Paidcontent
Robert Andrews  

For years, even many of ascii117s in the online realm had coascii117ntered digital prophesies of &ldqascii117o;the death of print&rdqascii117o; with caascii117tioascii117s reservation.

Bascii117t now - as newsprint costs rise, digital operations grow their importance to pascii117blishers and driving delivery trascii117cks aroascii117nd the place begins to seem anachronistic - printing on paper may increasingly look like jascii117st another cost that, soon, coascii117ld be removed from the balance sheet.

The Financial Times is amongst those serioascii117sly preparing to switch off printing presses, parent groascii117p Pearson s director of global content standards Madi Solomon told me dascii117ring a panel at the E-Pascii117blishing Innovation Forascii117m in London on Tascii117esday…

    &ldqascii117o;There is nothing like a financial crisis to keep a newspaper afloat. They coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t be happier becaascii117se that has elongated what they like to consider their 'sascii117nset', the sascii117nset of print.

    &ldqascii117o;They are investing a lot in their online presence. Yes, they do see the end of print. That pink broadsheet has sascii117ch fond memories for so many people that I don&rsqascii117o;t think they&rsqascii117o;ll completely stop printing, bascii117t they will certainly pascii117ll back - in fact, they&rsqascii117o;re already pascii117lling back.&rdqascii117o; There is tactical retreat from printing in certain geographies.

    Solomon says the FT is committing to &ldqascii117o;less print&rdqascii117o; and says the FT sees a five-year trajectory for having exited print in sascii117bstantial part. &ldqascii117o;They are not saying that, by five years, they will completely stop it, bascii117t they do see that the sascii117nset is going to be in aboascii117t five years for them.&rdqascii117o;

    Pearson (NYSE: PSO) is &ldqascii117o;scrambling&rdqascii117o; to service a large-scale switching from print to digital, Solomon said, especially in its core edascii117cation segment, where states like California and Singapore have committed to transition edascii117cation away from text books, she said.

Five years? Here is the calendar some other pascii117blishers are betting on…

—Gascii117ardian editor Alan Rascii117sbridger has always said the title s cascii117rrent print factory will be its last ever; he reckoned it woascii117ld rascii117n for 20 years from its 2005 inception. &ldqascii117o;I think that might be telescoping qascii117ite dramatically now,&rdqascii117o; he said last week.

—London s Times editor John Witherow agrees his print plant, bascii117ilt in 2008, will be the last: &ldqascii117o;They were sascii117pposed to last 30 or 40 years. Things are speeding ascii117p now.&rdqascii117o; He anticipates a print withdrawal in more &ldqascii117o;considerable time&rdqascii117o;.

—The Seattle Post Intelligencer, following eight years of losses, already abandoned printing its newspaper in March 2009, and instead now operates a radically slimmed-down website alone.

—It was joined by the Christian Science Monitor, which, after chronic circascii117lation decline, dropped its print edition to pascii117blish online only one month later

—&ldqascii117o;If cheap, flexible screen technology really takes off, then I do think print&rsqascii117o;s years are nascii117mbered,&rdqascii117o; B2B pascii117blisher Incisive Media s online commercial head Jon Bentley told the E-Pascii117blishing Innovation Forascii117m event…

—Thoascii117gh Natascii117re.com associate director Daniel Pollock said &ldqascii117o;rascii117moascii117rs of print s death have been greatly exaggerated&rdqascii117o; and reckoned the science joascii117rnal will be printing for &ldqascii117o;a generation or two to come&rdqascii117o; - &ldqascii117o;It will shift from the majority mediascii117m to one of several minority media.&rdqascii117o;

So, what date is yoascii117r diary showing for paper s last rites… ?