Regarding the highly uncertain shape and form of future media, Rafat Ali, founder of successful digital news site, paidContent, is confident that touchscreen devices will soon become the dominant form of news consumption.

Ali, an entrepreneur with a background in journalism, recently supported his prediction during the Online News Association Conference in Washington, D.C. by firstly looking to the "tactile nature of touchscreens." He believes that in today's overwhelming omnipresence of media and information, touchscreens will allow the public to process the news in "a lot more personal, a lot more immersive [manner], just by the sheer fact that we are touching it."

However Ali fails to explain, at least based on Appolicious' article, how touchscreen technology is more tactile than an old-fashioned newspaper. It appears obvious that a hard copy newspaper is as tactile as one can get, and that touchscreens are the digital world's attempt at narrowing the gap between virtual reality and the tangible, classic newspaper.

Still, Ali makes a solid point, saying, "Despite the somewhat shiny-object nature of the apps revolution, what it has shown us is that people are yearning for simpler, faster, more utilitarian and more contained experiences. Touch is the underpinning that enables that thinking." He cited the iPad app Flipboard as a prototype of what will evolve into an immersive news-consuming experience. Furthermore, Ali claims that these touchscreen devices will undoubtedly become cheaper, and thus much more universal.

Smartphones and tablets are indeed appropriate for reading news on-the-go, and for becoming swiftly up to date with the events of the day. But tablets in particular have been welcomed by news organisations as a way to re-engage readers with longer articles that they wouldn't necessarily read on the web. And despite the apparent trend towards high-speed, digital delivery of the news, there is still a fiery demand for classic, detail-oriented, in-depth coverage.

For example, editors of The Press of Atlantic City, a local newspaper in southern New Jersey, recently held a public meeting to receive comments, concerns, and recommendations from its readers. Jim Fraser, an Egg Harbor Township resident said, "I don't think [The Press of Atlantic City] covers the township thoroughly enough from an investigative reporting standpoint. I know it's very expensive, I understand...to get into the nitty-gritty is very difficult, but from my standpoint, I think there's a lot that goes on in this town that should be revealed."

Essentially, Fraser and his community yearn for their town's paper to publish names, facts, details, and to full-heartedly delve into the stories in order to read the most rich articles possible. By nature, this evidence of a desire for more in-depth reporting goes against the assertion that the market in the digital age demands quick, contained news. Can news publishers make use of touchscreen mobile devices to make the most of this desire?

Source: Appolicious, Press of Atlantic City