Yes, it's inevitable. Papers will still continue to exist, I'm sure. Hell, straight razor manufacturers continue to exist. But merely existing doesn't mean survival, necessarily. Survival, in a business sense, means lucrative. Papers aren't lucrative as it is, and eventually, they'll disappear in the sense that they'll no longer be a common sight out and about. They're already far less visible out on the town than they were, say, 5 or 10 years ago.
You can't really compare it to books. The e-book model is still in an extreme degree of flux. It's still emerging, from a workability perspective. But digital news media is already workable, and far more so than hard copy papers are these days.
It's much more comparable to music, where a clear industry model has emerged and is largely taking over the market.
I can tell you that almost no one of my generation reads physical newspapers, apart from small scale local tablets and pamphlets (and even those are getting harder to push). I can also tell you a lot of people in my generation don't even own CD's anymore.
I read all my news online, and get all my music online. I am part of a paper that does go to print, and I love fresh ink on my fingers. I also own a record player, and a modest vinyl collection that I adore for its sound quality.
But those are little pleasures. Things you enjoy when you remove yourself from the technological reality of the world you live in.
If I want walking music, I sure as hell don't bust out a CD player - I plug in to my phone. And if I want to actually read news, I sure as hell don't pop a few quarters into the corner stand - I pull up Pulse on my phone or tablet.
If I want to see how our audience feels about the issue we just put out, I don't look for letters in our mail box, because there won't be any. I check the comments on the website, analytics, or my email. That is where almost all of our feedback will be, because that's how most of our readers are accessing us.
We've been cutting our print run pretty steadily all year, and we still have left over papers in the stands, even as our hits on the website continue to climb. As a matter of fact, the reduction in our print run and the increase in our online presence are very strongly negatively correlated. The readers who have left us on the stands have joined us online.
It's just change, guys. It's not a shame. Who misses the town crier? No one, because having your own paper is more accessible. And in 50 years, who will miss print newspapers? No one, because a global online presence is more accessible. That is the point of journalism.
I will miss ink on my fingers, and I've gone down to the printer more than once and taken a nice, long look at our paper being run off. We have plating and color tests in the office as souvenirs. Because I know I may not get another chance to see it.
But I won't shed a tear when it's gone. More people than ever have access to news, and the more the newspapers die and reincarnate online, the more accessible it becomes. That's what matters.