A changeing lifestyle !

Way back in 1956 when television started in Australia many pundits suggested that the era of newspapers was doomed. They were wrong !

What they failed to take into account was that television news is composed of short " bites " with no backup substance. Newspapers on the other hand, treat the subject in depth and this appeals to serious readers.

Now it seems that newspapers are again under threat, this time from a combination of the economic downturn - and the Internet !

Newspapers have been steadily increasing in subscription price and this - balanced against advertising income - is the key to profitability. Inflation will continue to increase the cost of newsprint, ink and labour and at the same time the recession has sharply reduced the pool of advertisers.

Job losses and the fragile economy will see many people cut back discretionary expenditure - and having a daily newspaper delivered is sure to be one of the costs to be reviewed.

The number of households with a computer has been steadily increasing and the ratio of people computer literate expands as the age demographic inches upward. This is where the threat to newspapers increases.

It is one of life's ironies that most newspapers can be read free on-line. It seems a natural progression in hard times that the savvy will cut out paying for something that they can view free.

The newspaper world is worried - and looking enviously at Steve Jobs successful innovation of persuading music fans to pay one dollar a tune to download music - and Jeff Bezoz scheme to sell electronic versions of books and novels.

It seems a natural progression that the delivered daily paper will change format and present an abbreviated form of news - with the invitation to pay a small subscription to view a vastly expanded news service on their on-line format. Serious thought is being given to devising a means of charging for access.

We will probably see some daily papers contract to a thrice weekly edition, and many may cease publication entirely.

Advertising will still play a big part in profit and cost, but change is on the way and a decade from now the newspaper world will be vastly changed from the present.

Whether that is a sign of progress will be a moot point !