Digital First? Print First? Both Should Work Together

Mediashift reporting:
Let's learn a lesson from the past. When the news first started going digital, that is when it started appearing on the World Wide Web and print saw it as a competitor that would give the product away for free. The digital prophets saw a future in which free wouldn't matter, and said things along the lines of, "If we don't eat our young, someone else will." In many ways, we could say they were right -- or at least we can say we still don't know.
The O.C. Register is moving forward with a print-first strategy, even while the Journal Register Co. is moving forward with a digital-first effort. This may be a new twist on the old East Coast/West Coast rivalry, but the answer probably lies in the middle, and in a way most don't expect.
Think about what print has going for it and what digital has going for it. Both have a lot of advantages, and both don't need to work against each other any more than an eraser on a pencil works against the delete key on your laptop.

It's about the design

At right are the comparative sizes of several print formats and the common Apple-handled devices, the iPhone and the iPad.
Do you see what I see? The print canvases are massive in comparison to the digital canvas. Without batteries or retinal displays, the 150, 200, and 300 dpi resolutions are finer than any computer screen.
But we fill these giant design spaces primarily with columns and columns of gray text.
The digital side is continuously updated and fresh. It is interactive and responsive. The print side is anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to a week to a month old by the time it reaches a consumer's hands. It's static and unchanging.
...
Instead of holding to the convention that we write shorter for the web and longer in print, perhaps the really innovative strategy is to use the print product like outdoor advertising that drives people specifically to the stories they're interested in.

Leading together

Maybe it really isn't about print or digital first, but leading together, side by side. The mantra of the web has always been more powerful and successful when it is collaborate, not compete. Why compete with each other? Why should any product go first, when both can cross the finish line at the same time if they work together?
The smart answer isn't putting digital or print first, but to put design and usability first, using each product for what they do best and let them do it together.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/10/digital-first-print-first-both-should-work-together291.html