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The News That's Fit to Print - or Not!Jun 15 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Magazine Subscriptions
The Bottom Line On-line is the way of the future. I'm stuck in the past.
We always had a newspaper growing up. Part of the morning ritual before school was reading the comics and Dear Abby in the Los Angeles Times. My father would read the sports section and would go to the classified section and using his pocket knife slice out the day's crossword puzzle. On Thursday's the Times had a food section my mother read. On Wednesday was the Calendar, which my sister and I read avidly as teens. On Sundays, the whole thing was full of coupons, announcements of sales, specials puzzles, columns, magazines and other inserts. And, of course, we all read the front page. At one time, my mother would turn on the oven and let it just barely heat up, and then turn it off and let the paper sit in it while she finished getting ready. My father had a slight allergy to the ink that the paper was being printed with, but 10 minutes in the oven would dry it out so he had no problems. These are my fondest memories of a hard print subscription. In these days, our local elementary school had "recycle drives" where we all brought our newspapers bagged up in brown paper bags, or tied with twine. (The glossy inserts had to be removed.) This was big work as we only had the drives about once a month. The quantity of newspapers that gather in a suburban house when stored for a month is incredible. It took two to three bags to hold a week's worth of papers. Back then, there was no other way to get your news. Television news has never been sufficient for someone seeking information. Today, however, there is a choice. Most newspapers have a website that can be accessed for free or for a small charge. The newspapers vary in what they provide on line. The Los Angeles Times offers much of the same content in both editions, though some of the features are missing. The comics can be found on line, but not at their site. Crossword puzzles, of course, abound on-line as do places to get food information. Local sports and events are available from a website. I am aware of the waste generated by hard copies (and recycle drives are not nearly so common as they once were.) So why do I prefer hard copies? There is a visceral element to holding a book, to writing with pen and paper, and to reading a newspaper. More importantly, there was the time around the breakfast table that we shared. I remember those times. I remember passing my mother a particularly funny comic. A hard copy of a newspaper can be shared by the whole family at once. The only way for everyone to read the paper together on line is to 1) scrunch around a single monitor (that doesn't happen in my house) or for everyone to settle in in front of their own monitor/computer. This happens in some households, but usually in separate rooms. Newspapers at the table tend to encourage discussion. Computers are more likely to shut it down. The other problem with computers is that they tend to focus reading into areas of current interest. One of the advantages of newspapers is that articles occur side-by-side. As one jumps from page to page, one is likely to see other articles of interest. It's sometimes hard to find information you don't already know about on-line. I often find that articles and fillers further back are some of the best parts of the paper. On-line also is subject to the quality of the monitor. Since being in Israel, I have worked in computer labs all over. Some monitors make reading easy. Some are harder. Graphics are another issue. When looking at a graphic from the computers at my school, people end up looking like pixelated Warhol paintings. I do recognize that computer news will probably someday replace newspapers. I wonder when the time comes what we'll line our birdcages with (USA Today looks great with droppings...lousy to read.), wrap birthday gifts in (Sunday comics) or do papier maiche with our children. I just can't see sticking my monitor (no matter how bad) under a parrot.  |
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by dlstewart
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by Freak369
