NYT futurist claims young don't have 'emotional attachment to paper'

New York Times (NYT) recently appointed 'futurist-in-residence' has claimed that young readers do not have an 'emotional attachment to paper'.

Last week the NYT announced the appointment of Michael Rogers as futurist-in-residence - to keep the organisation abreast of how technological developments will affect the newspaper industry.

Rogers, a former new-media executive with the Washington Post who writes the Practical Futurist column for MSNBC, told I Want Media that despite great technological advancements newspapers would not disappear, to be replaced by mobile and internet editions, for some time.

He said: "Paper is a high-resolution, high-contrast, unbreakable and extremely inexpensive display device.

"As the years go on, though, I think we may see more newspaper content delivered electronically and printed locally.

"However, we're within a few years of seeing some very effective electronic reading devices that finally do begin to challenge paper.

"The new Times Reader, on a tablet PC, is already a pretty good experience. Spin that forward five years and you're starting to have a compelling alternative.

"Finally, in another decade, a substantial part of our audience will have grown up already doing much more of their reading on screen, and they're not likely to have the same emotional attachment to paper as does much of the current readership."

Asked what he saw as the biggest challenge facing newspapers companies, he replied:

"It's unquestionably the business model: how to generate revenues online that are comparable to what our traditional businesses yield.

"We have lots of ideas about how to tell stories online, and we're beginning to accumulate substantial and devoted audiences. The next step is making sure that the new digital realm generates the dollars it will take to support quality journalism in the years to come."

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