left, but even that will for the foreseeable future rely on BBC TV providing the money.

[R1Geezer]

if it gets to the point that the costs of production outweigh any sales etc, then they'll die. Not difficult.