Newspapers-R.I.P.???

[SFG75]

I don't know about everyone else, but I just love newspapers. I have a dozen sites that I check online and I listen a lot to news/talk radio through the net. With that being said, I love to handle a good, thick paper and take some time and actually read an article(an antiquated notion I know, but bear with me please) I love to read the Lincoln Journal-Star and have enjoyed many a regular day by reading the library's edition of the paper, as well as the Sunday paper with a great cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, the average age of newspaper readers is roughly 55. People my age and younger are not as avid newspaper subscribers as previous generations were. I don't know what to blame for this problem, though I have a few in mind. Huge papers such as the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe have taken some serious readership losses.

So, what is the cause as to why newspapers are dying?

Do you subscribe to a newspaper? If not, do you read one most every day? If so, which ones and why?
http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/5661998.html

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

My parents don't subscribe to a big newspaper, and the only ones that we get at home are the 3 that are delivered free containing mainly local news, but whenever I go to the library I make sure to check the latest Press (this is the equivelant of something like the New York Times).

 

[mehastings]

I love the newspaper. I read the Globe regularly. I used to read the ProJo (Providence Journal) too, but they won't deliver it to sticksville. I hope it never goes away!

 

[G4G]

Newspapers are fantastic to have and to hold. They will always be around, like books, no matter what tech developments are made i.e. computer screens that don't tire your eyes out.
Another good thing with newspapers is all the free stuff you get. You can also wipe your ass with them in an emergency, and line the cat's litter tray, and the budgie cage. And you can use them for afely packing fragile things in boxes.
Oh - you can also read them as well.

 

[abecedarian]

We read the Wichita Eagle and I usually pick up our local weekly paper with its vast 2-page spread about my town..the rest is about several other towns around here. I also likge to pick up USA Today now and then. I can't get it out here. I also like to look at newspaper websites once in awhile. Last spring, when hurricanes ripped through the Sarasota area, I went on a google search for info about a small island near Punta Gorda, where my grandma's sister once lived. I'd been there as a kid, and I wondered how they'd fared. Their local paper has a nice website, that provided all the pictures and stories I needed. I thought I was a newpaper freak, but recently a guy my dh works with gave us his aunt's computer..that old lady had at least 6 online newspaper subscriptions. I think she was doing genealogy research, and she was doing the crossword puzzles, cause she had several crossword dictionaries on there too.

 

[SFG75]

Another good thing with newspapers is all the free stuff you get. You can also wipe your ass with them in an emergency, and line the cat's litter tray, and the budgie cage. And you can use them for afely packing fragile things in boxes.
Oh - you can also read them as well.

I'm not certain about the hygiene aspect, but I do agree they are awesome for packing material-I ship a lot of cigars with other people and they come in handy. I don't know if people save their old papers, but I for one-don't.

I'm just floored that the Globe, Times, and Post are having serious subscription troubles. My first inclination is to blame technology. Perhaps people are content with thirty second flashes from the t.v. screen? I believe it to be the case as t.v. has trained people to focus in on choppy, quick-flash segments that last under a minute. So if you have people who are use to that, can they really sit down and take the time(god forbid) to read an article? Then again, a part of me says it has to do with people and their busy lives, but I doubt our ancestors had more time off than we do. Then a part of me seriously wonders if it isn't native intelligence.

 

[abecedarian]

Perhaps some of the blame for declining newpaper subscriptions can go to the wonderful worldwide net.. Here anyone with access can get the very latest headlines. Of course, they don't cover local events and community stuff like marraiges, anniversaries, and obits. I would also miss the information my paper gives about local history and cultural events and opportunities.(Yes, we DO have those, even in KS !)

 

[Isabell]

Love'm

I LOVE Newspapers! I get the local paper delivered every morning 7 days a week.
I read it with my morning coffee. It's been a ritual since I was a teenager (The paper not the coffee)

I love being able to flip it open, spread it on the table and read from front to back. My kids see that I read the paper and sometimes a headline catches them and they either ask me about it, or they ask to me to read it to them. of course, I oblige. Even my 6 year old knows where the comics are. My 8 year old checks the paper for the day's weather report in order to get ready for school.


