Dispatch editor James Cracknell what the future might hold for print newspapers

In an age when almost everyone has instant access to the latest news headlines on their phones, you might wonder why we bother to keep printing our stories on old-fashioned newsprint.

Well, firstly, it remains easier for us to make money from print. More than half of our income continues to come directly from print advertising. That’s because many advertisers rightly recognise the benefits that physical newspapers still have over online, and are willing to pay a premium to reach readers this way.

Secondly, print has a power and an authority that the internet has failed to surpass or replicate. For nearly three decades people have talked about the death of print, with a seeming inevitability that it is only a matter of time before the medium is rendered obsolete.

While print sales have indeed plummeted, there still remains a market for newsprint, and those predicting its demise might soon be forced into a rethink.

Remember that people also used to once talk the same way about vinyl records, as iTunes and other online music platforms surged in popularity in the early 2000s. But then something strange happened; the rapid loss of physical media made people realise what they were losing, and sales of vinyl records began to climb. They have increased every year since 2007 in the UK.

Could the same happen to print? The signs, I would argue, are there. Last month on this page I wrote about how artificial intelligence (AI) was polluting the internet. Bad actors now have incredible technological tools at their disposal for creating fake images and videos, as well as fake news articles. It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell what’s real from fake in the online world, and that is only likely to get worse as the tech bros of Silicon Valley continue to push back against government efforts at regulation.

With the online space becoming more and more untrustworthy, where will people go? In an increasingly scary and volatile world, print publications offer a comforting sense of reliability and trustworthiness that the internet can’t match. It is that same yearning for the nostalgia of old media that has helped fuel increases in vinyl sales.

So thank you for choosing to pick up the print edition of Enfield Dispatch, and being part of our vision of a glorious analogue future.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.