Time posts an item about the future of newspapers — a series of quotes/predictions from people in the industry. Here are a few highlights.

Andrew Davis, President of the American Press Institute:

Newspapers have three attributes that will for a time, make them still relevant. They are low-cost or no cost, they are highly portable, and you can scan through more bits of information on a printed news page faster than you can on a PC, online, on a PDA or on a cell phone. So it’s a very efficient means of presenting information.

Bob Mong, Editor of the Dallas Morning News:

I’m 57. When I was 21, about 70% of people my age read a newspaper regularly. For people my age now, it’s still about the same percentage. But in the Dallas market today, only about 30% of people between 18 and 24 look at a newspaper fairly regularly. That’s a 40% gap. That’s not good news for the newspaper in the bag.

Alexia Quadrani, Media Analyst, Bear Stearns:

There is a significant pricing gap between new media and old media. The cost to reach 1,000 people is $20 for newspapers, but just $5 for those online.

Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California:

Today, teens don’t read newspapers and they never will. If there were a newspaper strike across America today, almost no one under the age of 30 would notice.

John Janedis, Senior Media Analyst, Wachovia Securities:

Earning a Pulitzer Prize for excellent journalism doesn’t translate into sales of newspapers in this environment.

Karen Dunlap, President of the Poynter Journalism Institute:

I disagree with the assumption that newspapers will die. But we need to train journalists for multimedia reporting. They need to move from being just print reporters to being comfortable taking photos and doing audio and video.