I haven’t subscribed for years. The local paper, the Austin American-Statesman, seems to be hurting. They often throw free sample papers on our driveway (and others). I assume they’re hoping I’ll find it so interesting that I’ll subscribe.
Not gonna happen. I can thumb through it in probably fifteen minutes and spend most of that on the comic section. I find it much easier and faster to target-search for news. Most of the time, I click on “Latest Headlines” on my browser. If I want to know what might be on TV, I have the TV listings bookmarked; one click and I’m there. Want to find out the weather? It shows up on the browser when I connect to the Internet. If I’m searching for news on the publishing industry to blog about, I don’t turn to a print newspaper that’s at least a day old. I Google search and find things that are minutes old.
I used to scour the newspaper. That was years ago, though. I wonder how newspapers are surviving, since I doubt I’m alone in the abandonment of newsprint. I also think the “get it right now” mentality is contributing to the rise of e-books. Why get dressed, get in your car, and go to the bookstore… or even go to your computer, click to a virtual bookstore, order a book and then wait for it to be mailed, when you can click on your eReader, download a book and begin reading within minutes?
There are still those that love reading the newspaper (not me) and those that still love print books (me), but times are changing. New generations are growing up without newspapers and even print books. I think newspapers are fading faster than books.
So, how about you? Do you still read the newspaper?
You and I are similar creatures, as to how we like to gather our news.
ReplyDeleteI used to read newspapers. Not anymore.
And lastly, I'd rather go to the bother of getting dressed and buying a book at a bookstore, than downloading one. Any old day :)
I get the L.A. Times 4 times a week (the extended weekend subscription). I was doing it mainly for the Sunday coupons, but even that is not very good anymore. The paper keeps getting smaller. It has an agenda that does not match my beliefs and tramples all over my values. The only thing I still really like are the crosswords and the sudokus.
ReplyDeleteThe paper is crap.
Lee
May 3rd A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post
I don't read newspapers anymore at all. Now that I've grown accustomed to reading news online, I hate the feel and smell of newsprint, and I used to be quite the opposite!
ReplyDeleteNow I get my news on my iPod Touch through the Huffington Post app or the Sky News app, or I click on articles that get Tweeted via the BBCNews and SkyNews (and others) Twitter feeds.
I live in a remote community (you have to take at least one ferry or fly in to get here), and our local paper is only printed once a week. We don't subscribe, but if we're planning on garage-saling on Saturday mornings, we're pretty much compelled to buy one at the store. They stick to covering local stuff and update their site daily--sometimes more than once a day. The city papers we usually skip, unless we're in a waiting room or coffee shop that has them around for customers to read. We only even tune in to CBC or CTV 24-hr news maybe once a week.
ReplyDeleteI'm the opposite of you- I read between 5-8 newspapers a week. I am an addict. I will feel very sad if they go extinct.
ReplyDeleteI read The Guardian, The Independent and (*lowers voice*) sometimes the Daily Mail for entertainment purposes - all online. I like it because I can target the sections I want and I don't need to fuss about with all that newsprint!
ReplyDeleteI haven't touched a newspaper in years. My homepage on the computer is the local news, which I scan each morning.
ReplyDeleteAs for the free newspapers that are thrown in everyone's driveway - that's an annoyance that should be stopped. It hurts me to think of all the wasted trees.
I'll probably be the lone nerd here. I love the newspaper. I can adjust to Ebooks better than online newspapers. I like the sound of the newspaper crinkling when I drink my coffee and read the news. I like making a mess with the papers all around me...and the coupons alone justify my getting it. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
Perhaps because we can get news so quickly online, the newspapers will have to focus on local news and have added benefit for local readers by providing more coupons and local "scene" like events and book signings, etc. So far here today, there aren't many of us who look forward to and read the print paper. But for those who do, I hope the newspaper survives.
ReplyDeleteI actually read more news now than before, but mostly online. I will carry along an actual newspaper when I'm on transit, but I only subscribe to the Globe & Mail and am not likely to subscribe to any others - no matter how enticing they try to make it with freebies and special offers.
ReplyDeleteHaven't taken a newspaper in years. I read all my news online.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read a newspaper in years. I try to avoid the news. I know it's important to stay informed, but bad news upsets me. I'm too sensitive to spirit now and if I connect I have to help. I research information rather than news. I like books too, but ebooks are the future. I'm even starting to question the traditional route of agent and publisher.
ReplyDeleteI have to as I work at one and put stuff in that I hope the locals will read - local happenings, etc. Local news may be the best for newspapers as the rest you can get on TV or online.
ReplyDeleteHere's my Sunday Salon
I subscribe to the local newspaper, and have always done. Can't imagine eating breakfast without the newspaper, in particular in the weekends >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
It's been fifteen years since we got the paper. (The one here in our little town is SO lame.) I think the physical form is truly dying.
ReplyDeleteWe do subscribe to and read our local paper, but we are definitely in the minority in our neighborhood.
ReplyDelete...actually Helen, I was on my way out the door to pick up the Sunday edition when I stumbled across your blog and read further. Glad I found it:) Okay...now I'm off.
ReplyDeleteI've been getting the news online for years. Started when the ink and paper made my eyes swell. Soon I realized I good read papers I couldn't afford otherwise (without golf ball eyes).
ReplyDeleteI'm arguing with myself about an ereader. I really want one but it will never replace my precious books!
