Paul Godfrey, chairman and CEO of Postmedia Network, said print will survive.

Katherine Engqvist

Paul Godfrey was rushing through the streets of downtown when he stopped at a red light. 

“You look like Paul Godfrey,” said an elderly woman who stopped next to him. The chairman and CEO of Postmedia Network laughed and said he got that a lot.

“Boy, that must piss you off,” she said. 

That is how Godfrey started his day and the story he told Ryerson students Thursday evening at the 2012 Real World Speaker lecture series. 

This was the third week of the ten-week speaker series sponsored by the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Ryerson Law Research Centre and the office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic.

Godfrey said that his mom used to tell him, “Son, if you have a choice in life between smart and lucky, choose lucky.” 

Luck is what he might need when facing the uncertain future of the newspaper industry. But when asked if they read a newspaper every day, roughly 60 per cent of students in the room raised their hand. 

“I think there will always be print on paper,” he said. “If newspapers don’t exist I don’t know who’s going to create the content.”

“I don’t think you’ll only get news electronically.” 

He said that newspapers made the mistake of originally providing online content for free. In the Postmedia chain, they are experimenting with metering (or paying for electronic views) with one paper and are planning to test it out with a few more. 

“Right now, competition makes everyone better,” he said. “Ultimately, newspapers will survive.”

This speaker series is open to all students, but space is limited and students are required to pre-register by emailing the Ryerson Law Research Centre. 

Next week John Levy, chairman and CEO of Score Media will speak.