September 05, 2005
10 Reasons to Read the Newspaper
Tom Rouillard, a veteran of both print and online news, posts this "Top 10 Reasons for Still Reading a Newspaper" list to the online news group:
1. The newspaper has never burned my lap. (Macs run hot!)2. The flight attendant has never told me to put my newspaper away.
3. I can read my newspaper while standing, while eating, while riding a bus.
4. I can give my newspaper to someone else when I am done.
5. I can read the A section while my wife reads the metro section. (My add: In fact, this is the primary reason given the San Jose Mercury News for abandoning its combined local-national-international A-section and returning to the traditional A-section/Metro split. [Read: Snarking vs. Supporting Change.]
6. My newspaper's battery never dies.
7. If my newspaper gets wet, I can buy another for about a buck.
8. I can recycle my newspaper at the curb.
9. If I drop my newspaper, it doesn't break.
10. I can read my newspaper during a lightning storm.
I'll add this one: I can use my newspaper to catch the clippings when I trim my beard.
Posted by Tim Porter at September 5, 2005 04:40 AMI know this dates me, but the last one reminds me of the old open to the "Lou Grant" show where the paper goes through all of its processes of being created... and then the ending shot is of someone taking the paper and putting it on the bottom of their birdcage to catch the droppings.
Good memories.
Posted by: Brian on September 5, 2005 11:33 AMRight on, Tim! As a veteran newspaperman, I love the smell of ink-on-paper. While the time might come (soon) when we don't kill any more trees to do our journalism, for now it remains the most efficient way to deliver the first rough draft of history.
Best of all, most of my colleagues remain devoted to a noble idea: To observe and report fairly. We are human and the myth of objectivity is old news, but nobody -- including and/or especially the "citizen journalists" of the blogosphere -- has the same devotion. Whether our newspaper-of-the-future comes in elctronic or paper form, I hope we don't lose the idea those people embrace.
How many other items worth 50 cents are people willing to die to produce?
Posted by: Ron Franscell on September 7, 2005 06:03 AMAgree with u.
Posted by: nsnboy on September 20, 2005 01:17 AM