Yesterday, the owner of the Independent newspaper announced that* Independent* and The Independent on Sunday newspapers would cease to put out their print editions from the end of next month. Bite-sized edition The i is in talks to be sold to another company. ESI Media said that there would be redundancies in store for some of their editorial staff, but that there would also be opportunity for them to hire 25 people in new roles as they move towards a 'digital-only future.' Ding dong – print is dead. RIP.
The Independent isn’t the first publication to make this kind of move (many papers in the US have changed their focus to a more online-centred output) and it certainly won’t be the last. As the news market changes with our reading habits, there are handily more ways than ever to keep up with current affairs...
**Keep it social **
Let’s face it – while a lot of us are of course interested in what’s happening in the world, we don’t often have a free chunk of time in the day to sit and pore over every story in a paper. What we do have time to do, perhaps a little too often, is have a scroll through Twitter and Facebook just to check nothing outrageous (read: Kanye-related) has happened in the past 20 minutes. While you’re there, why not keep an eye on the news? Keeping a separate list of your favourite journalists and papers is a good way to keep things in your peripheral vision at all times and pretty low effort. Most of the larger publications also break down their news into different accounts, so say if you only want the science, politics or celebrity news, you could just follow that thread and get the stuff you’re really interested in. Job done.
**Download the apps **
Most major outlets will have an app version of their platform so you have a one-stop shop for stories all in a handy square button. One of the best things about using apps for news is the notifications. Whereas on Twitter, for example, you can get notifications on a news publication’s tweets, the fact is you probably don’t want to be notified about every story they put out, or be alerted multiple times to the same one when it’s reposted. News apps, on the other hand, have far better filtering for their mobile alerts – I use the BBC News app and you get a very official sounding noise when one of their ‘breaking’ news stories pops up. Makes me feel very grown up and news-y.
Keep it traditional(ish)
If you’re an avid news reader and actually enjoy sitting down with your paper – good for you and I’m sorry for your loss. Think of the saved paper. Rainforest critters will thank you for your sacrifice. Moving with the times, the next best thing has got to be the online edition. If you’re loyal to a particular paper and would be buying it anyway, transfer yourself to an online subscription instead. Most major papers already have an subscription package, so if you’re desperate to read The Guardian as it was intended then that could be the best way to go. AND it’ll be delivered straight to you via the interwebs so you don’t have to schlep out to the corner shop in the rain for it. Everyone’s a winner.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.