Since the day printed newspapers were created, they’ve been dying. Beginning in the early 1700s, newspapers in America began competing with each other. Often one newspaper would be circulated in the morning and the competitor would circulate evening news.

Later, newspapers would compete with radio and then with television. Nightly news anchors would deliver the day’s news before newspapers would be circulated the next morning.

Printed newspapers have never been able to keep up with breaking news. But they have still always been one of the most trusted places to get your news. And because of this, newspapers will survive by adapting to the strength of the Internet.

The American Journal Review argues that newspapers actually have the best chance of thriving in new media compared to cable television, radio and magazines. And the truth is, I don’t think those mediums are going away anytime soon either.

AJR reports that the average person gets online, but as part of a varied media diet. The average person gets news from a variety of sources: some online, some radio and newspapers and magazines. But newspapers still hold the most credibility for accurate news reporting — either on their website or in print.

My journalism career began many years ago when reporters were still using pica poles, proportion wheels and a thing called “floppy disks.” Back then, the idea of digital media was new and many of us were suspicious.

We’ve come a long way since then. Until recently, I was delivering the news as the host of a morning talk show on Fox News Radio in Southern Utah. I am the founder and previous Editor-in-Chief of St. George News, an online-only news service for St. George, Utah. Within 10 months, St. George News had more than 60,000 unique readers each month.

Prior to my creating St. George News, I was the Editor-in-Chief of Today in Dixie and, before that, Sports Editor at the Park Record. Newspapers will always be my first love.

However, as the Internet has grown and become commonly used, newspapers have struggled to find, or perhaps better put “to keep,” their place. It is rapidly becoming more common to use electronic media for all our information and news.

At the Davis Clipper, we embrace this change. We hope to evolve with you as your needs change. We hope to grow as your needs grow.

As the new Editor of the Clipper, I hope to bring my online expertise to bring you more breaking news when you need it most. As the Clipper progresses, you’ll get your news online, on your mobile phone, by email and through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. We want to be your first stop when it comes to finding out what’s going on in the Davis County community.

But we also realize that while the Internet is the place to go for breaking news, print newspapers have a valuable place. Print newspapers give reporters the chance to go in-depth and cover investigative pieces that really get to the heart of the matter. In our print edition, we’ll cover upcoming news, events and local sports that you can’t find anywhere else – even on the Web.

We understand that not all of our readers use the Internet to get their information. We also understand that most of our readers read both the print and online editions of the Clipper.

A study by Greg Harmon of Belden Interactive showed that two-thirds of readers who visited a newspaper’s website did so because they are also readers of the print edition.

At the Clipper, we’ll deliver both. Our print edition will still be delivered every Thursday to your home or business. But now, when news breaks, you can find it in one of our many locations: online at www.davisclipper.com, on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. It’s our way of bringing you news faster and easier.

We promise to bring you news that is important to you: local, personal, and community information that you can rely on.

When you want to know what’s happening at your child’s school or in your local government, you’ll find it here. And we’ll still bring you the best information and deals about your local businesses that you are not likely to find on the Internet.

We hope the upcoming changes to our online site of local content will fill a void in Davis County. We welcome any comments or suggestions. You can email me directly at Austin@davisclipper.com or call 801-295-2251 ext. 126.