Generally, I cannot imagine a better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning if it doesn’t include flipping through the New York Times (or its equivalent when I travel abroad) and sipping a cappuccino. However, I only do that on Sundays, and read newspapers online during the week.
As with most other outlets, trade publications, or even glossy magazines that I used to read in print, I now follow those nearly exclusively online. Sadly, I did away with my favorite WSJ subscription, too. I can now access pretty much everything on the web.
The slow death in print has been a hot conversation topic in my professional circles. Some us agree that print has long lasting value and is more personal, and others are done with magazines printed on recycled paper. News is found immediately online, making print editions outdated the minute they to press.
And that is true.
While sad, it’s important to maintain some connection with news, headlines or not, on a more personal level. In fact, much content that is usually in print, doesn’t always make it online (sidebar stories, especially). Of course, all online content will never appear fully in the print edition either.
From a PR perspective, the more we know, the better equipped we are for our clients. However, maintaining a balance between print and online news is important when we pitch and keep up with our media relationships. Both print and web have value to reach the right people. Speaking for myself, I think print has become more of a comfortable pastime while following stories online is now part of a daily routine.
But, scanning the news environment will always be a part of our jobs as PR people. I fondly recall the days working at my first hotel when I would spend an hour a day reading newspapers and magazines, and coworkers would stop by thinking I was reading because I had nothing else to do!
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