A student came by my office the other day to talk about the CSU Today newspaper. He wasn’t too happy that the newspaper was missing, in his opinion, a key ingredient…namely paper. If you’re new to campus you should know that the newspaper published by the Mass Communication department has evolved over the years from a weekly newspaper (printed on real paper) to an online paper that is updated on a more timely basis. In addition to the online news website, the department publishes a supplemental quarterly magazine (on glossy paper) in which feature stories are published.
This decision was made in response to two trends…1) increasing costs associated with printing and delivery of a traditional paper-based product, and 2), the movement by mainstream newspapers away from paper and towards electronic delivery. There will always be people who want to hold a “real” paper in their hands as they have their coffee each morning…but more and more that model is failing the sustainability test. Ink squirted on dead trees is a legacy medium that has greater environmental costs, greater production costs, a diminishing economic structure, and an aging user base. In short, the paper is dying.
Many of us who grew up reading a “paper” are sad to see this era come to an end…but the writing is on the wall, or perhaps I should say, the writing is on the screen.