Stephan Simon, who works at the University Library, is sitting in the coffee corner of the Student Services Centre, flipping through a magazine. It’s the physical aspect he misses in digital media, he says. “I don’t like to read articles on my phone. I lose the bigger picture. Leafing through a printed newspaper, you see so much more. ‘Oh, this is about someone I know, and there’s an interesting column here.’ And it’s easier to share things too. If someone from our department is in the newspaper, we’ll often just leave it open on a table so everyone can see it.”
Computer Science student Matteo Cannata, by contrast, never reads printed newspapers. He gets all his news online, making a distinction between stories that pop up on his Instagram feed and those he actively searches for. “For the latter, I prefer independent sources, like journalists running their own Telegram channels. They either tell the truth or lie through their teeth, which makes it easier for me to judge how reliable they are compared to traditional news outlets. Their reporting is often biased, but it’s more subtle – harder to put your finger on.”
With the times
Simon Vogel, head of exam administration at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), says he is “from the paper era, when you actually had to wait for the newspaper to arrive”. Over the past 30 years, he’s witnessed the university’s digital transformation up close across different departments – from the introduction of digital signatures and rapid document scanning to the disappearance of handwritten exams at the once writing-heavy FASoS. “And I’ve gone along with it completely. It’s so much more efficient and sustainable – cleaner and leaner.”
The shift is reflected in his reading habits. “Since Observant started sending out its newsletter, I rarely read the print version anymore. I only follow other media outlets online. I don’t miss paper. I’m actually anti-paper – I think it’s just clutter. You read a few bits of a newspaper and then toss it in the recycling. It feels wasteful. Online news is much faster, and you see more of it. I also like that algorithms now suggest articles based on what you’re interested in. Newspapers can’t do that.”
“At home I mainly follow the news online, through NOS and podcasts on YouTube. But at the university, I use both screen and paper”, says Richard Thal, facilities manager at the School of Business and Economics (SBE). “I first check observantonline.nl to get a quick overview of the news and for a quick read. But then I move on to the paper – I still prefer having a newspaper in my hands. Especially for stories about students, which I always find interesting. And to keep up with developments that might affect my work as facilities manager, like news about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations we’ve also had here at SBE.”
Let's google it
Melina Lapa, a second-year European Law School student, only reads news online. “I get important news through social media, mostly Instagram, and from the news stories suggested on the Google homepage. If something big is happening, I also check CNN’s homepage.” Biomedical Sciences student Jill* and Economics and Business Economics student El* don’t actively follow the news. “It just comes up on TikTok”, says Wolfs. Vluggen lists the accounts that appear in her feed: NOS Stories, Jeugdjournaal, De Marker, De Telegraaf. “And local media outlets like RTV Maastricht”, adds Wolfs. If they’re genuinely interested in a topic, they’ll look it up on Google. UCM student Ida* does the same. “And if I really want to learn more, I’ll look for a podcast about it.”
They only ever pick up a newspaper when they’re at their parents’ home. “My dad is on holiday at the moment, and I’m keeping an eye on the house”, says Vluggen. “I’ll have a quick look through it to see if there’s anything interesting.” Ida sometimes takes free newspapers or magazines from the university corridors. “But print just feels more serious. And like more effort has gone into it. You tend to keep it; you don’t just throw it away. Online, you just close the tab. The decline of print media is kind of a shame, actually – it feels like a disappearing craft.”
Nostalgia
“Paper is nostalgia. And brings peace,” Katleen Gabriels says. “You’re not dependent on a screen or a full battery. You can pop a newspaper in your bag and take it out whenever you want.”
She still remembers producing a newspaper at secondary school; there was almost no censorship, and it was up to her and her fellow pupils to consistently deliver a decent paper. “And in Leuven, I worked for the university magazine Veto, I was also the editor-in-chief – those were the days,” she recalls. With meetings on Fridays, deadlines on Sundays, and stress on Mondays when the newspaper had to be delivered. “We did that ourselves; we’d hire a van, load it up at the printers and head out to fill the stands.” The magazine can still be found at the university. “Whenever I’m in Leuven, I pick up a copy.”
Endless stream of information
A newspaper or a magazine is the result of careful thought, says Gabriels, there is an idea behind it. “From A to Z – think of the cover, the order of the articles, the layout; in short: the whole idea of how you present something. That gives me peace of mind and a clear overview.” She compares it a CD, that shiny disc of music that was still in high demand some twenty years ago. “Thought went into the specific structure and what order the songs should be in there, too.”
Yes, the love of paper is deep, but it doesn’t mean that the Associate Professor of Moral Philosophy and Philosophy of Technology at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) and columnist for Observant completely eschews the digital world. “I do venture into online articles, and I have De Groene Amsterdammer app. But I do find myself in an endless stream of information there; it’s very busy, and the hyperlinks and related articles just keep inviting you to click through. At the same time, it’s great that you can go so far back in time. When I started working at the university in 2019, I could look up things I didn’t know straight away very quickly via the Observant website. Try doing that with paper – who keeps years’ worth of newspapers lying around?”
Deborah Blekkenhorst, Peter Doorakkers, Cleo Freriks and Dennis Vaendel