Anticipating a possible future method of newspaper design (including multimedia content) and delivery, a study examined the interface among people, modality (paper, computer, multimedia), and three types of news story (news, sports, entertainment). The "primacy of print" theory (which predicts that information will be recalled better when presented in print than in other media) was extended to consider a multimedia factor. Subjects, 55 undergraduate students enrolled in journalism classes and 20 university library employees recruited as "expert" searchers, completed recall measure after reading and/or listening to news stories presented in a variety of formats. Results indicated (1) no effects for cued recall as a function of modality; (2) a significant effect for reading time as a function of modality, with reading time higher for the multimedia condition followed by computer and paper; (3) story type was a significant factor, with the entertainment story having the shortest reading time followed by news and sports; and (4) the news story had the lowest recall score, followed by sports and entertainment. Findings do not support the primacy of print theory. Future studies may be designed to test interactions between variables such as modality and story type. (Contains 30 references, three tables and eight figures of data, and four notes.) (RS)