When the Daily Mail & General Trust put its regional newspaper group, Northcliffe on the block last fall, the crisis facing the market, primarily because of the Internet, became blatantly obvious. Perhaps even more telling that the future of British regional newspapers is in jeopardy were the weak offers for the 100-paper company, so weak in fact that DMGT repealed the sale. So what do editors and executives of those local papers think about threat posed to their no longer stable yet still profitable industry?

In an article summing up the situation of the regional press, The Guardian spoke with several traditional media bosses to find out where they think the future of the local printed press is going. Here are some highlights:

Mike Gilson - Editor, Portsmouth News
I don't think there is any competition from the internet in terms of what we produce. We are still far and away the number one supplier of news in Portsmouth. The key for us is that we work in tandem with our printed product and new media to ensure that we remain the biggest supplier of information in our area.

John Fry - Chief executive, Archant
We have seen fragmentation with radio, with TV and freesheets, and the internet is the latest fragmenter. I am sure there was cause for concern in newspaper boardrooms about TV and radio 25 years ago, but we have accommodated it. There will be some loss of advertising but it should be seen in the context of a continuum.

Stewart Kirkpatrick - Editor, Scotsman.com
The web will become increasingly important to newspapers. I don't think that print's dead but I know which medium I'd rather be working in. It will undergo a painful transformation over the next 15 years. The challenge is to make money out of readers even if they're not buying the newspaper.

Source: The Guardian