The death of newspapers has long been predicted and, as Mark Twain might have observed, it has been much exaggerated. Last week The Economist “newspaper” was the latest to forecast the demise of print, victim of declining sales as advertisers and readers migrate online. There has been growing talk in recent years of the internet killing off print, much as there was when radio started before the second world war and when television took to the airwaves soon afterwards. What seems to be true is that circulation and revenues of newspapers in the developed world are under pressure while print is thriving in the Third World.

However, far from being a threat to newspapers, the internet is the next stage in their evolution. The laborious and expensive process of printing news on paper using giant presses and then distributing them hundreds of miles through the night before they are carried round by paper boys (strong ones in the case of The Sunday Times) seems increasingly antiquated. How much better if these same papers could be instantly called up on a laptop screen on the breakfast table, full of the latest news, sport, features and all your favourite writers. For those readers there would be no presses, printers, lorries, wholesalers and all the other paraphernalia.

This is not so far from reality. Newspapers are investing heavily in websites where they can continue to deliver reliable news and comment. The technology is not yet as flexible as newspapers, in that it is difficult to read a laptop while strap-hanging on a train or bobbing about in a boat. But technical developments, such as a cheap flexi-screen, are coming that will make it even more practicable. This does not mean that newspapers will disappear. Some titles may close, as they have in the past, but the ones that will survive in print and online will be those that invest in journalism and innovation. In such a rapidly changing world, the demands for good reporting and analysis will be at an even higher premium, whether it is delivered through the letter box or down a phone line.