The death of all newspapers

While taking walks in the evening, my husband and I used to see the Toronto Star sold everywhere. Seeing them now has become less and less frequent. Could it be the beginning of the end for all newspapers. The toronto star is, by the way, one of the largest newspapers in Canada.

• I think paper news is basically only kept around for the older generation who aren't into computers or don't know how to use one. I have a feeling within the next 10 years they'll be basically gone. They're a waste of paper and they are out-of-date the minute they finish printing them.

• I agree, r1. I don't know anybody who reads print copies of newspapers, and even magazines are mostly read online by the younger generation. Once the older generation is gone, I think newspapers and magazines in print form will be gone too.

• Why would you think any of us gives two shits about the Toronto Star?

• Yeah, most of the print newspapers are dying. They all need to find a way to make money online or they'll die completely, and while some dumb shits here will say "who cares," having a paper that is willing to investigate and write about what's happening in your city/region is one of the best things about this country. And if we lose that to blogs and websites that may not follow those same standards, we'll be fucked.

• Newspapers will continue to disappear like pay phones and phone booths have.

  Anomynous%20

• True, r5. When was the last time you saw a payphone except in an airport terminal or train station? I can't even remember the last time I saw a payphone anywhere else. My parents who are well into their 60's are never going to give up their two daily newspapers. The thought of them (my father especially) sitting in front of a computer or a tablet to read their news every morning is ridiculous - they're too old to change what they've been doing for 50 years. I'm in my 30's and I have not been a regular newspaper (in print form) reader for about 10 years now. Everything is online for me, as well as everyone I know in my age group.

• The end of magazines too. I used to have many subscriptions but cancelled them all. I would rather read online.

• [quote]They all need to find a way to make money online or they'll die completely, and while some dumb shits here will say "who cares," having a paper that is willing to investigate and write about what's happening in your city/region is one of the best things about this country. Very true. My old local newspaper--and I've looked at a lot of issues from the 40s and 50s on what's left of the Google news archive--had a lot of local news. The current version largely consists of stories pulled off the AP/Reuters feed, plus local sports and police reports.

• That reminds me, OP. Does anyone know what happened to the town cryer? I can't remember the last time I saw that loud mouth.

• I love them still, but even I like the small format tabloid kind with 3 pages of comics.

• Newspapers in Canada died a couple decades ago when they were all bought by Conrad Black and turned rightwing.

• While I read papers online, I prefer to hold a paper in my hand. Having a physical copy of it, I tend to read more stories and read more thoroughly. Also many times going online to read a paper, I don't read a story because the headline doesn't grab me. But with the physical version, even if the headline doesn't grab me, sometimes the photo or the headline on the jump page will. But I agree, the print edition of the paper will be gone in the next 10-15 years, save for a handful of papers like the NY Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.