I was emailed a few questions by a scholar at UKZN who is interested in the website that I own and run. The questions are not Earth shattering but they do spark some kind of interesting debate surrounding the difference between a newspaper in print vs newspapers online, newswires online vs newspapers online and generally online vs print.

I am not going to enter in to major debate about whether print is dead or not as I am not an authority on this topic in any way shape or form, plus I think that Vincent might physically harm the next person who discusses that topic!! But there are many opposing views about this topic.

The question and answers went as follows:

How did Studentwire come about?

Studentwire started as a thought after the Captivate Student MediaConference 2005. 2 students, Carly Ritz and Gregor Rohrig asked me to getinvolved with them on a blog idea. The blog became Studentwire, Studentwire'smanagement became 2. The idea grew in to a website which evolved in to abusiness and an education and development organisation.

How did student papers take to it?

It took me months and months of preparation, emails, phone calls andpitching to get the student Editors involved. It was not that they disliked theidea, many of them were simply concerned to place their content online. Oncethe concept was properly explained and the newspapers began to realise thebenefits they all jumped on board. At present we have approximately 13different campus newspapers contributing news on a regular basis. That is morethan any website in South Africa.

How do feel aboutwhat Jo's Toolkit is doing?

I think that Jo's Toolkit is a wonderful initiative that has greatvalue to journalism on grassroots and community levels. They provideorganisations like student newspapers and community papers with much neededadvice and support from industry professionals. They also manage to open dialoguebetween various parts of the journalism industry. Studentwire can definitelybenefit from a site like Jo's and vice versa I think.

Have read NUX? if sowhat are thoughts on it?

I have read Nux. I enjoy reading Nux as I feel that the content isparticularly poignant to students. However, personally I think that Nux has toomuch of a magazine layout. I am more of a hard news fundi. I enjoy the straightforwardness of a daily publications layout. With that said, I do think that Nuxhas great management and editorial staff so I believe that they are in controlof what they are doing and are catering for their target market successfully.

Do think print isgoing to die?

I personally do not believe that print is going to die, at least notany time in the near future. Firstly I think that there are millions of peoplewho enjoy picking up a newspaper and reading it with their cup of coffee in themorning. Secondly I think that the Media industry is going to take time toadjust to the online way of things. I do however believe that major mediahouses ignore the online/new media wave at their peril. I think it i s a matterof jump on board or watch the boat float by and miss it forever.

Is the Net better?

I do believe that in terms of frequency new media is definitely abetter medium. As far as I can see and as far asStudentwire is concerned, I do not keep regular office hours. I work wheneverstudents have news to publish. While print has set hours where people work ornot, ofcourse that is unless there is a ground breaking major story that needs attention. Online is 24/7 or as close to that as possible. I do think that Print atthe moment has entrenched itself in society to such an extent that if a storyis read in print then it carries more weight. Hence at present i think print isstill seen as better or more important. But that is changing in a BIG BIG way.

Do ever see a Studentwire type thinghappening offline? In Print?

I do predict that a national newspaper will exist, very soon in fact. Ihave gotten wind as to one being started by a major news agency but I am not atliberty to say who right now. That as far as I know, will be a nationalnewspaper, not a national news agency. Studentwire is a newswire for students,very much like SAPA but with a more interactive user interface. We provide newsto newspapers from all over the country as well as provide news to readers allover the world. I do not believe that anyone will be able to accomplish thiswithout making use of the internet.

From my limited experience of online media vs print, I think that there are many differences and many similarities. However, what interests me right now is the differentiation between an online newsWIRE and an online newsPAPER. I think they are different and need to be treated differently by the public, investors, proffesionals and advertisers.