A winning goal for the Dead Tree Press

When The Daily Telegraph published its spoiler articles about Guido after he revealed the Damien McBride smear I vowed never to buy the newspaper again. I suppose that shows you should never say "never"! I am now on my tenth consecutive day of Telegraph purchases - a paper I have only occasionally bought before. Plainly the arrival of Benedict Brogan has provided some leadership and direction to the paper's political reporting. I'm not holding my breath, but I would expect to see Brogan and Heather Brooke in the next honours list.

Newspapers as businesses are clearly in some trouble and possibly in decline but the Telegraph has proved that there is life in the beast and that they have the resources and expertise to do a big story in depth. No other medium can match it for immediacy and in-depth analysis.

The newspaper is a well-known technology, like the book, and although I have listened to predictions of the demise of the book since 1993, it has not happened. in fact there are more books published than ever before. We should therefore reflect that the newspaper may find ways of surviving. It can be read at the breakfast table, in bed, in the bath, on the train, in a bus shelter, and in bright sunlight. It can be folded, crumpled, torn and ultimately disposed of. It is often re-cycled - used to wrap fish and chips, insulate the chests of Tour de France riders making a rapid mountain descent, absorb spillage, provide temporary protection of surfaces and is even used as wall insulation. When I once bought a lakeside cabin in Canada many years ago I found old 1930s newspapers in the walls when eventually came to remodel it.

So I revising my opinion about the potential life of newspapers. There is a shift to online media but don;t write off newspapers - not just yet.