Leader 50th: Young people still support newspapers
BY SANDRA SIAGIAN
03 Mar, 2010 11:29 PM
THERE has been much speculation about the future of newspapers, with suggestions that in decades to come, print editions may not exist.
The Leader, which is celebrating its 50th year of publication, held an open forum to find out if young people believed the industry had a future.
Among the group of university and high school students, aged 17 to 23, from St George and Sutherland Shire, the general consensus was that newspapers would continue to have a place in mass media for the next decade at least.
Cameron Roberts, 18, of Caringbah, said he believed people did not value electronic media the same way as hard copy.
“Anyone can publish stuff on the internet,” Mr Roberts said. “But there seems to be more credibility and authenticity in [newspaper] editorials, with the processes they follow.”
While they agreed the internet would provide easier access to news, the majority said that, hands down, they would prefer to read their news in a hard copy rather than online format.
The Leader asked its younger readers what they would like to see more of in their community newspaper.