With two members of my immediate family losing their jobs in the media industry in recent weeks, this "silly" holiday, National Buy a Newspaper Day, couldn't come along at a more fitting time. So today, won't you spare a dime, or two? You can also show your support by joining the Facebook group HERE.
NATIONAL BUY A NEWSPAPER DAY
Monday, Feb. 2, 2009
As the economy continues to deteriorate, one of the industries that is going to be most severely affected is the American newspaper industry.
The fact of the matter is that the biggest chains are deeply in debt. Major cities that have had at least two daily newspapers for more than a century, such as Chicago and Seattle, might soon find themselves with only one source of news. Other papers, such as those in Detroit are no longer providing daily home delivery. If things get really bad, some experts say that some small towns might not have any paper by
2010.
And that's a shame. Unlike radio which has become dominated by opinion or TV news which only looks for the 30 second sound bite, the local newspaper digs deep every day to get you, the reader, the full story on what's happening in your town.
The newspaper is heavily focused on local news. It keeps you informed about events in your town and keeps local government in-line.
So for one day, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, please make it a point to pick up your local newspaper (reading it online doesn't count).
It doesn't matter if it's a daily or weekly, right-leaning or left-leaning. If you're a college student and you get the school paper for free, buy the town paper. If you subscribe, why not pick up a second copy?
Who knows? You might like what you see and come back another day, and another, and another ...
2 comments:
I wish you had posted this earlier in the day. I read you first thing in the morning and saw this too late to buy a paper on Monday.
The decline of the newspaper is so sad. It was always a pleasure to travel and read a local paper.
I have been seeing more television news and internet news lately and while it is current, it just doesn't have the feel of the research and thought that a newspaper story has.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the two other aspects of newspapers that I miss are the ads and the culture stories.
I don't miss the schlocky ads, but there were classy ones like those from Hudson's and the corporate car ads. They were more aspirational in that while they tried to sell you something, they also promoted an image that was bigger than the thing in the ad. There is no style in most of what is done today (the stuff in the magazine ads just isn't the same).
I also miss the stories about what went on around town. In Detroit, no one writes about an event, no one reviews an exhibit. You may see a few pictures in the back of what passes for the local city-magazine, but for the most part there's no story and you don't know who the vast majority of the people in the pictures are. I don't know how to find out about something I don't know about. I don't know who “society” is anymore. That sounds elitist, but there have always been, and always will be, groups of people that make things happen, and they are not the great majority.
It's very sad - and despite a wealth of information, the other sources are very boring.
TWO? I knew about T. Don't tell me B too?
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