Eagle Eye assistant editor Anjali Kapilavai tackles the age-old paper vs. digital debate.
Pictured above: Digital and print formatting have been a point of debate in journalism since the rise of online news outlets. Image credits: Getty Images
Is there a point in printing books and other forms of media on paper? In the new digital age, paper may not be the best way to reach the greatest number of people and may raise environmental concerns. Is paper media now obsolete?
One pro of paper books is simply the physical format. Books are well organized and flipping through pages is arguably easier than scrolling through a PDF. It’s also easier to make annotations, take notes, and mark sections of importance. Paper media can also be easier to explore and advertise. For example, if you are looking for a good book to read, while scanning titles on a shelf, you can find something that you weren’t specifically looking for. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a book online, there’s a good chance that you only need it to ctrl+F answers to English homework.
This may not apply to other forms of media, however. Articles and other forms of news are most easily accessed through a Google search. Trying to find information from past editions is difficult when the articles are not digitized. And digital articles also save paper waste. Especially when printing out many pages and copies of some material, digitizing it may be the most sustainable way to go.
The Eagle Eye staff recognizes the trade offs that must be made when switching to a primary form of publishing. Both paper and electronic editions have pros and cons, so we chose to have the best of both worlds by simply doing both. Past editions and special features are all published on the Eagle Eye website. This gives readers a quick way to access articles without losing out on personal preference of paper. Thanks for taking a look at mcaeagleeye.wixsite.com/mca-eagle-eye.