Giggles and Guns
Oh, please do not utter those words again (newspapers are fading), I'm going to start crying. Remember, I work for a newspaper and HOPE they will always be around. However, what you say is fast becoming the way.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
The only time I buy a newspaper these days is when I'm travelling and want to catch up on local happenings otherwise I use the internet. My neighbor subscribes to the Star Telegram (although I don't think she actually reads it) and she then passes it on to me and I use it for garden mulch.
ReplyDeleteAnn
Ann Summerville
Cozy In Texas
I no longer subscribe, but we do pick up a couple papers on the weekend, mostly to browse through relaxing at home. Our newspaper here is in the midst of some sort of bankruptcy proceedings.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a Sunday paper reader. Loved going through it. Now about the only papers I read are those enticement ones left in my driveway or ones my DH brings home from trips that get left at his hotel door.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies to those of you who work for newspapers. Really.
Ann, you made me laugh.
I slowly gravitated away from the rag. Used to love it, the fresh, crips paper and smell, but ... nowadays with the internet a newspaper is old news by time it hits the stands, hmm?
ReplyDeleteI used to love reading the paper, Marvin, especially the Sunday one. Funny, but I don't miss it now.
ReplyDeleteI still get our local newspaper, but it's mostly for the local sports and news. Once the kids are old enough that they and their friends won't be showcased through their sports and activities I'll probably let it go as well.
ReplyDeleteI usually only get the Sunday papers, for the coupons.
ReplyDeleteI will sit and read through them, found out some interesting stuff that wasn't big enough to get on the news.
As I sat reading the paper for about an hour this morning, sipping my coffee and enjoying the Sunday quiet, I wondered for how much longer I'd have the luxury of doing so.
ReplyDeleteMeg, I forgot about coupons. That's a good reason to get the paper...except, a lot of stores and products now have coupons online.
ReplyDeleteLiza, I do wonder about that. And with the iPad coming out, more people may turn to online news.
The internet is a wonderful tool for getting that "target" info, and like you that's mainly how I get the news. I do subscribe to the weekend local paper, basically because they gave me a deal I couldn't resist and they also do a weekly recap Sunday. I usually read all the bookish news I want right from my iPad now! And that's something that the iPad is wondeful at- newspaper viewing! Good topic for discussion!
ReplyDeleteWe get the local paper. My husband has to have his sports page. I read it for the local news and sports but I get my national and world news online and sometimes from the TV. It's very difficult to watch any TV news without thinking it's being spun to fit an agenda.
ReplyDeleteI would miss the newspaper but I do believe they'll go away sometime in the not too distant future.
Suzanne, you are trying to tempt me to get an iPad, aren't you. I'm already tempted. I just keep thinking, as soon as I do, they'll update it and come out with something even better.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I agree with you about TV news having an agenda. I still like to watch the evening national news, but am sometimes glad we can't get cable where I live.
I read the town's local paper. You can subscribe to it and have it delivered but it's available free all over town so I just pick it up while I'm out.
ReplyDeleteIt's really a horrible paper, mostly ads, but I still get a kick out of it. I also find the horoscopes to be eerily good.
I remember growing up and waking up to at least, one adult reading the newspaper every morning with coffee. It seemed a significant part of adulthood.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I haven't read one in years. Reading this has made me want to pick one up. It's nostalgic more than anything. A reminder of a by gone era.(Hugs)Indigo
Ahh, Indigo, I think you're the first to call it a "by gone era." Makes me a tad sad.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am still reading the newspapers as a balance with all the online time I spend. But, increasingly, as you say, the temptation is there to retrieve it online. It's going to be a slower weaning process for me.
ReplyDeleteTonight, when I was flying Six Flags Airlines to the North, another great advantage of real printed newspapers came to my mind; you can read it on the plane, when there is no internet access. You can even read it during take off and landing; when all the electronic crap like cell phones and iPads and iPods must be switched off >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
Nope and haven't for years. Here in Boise, most of the local news is reported well in a free once weekly. Everything else I get on the net. Haven't watched TV news for years either.
ReplyDeleteImust be part of the by-gone era. I look forward to the newspaper each morning, couldn't do breakfast without it. I also buy many, many print books each year. I read on line also but like the local take in the paper.
ReplyDelete-N-
Maybe it's because I no longer live in the closest big city, Austin, but in a small city nearby. I don't particularly care what happens in Austin.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked as a news reporter for years in various parts of the country, I guess news print is in my blood. I like reading what my neighbors have to complain about in the "letters to the editor" column as well as the rest of the newspaper. That's where you get the "real" news.
ReplyDeleteYes, my husband and I subscribe to our local paper and read it pretty thoroughly and quickly each day. This keeps me very informed about all things local, from upcoming charity events, to bad or good ideas about developments that may be built etc. So I love staying informed and my subscription helps pay for the local reporters to cover area news that is very important.
ReplyDeleteBecause of our location, local news is very, well, localized. I still subscribe to the local newspaper, but the national papers I now read on my kindle.
ReplyDeleteLaurita
Brain Droppings
I glance at the front page of local and national papers on the shelf at the store, but never buy.
ReplyDeleteI still love the layout of the front page vs online news, but it's all about one-stop-shopping these days.
The net is perfect for fact-checking, because there are multiple sources in the same place (kind of).
And Helen, I completely agree with your way of reading news - targeting what you want to read and finding it.
Good topic.
ReplyDeleteI have never subscribed to a newspaper, but we live in a small town so the paper here does contain information that I can't read anywhere else. Fortunately, I can access the paper's online version periodically through my workplace.
Not a newspaper reader, I am far happier with a good book.
ReplyDelete