Often, I find there is a common misconception between the newspaper and the newspaper industry when people stop and debate its chance for survival in today’s world. If that is difficult to understand, let me explain.

The newspaper is a physical thing. Something you can hold in your hand. You can flip the pages — and yes, I can still remember days not too long ago when I would get its ink smeared all over my fingertips as a child. I have heard lots of people make comments ever since I started to pursue my profession as a journalist that print is dead.

Those people typically never wasted time also telling me the newspaper industry as a whole is a horrible decision for a career and choosing to enter it would make it a career I would never be able to sustain, because, in time, newspapers will cease to exist.

Here is where I believe those people are wrong and we, as journalists and newspaper people, have continued to prove it time and time again.

The newspaper in its physical format may be a relic of the past enjoyed by a choice few subscribers, but the newspaper industry as a whole now crosses many mediums, offering its readers and subscribers new ways to not only subscribe but curl up with their local news. From websites, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — our industry when handled correctly will never die and will thrive in a world and society which prides itself on being “the first to know.”

Our nation is obsessed with staying informed and up to date in a matter of seconds. Just look at all the notifications we can receive on our smartphones and even smart watches for when your phone is not close enough.

Newspapers are not on their way out, they are evolving and taking on a new world by offering their readers all the ways they wish to get their news. The trick is having a broad enough understanding of all generation gaps and meeting each reader head on with their preferred method of how to stay informed.

One way The Jessamine Journal is doing this is by offering a newly focused e-edition of our Thursday publication at a separate subscription rate than our print.

You can read more about this on the front page of  today’s edition.

Hopeful to catch our readers out there who prefer a way to only get their news in digital format, this subscription will help keep those in the community informed on their phones, tablets and iPads by giving the reader the exact copy of our newspaper in a format delivered straight to their email which allows them to digitally flip through the pages.

However, our work as an industry does not stop there. I am sure this switch will help us reach a wider audience, although there are still many readers out there who wish to get their news in additional online formats.

I come from a generation which I believe loves their news in short, quick condensed spurts throughout the day.

Yes, I still love print. How could I not working in the field I do? There is nothing like sitting down and curling up with the “physical” copy of your favorite book, magazine and, dare I say it, newspaper.

However, we run faster than we care to admit, and in a world which is now full of many new and ever- changing ways we all can stay stimulated, distracted and busy, I find my generation prefers the social media platform for ways to receive their up-to-the minute information. A bigger fish than most want to tackle in the business of the newspaper industry, but one I am just as dedicated to focusing on in my position here at the Jessamine Journal.

You see, newspapers are not a dying art. The print industry is not dead. We are just evolving and changing with the times by trying to offer our readers every format we can, so they can be sure and read about the communities they live in on the platforms they prefer.

Like always, if you, the reader, have any suggestions on how we can make our publication better, we encourage you to share it.

Our mission is simple: bring you the news you want to read in every way you want to read it.

As the industry moves forward, I want to thank every reader who sticks with us — not just print subscribers, but website readers, e-edition page scrollers and social media digesters. Together we will bridge the gap for all generations and keep the newspaper industry a staple for years to come.

Brittany Fuller is the community editor of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. She can be reached at brittany.fuller@jessaminejournal.com.