I do not believe that newspapers will ever go completely electronic. There are far too many situations where reading offline is the only cost-effective solution.
For example, many people read their newspapers over a meal, while traveling, in a public place, or in the bathroom; an electronic device that can be read in these situations requires a substantial financial investment, can be awkward to use, and in most cases requires a hefty monthly fee – a huge deterrent as the U.S. standard of living continues to fall. I
In addition, a significant number of individuals either cannot or will not understand the technology required to read the news electronically.
Until it is no more expensive to read the news online, newspapers will always have a market. It is true that circulation will continue to fall, and newspapers might only publish a few days every week. But there is far too much of a market for people reading the news offline for publishers and newspapers to ignore.
Newspapers could also greatly reduce their production costs. For example, Lancaster Newspapers has an outdated Flexo newspaper press, which uses an expensive and complex labor-intensive process to create the printed image.
8 West King Street could learn from their Lancaster County Weeklies division in Ephrata, which uses a far simpler – and much less expensive – offset printing process.
