The threat of layoffs at the newsprint mill in Corner Brook is a symptom of problems in the publishing industry as a whole.

Around the world, people are using paper less and computers more.

The effect is being felt in places like Corner Brook, where the mill is seeking solutions for the future, and Grand Falls-Windsor, where the mill has already closed.

But the cause can be found in places like Memorial University, where hitting the books has turned into hitting the keyboard — and using paper less and less.

The newspaper industry is shifting from paper to digital formats. (CBC)

"No one prints their notes anymore, no one hand writes anything," Samantha Lawler said. "They usually just type their notes up in class or online."

Ben Morgan agrees.

"I wouldn't be able to get through here without a computer now, I don't think," he said.

It may be a long way from a paperless world, but the popularity of computers has driven demand for paper way down.

The newspaper industry has been hit especially hard.

From 2009 to 2010, circulation of the St. John's Telegram's daily newspaper declined by almost 2,000 copies.

Circulation of the paper's weekend edition fell a comparable amount — down nine per cent in just 12 months.

But Telegram publisher Charles Stacey says while the print circulation is going down, demand for digital offerings has been shooting up.

"It's no secret that in the last number of years the sales of printed newspapers have fallen off," Stacey said. "But it's not that people don't want their news, they just want it in another form."

Traffic on the Telegram's website is up 50 per cent in the last two years, and the paper's iPad app is clocking 4,000 downloads a month.