James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » Fearless defenders of the fourth estate we may be, but journalists wouldn't often associate a publication's demise with the loss of a loved one.
Daily Mail and General Trust chairman Lord Rothermere reportedly said coming to terms with the pending sale of his beloved Evening Standard - to Russian oligarch and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev for ã1 - was as difficult as dealing with his parents' death.
Although the London paper may be consigned to history if Lebedev cannot turn it around, its recent demise does not mean the humble newspaper has one foot in the grave.
Although print sales have been declining, forcing publishing firms to cut costs and axe jobs, the multi-media revolution is heralding fresh opportunities and a new era of journalism.
Blogging, interactive online community forums and business updates by text message are all key communication channels that should complement, not replace, the printed publication.
People are not being put off from buying newspapers, but they are being lured by the power of the web.
Globally there are 1.56bn online users while in the EU six out of ten people use the internet - a whopping growth of 210% between 2000 and 2008.
A trip on the local bus shows how quickly the wheels of the online revolution are turning. It's quite commonplace for passengers to watch their favourite TV programme on their i-Pods or laptops.
The media has to embrace this trend or risk falling by the wayside. Publications that can offer print only are the ones most at risk of extinction.
Our own online offering, nebusiness.co.uk, has hosted live interactive forums, breaking news, online polls and "talking head" podcasts of local industry leaders. Why should these activities not sit alongside the printed word?
The advent of third (or is it fourth or fifth) generation technology will reap further opportunities. In a few years' time it will not be uncommon for online publications to broadcast breakfast briefings to the rest of the world. Some already do.
Traditional advertising streams such as billboards, magazines, TV and radio continue to have a strong impact - but the growing reach of the web can thrust these messages to a much wider audience. Those who grab the opportunity will prosper.
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