Something to Hold, Something to Save: Washington Post Prints 35,000 Extra Copies of Today's Paper

Social media and the Internet are now tools to share, publish, and distribute news around the globe in seconds. However, it still appears that a piece of paper (or pieces of paper) still has value to people.

The Washington Post increased their press run of today’s paper by 35,000 extra copies, “to meet the demand of readers hoping to buy a memento of the day.”

If people still want something tangible to mark a major event be it a newspaper, wedding invitation, or a college diploma, what does this mean for the future as more and more documents only are available in an electronic format.

Will the to have a physical object as a record/momento of an event in their lives (a newspaper, wedding invitation, or college diploma for example) dissipate over time? Is this just a generational issue? Would a print-on-demand version of a newspaper or diploma mean the same thing?

See: “Nook Color now lets authors sign e-books” (via CNET; April 25, 2011)

Filed under: Journal Articles, News, Publishing