The only time I check out the paper online is when I find an interesting article that I wih to share with others, I will look for it online and send someone the link to it. Otherwise, I'm a lover of black ink on my fingers. It's the only way It's the old way. Same goes for online or e-books. I'm not to fond of them right now, but who knows for the future. For now it's real books and newspapers.

Here's my local paper that I adore
http://dailyherald.com

 

[abecedarian]

Right on Isabelle! Modeling for our kids is so important. If they see us using the newspaper, road atlas, phonebook, dictionary, etc. they soon catch on to their value for their own lives..same thing with books! Good job

 

[G4G]

I'm not certain about the hygiene aspect, but I do agree they are awesome for packing material-I ship a lot of cigars with other people and they come in handy. I don't know if people save their old papers, but I for one-don't.

I have a huge floor to ceiling stack of old Sunday Times to use as packing and all kinds of things. Haven't had to wipe my ass in an emergeny yet, but it's comforting to have the option.

I'm just floored that the Globe, Times, and Post are having serious subscription troubles. My first inclination is to blame technology. Perhaps people are content with thirty second flashes from the t.v. screen? I believe it to be the case as t.v. has trained people to focus in on choppy, quick-flash segments that last under a minute. So if you have people who are use to that, can they really sit down and take the time(god forbid) to read an article? Then again, a part of me says it has to do with people and their busy lives, but I doubt our ancestors had more time off than we do. Then a part of me seriously wonders if it isn't native intelligence.

I would say that the likes of Fox News have a lot to do with the way a lot of people want their news. They want their news to backup their preconceived political/racial ideals, and to hell with looking any deeper: heavily biased reporting that conforms and comforts rather than informs.

 

[Miss Shelf]

I also read the morning paper spread on the dining room table, with my coffee and breakfast. I love it-can't imagine life without it! I save the comics and the Jumble for last, mom does the crossword puzzle (and gives it to me when she gets stuck). After that, I'm ready to face the day!

I've tried doing crosswords on the computer, it just isn't the same.

 

[novella]

I read the papers online, so I wonder if that counts as a reader or not, according to the statistics? I bet not. I got sick of huge piles of recycling.

I read the NY Times, the UK Guardian, Times UK (when they let me ), The NY Observer, and a few locals. I don't read cover to cover, just the stuff I'm interested in. I hate tabloids and 'celebrity' news.

 

[Miss Shelf]

Ah, but tabloids and celebrity news are like candy; reading regular newspapers is meat and vegetables.

 

[abecedarian]

Ah, but tabloids and celebrity news are like candy; reading regular newspapers is meat and vegetables.

But where else would be learn the TRUTH about Elvis' death??? Well, other than in Charlaine Harris' Dead to the World series...I won't spoil it, but I have to say, her idea is just as plausible as any tabloid I've ever seen

 

[SFG75]

Right on Isabelle! Modeling for our kids is so important. If they see us using the newspaper, road atlas, phonebook, dictionary, etc. they soon catch on to their value for their own lives..same thing with books! Good job

I've noticed this as well. I'm always reading on the couch and the kids will nonchalantly pull out a picture book from the shelf and flip through it. It's amazing how some books even catch their attention more than Elmo or Barney.

 

[abecedarian]

I've noticed this as well. I'm always reading on the couch and the kids will nonchalantly pull out a picture book from the shelf and flip through it. It's amazing how some books even catch their attention more than Elmo or Barney.

Like cookbooks, or anything with animals..

 

[WoundedThorns]

there was a lot of those newspaper boxes along my route to school/home in NJ. i'd either buy a copy or get the last copy for free a number of times. i guess it made me feel intellectual at the time - i was just a kid.

with newspapers the fact that my fingers get dirty is enough to annoy me actually. plus the size.

 

[SFG75]

with newspapers the fact that my fingers get dirty is enough to annoy me actually. plus the size.

The ink smudge thing is annoying, but I do love to handle the paper....except when there is light wind. I have a relative who if you are reading next to them, will spend what seems like an eternity folding the paper and making all sorts of noises that ensue. After reading a small article, the whole process starts again. Perhaps I'm not explaining this well, but the next time you are reading, have someone next to you continuously folding and flipping the newspaper to various articles.