FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS IN DOUBT

By Sally Morris and Fiona Self - Bond University Journalism Students

 In the wake of new Apple iPad Varsity Lakes residents have mixed feelings about the future of newspapers.

Christine Corner Newsagency co-owner Tony Braid said newspaper sales over the last three years have not declined as far as he was concerned.

Mr Braid said while Generation Y will look to the internet and other medias for news newspapers will not become extinct.

“I do think there will always be a place for newspapers because it’s finite,” he said.

“You buy a newspaper and there’s page one and it ends on page 100, whereas the internet is infinite.”

Retired engineer and Varsity Lakes resident Peter Owens said he stopped subscribing to newspapers two years ago but found them useful for the classifieds.

“When I want a tradesman I always open up the local rag,” he said.

“You’re never going to be able to do that with quite that level of intimacy on the web.”

Mr Owens said he was unimpressed with the quality of reporting in newspapers.
“I’ve noticed a lot of journalists mix numbers up,” he said.  “It’s just infuriating.”

Varsity Lakes local resident, 18-year-old Lillian Javadi said she preferred to read the news on the internet and on her iPhone.

“I find it easier to sift through information that is relevant to me on the internet than it is in newspapers,” she said.

“In between classes it’s much easier to quickly read headlines on the internet than it is to carry a newspaper around.”

For further information on the Australian release date of the Apple iPad go to www.apple.com