Editorial

They tell us newspapers will not exist in 10 years. They tell us to forget all we have learned about print design. They ramble off numbers of papers that are losing circulation and focusing primarily on providing news online.

What’s so great about online newspapers? They’re free, and we all love free things. We can roll out of bed and not have to even open the door to have the latest information at our fingertips. And even better, we don’t have to wait until tomorrow’s paper or even the evening edition arrives to get the breaking news. We can have it right now because online news can be updated and published in the blink of an eye.

However, there is an amazing phenomenon occurring on campus. More and more students are picking up the print copy of our paper, rather than going online. This goes against everything we have learned about our generation. We are supposed to be the online generation, loving our computers and shunning old forms of media. Why are we still increasing the number of papers printed each week?

Don’t take this the wrong way. We love that you all are reading the Review, but why aren’t you following the readers of the New York Times and USA Today?

It might have something to do with the fact that the Review is free; we’ll admit that. It may be you love walking into Dillin Hall Saturday mornings and sitting down with a big plate of pancakes, coffee and the latest edition of the paper. We have also heard newspapers will last much longer in small towns because they act as a connection to the community and a piece of daily nostalgia.

Honestly, we enjoy playing with the layout of the paper every week and figuring out how to make the headlines catch your eyes. But, we are all about options.

We considered the fact that students aren’t going online because our Web site was disappointing. It didn’t have the option of e-mailing a story to a friend, a place to comment or the ability to read the latest specialty blogs of students on campus.

Just you wait.

With this issue, we are debuting our new Web site atwww.linfield.edu/linfield-review. It doesn’t have all of the cool stuff yet, but it will in the coming weeks as we play around with it a bit more. We are most excited about having the ability to have the newest headlines right in your Facebook profile.

Is there anything you would like to see on our Web site that doesn’t make it into the weekly paper? A new column or Dillin’s dinner menu for the week? Perhaps you have an idea for a daily blog? Please e-mail us at [email protected]. We want to offer you the best of both worlds, whatever your preference may be.