We were at a show and started talking to the guy in front of us.
The topic of newspapers came up. When people start talking about newspapers, they usually don’t have good things to say.
I’ve taken checks from newspapers for most of my life, so I have an allergy against saying bad things about them.
I’m a big believer in telling people what’s going on in their communities, so how does word get around? I don’t think newspapers are necessary for civilization, but something very much like them is necessary.
I’m sorry if that sounds too high minded, especially when we’re talking about a product used to line bird cages and wrap fish, but at their best, newspapers unite people. Perhaps the decline in civility in recent years has reflected the challenges faced by newspapers.
Anyway, I expected bad news from the guy sitting in front of us, but he said something positive about newspapers.
He didn’t discuss the stories in the paper, but he spoke with a type of reverence about the feel of having actual pages in his hands. He said that’s something he needs.
I get it. I’ve had great mornings that began with spreading a newspaper out in front of me and then finding out what was going on in the world.
But those were old days for me. We’re digital subscribers at our house. We get our “content” — as a storyteller, I hate that word, but it’s the industry standard — from the internet.
Every Sunday when my phone tells me how much screen time I’ve built up during the week, I mentally deduct most of it because of the newspapers I devoured through my tiny screen.
I’ve fully adapted to getting my news and entertaining fluff from the internet. My approach to books is changing too.
I’m a white whale who still buys physical books. Like the guy and his newspaper, I’m always going to want to feel a book in my hands, but I’ve experimented with downloads and haven’t hated them.
However, I’ve been moving in a different direction lately. I bought multiple books this week. Most were the old-timey kind that people have been able to recognize for half a millennia.
I also bought audio books. (I almost wrote “books on tape,” but who has a tape player these days except for my 17-year-old son in the truck handed down from his grandfather?)
When walking the dog around the neighborhood, I put on a pair of Bluetooth headphones and listen to books that I’ve downloaded to my phone.
I’m assuming authors still get their money when I listen to audio books. If they don’t, they need to hire teams of lawyers to fix that situation quick.
Newspapers used to give away their content for free online. That never made much sense to me, but people higher up the food chain than I thought it was a good idea, so what do I know?
I’ll answer that question: I know listening to interesting stuff while I go about my daily chores is an absolute pleasure. Maybe the higher ups at newspapers should hire readers to come in and record the day’s news so people can download it — for a fee, of course.
Maybe it’ll catch on, but I suspect there’s always going to be that guy or gal who wants to feel the paper between his or her fingers.
God bless them all, I say, and more power to them.
