Turning over an old leaf: why I went back to newspapers

After five years as a digital subscriber to the Guardian, the lure of the printed page is just too strong

The bad news is that newspapers are in decline. You only have to look around any commuter train carriage to clock the year on year drop in circulation. Practically the only papers you see now are the freebies - the Metro in the morning and, on the way home, the Evening Standard. Everyone else has their eyes fixed on a phone, tablet or laptop screen. A few are reading, but most are playing games or watching films or television programmes.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not here to rail against the new-fangled pursuits of a younger generation. The wealth of information, entertainment and connection that the digital world has brought to us, in its myriad colours and capabilities, is truly amazing. But I am troubled by the cost to news and newsprint. Even in digital forms that ought to be their salvation the papers struggle to compete for attention, displaced by more vibrant media.