With reports of the likely closure of a number of print newspapers in South Africa, what does it say about the state of our crumbling news industry and shrinking newsrooms?

My heart was heavy last week when I saw reports that Media24 was considering the closure of the print editions of some of its most storied newspapers. I was sad, but not surprised.

Media24 bosses have neither confirmed nor denied the reports that they would stop the print versions of Beeld, Rapport, City Press and Daily Sun, but their equivocation tells one that the matter is under discussion and it is probably only a question of how soon they will move entirely online. We have known for some years that print newspapers were dying as readers and advertisers moved online and the cost of printing and distribution became prohibitive. Other major print titles are likely to follow soon.

It is the chronicle of a death long foretold, to quote Gabriel García Márquez. But the inevitability of it makes it no less painful.

After 44 years in journalism, rooted in the newspaper industry, I am of course nostalgic for the days when the better print products served up edited and curated news with a thoughtfulness, design and care that you seldom get with the online product. Some of these papers, one must not forget, had dark and dubious histories, playing...