Hearts still beat over print pages

It is possible for those who spend most of their time online to still get excited over printed products, says Michael Mattis who recently penned a love letter to print.

In his article, ‘A Love Letter to Print’, written for The Huffington Post, Michael Mattis, managing editor for Yahoo!, a self-described “online guy” of many years, admitted his fondness for the printed page, and, in particular, a fascination with newspapers – a medium which he believes has a number of unique advantages.

“Even with shorter news cycles and their lack of clickable links, newspapers have some advantages that news viewing in the digital space sometimes lacks. The first is what I call a "happy perusability." In short, you never know just what you're going to get when you turn the physical page. Online, you're always pointing and clicking on the thing you want right now, short-attention-span-theater style,” he writes.

“With a newspaper – or a magazine – you're offered a whole page of stories, a grab-bag of news and opinion happening across the globe. There's a kind of serendipity when you suddenly come across a story that piques your interest, something you didn't know would interest you before. Another benefit of reading "the paper" the old fashioned way is the relaxing, contemplative zone it forces you into. You read a story in its entirety – if you really want to know about it – and then you move on to the next. A good newspaper is like a companion, sitting there next to your morning coffee or tea.”

Mattis believes that key to print’s future is advertisers realising it still plays just as important a part in getting the message across as social media and other mediums.

“Print, TV, radio, even billboards aren't going away anytime soon. (Heck, Yahoo! uses billboards all the time.) They're just evolving and redefining themselves – and becoming interconnected. Advertisers must evolve, redefine and interconnect with them.”

To read the whole article on The Huffington Post, click here.