Do you still read newspaper?

At my former job, one of my much younger coworkers said that when my generation dies off, the newspapers will die with us, because her generation does not read the newspaper.
That's probably true of magazines too. Not to mention books since everyone reads digital versions of them now.
 
Most days. My mom signed up for a free month for some reason, and we've been getting it for probably 4 months now. It goes to work for lunch room reading, and one of the guys that raises puppies sometimes takes it at the end of the day for a more useful purpose. The local paper covers 3 counties and its like 20 pages , and easily 1/3 of that is sports or classifieds. The monthly public notice stuff makes it more than double the usual size. Last time I counted that was 29 pages.
 
I often read the newspaper on an iPad but prefer the paper version.

If I were to move to an area without a decent paper, I would keep my subscription to the digital version.
 
That's probably true of magazines too. Not to mention books since everyone reads digital versions of them now.
Ughhhh! I cannot even imagine enjoying a book from a screen. I will never go there. To me, part of it is about the texture, smell, and getting away from screens. I noticed kindle readers are a dime a dozen at thrift stores now. I assumed it was a passing fad.
 
Yes, I subscribe, but it gives me the uncomfortable feeling that my subscription money is giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The newspaper neither reflects my views nor the majority of the views in this region.
IMHO, a newspaper isn´t here to reflect your views, it´s there to inform you what is going on in the world.
 
I do. I subscribe to a local newspaper so I can see what's going on in my neighborhood. The net is fine for national and world news but nothing beats pulp and ink to see what's happening next door. ...plus you can take it into the bathroom.
 
I can't get by a Sunday without the paper and a coffee. Something about a physical newspaper (as opposed to online) is conducive to more reflective reading, at least for me.
 
At my former job, one of my much younger coworkers said that when my generation dies off, the newspapers will die with us, because her generation does not read the newspaper.
Just like LPs died when CDs appeared!
 
I grew up reading the paper every morning for over 40 years. We went from a daily paper to Sunday only about 5 years ago. A couple of years later we dropped the paper completely. I guess it fell out of our household routine. My wife likes the Black Friday sales so we still buy a paper once a year. Telemarketers used to be very aggressive trying to get us to sign back up but even those efforts have tapered down and stopped.
 
Small market here (100,000+) with two papers. Bigger one was shrinking for several years and last year it was bought up by a company that works in this sector of the market, buying up newspapers and consolidating resources to cut costs. The paper has shrunk to 'laughably thin' - just a few pages. I think it is on its way to electronic-only soon. :no:
 
At my former job, one of my much younger coworkers said that when my generation dies off, the newspapers will die with us, because her generation does not read the newspaper.

Just like LPs died when CDs appeared!

IMHO ... Vinyl (which is by the way, my favorite format of all time) ... was an aberration .. historically speaking.

Personally ... I think the younger co-worker was spot on.

th
 
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At my former job, one of my much younger coworkers said that when my generation dies off, the newspapers will die with us, because her generation does not read the newspaper.
Attributed to articles/stories using more than 140 characters, the limit of their attention span?
 
I sometimes catch an interesting article as I am wadding up the paper to pack a stereo in that I just sold. I get all the financial papers so my neighbors think I have money, and I get the others to make them think I'm smart. I just can't let go to this archaic form of journalism that takes the lives of trees. Can you believe that they aren't going to teach cursive in school anymore? Sheeeeweee what is this world coming too anyway...? Change? No way! I'll never change! :biggrin:
 
Reading the newspaper while eating breakfast in the military was a great ritual for me.I like using the computer a lot more,though.It's a real trick to fold the pages so you still have room to eat your food.And sometimes you'd have to go outside to get a paper from the machine,and a lot of times they would be out of it.I live in the west,so a lot of times baseball scores wouldnt show up until a day later.And you only got player stats once a week,usually on Sunday.And different papers had different theater chains ads,so I would have to buy a second paper to get movie listings for the theater I wanted.
 
I like to read the morning paper, but it got too expensive so we cancelled it. It was also getting thinner and thinner. They bundle the price with their digital access, but we never used that and there's no way to get the price down under $45/month or so. Even cutting the weekly and just getting Sunday delivery doesn't help much, so I just go to the store and buy the thing for $3 on Sunday morning. No TV magazine and no digital access. TV listings online are actually better. IMO, their business model has something seriously wrong with it. There isn't much actual reporting and with all the ads, the thing should be free.

Conrad, I think your premise that local papers are swimming in ad revenue is largely wrong. Brick and mortar advertisers are being squeezed by the Amazons of the world, and they in turn buy less print advertising. I spend about $16.00 a month on news, which is very reasonable. I'd spend more to subscribe to the local paper if it was any good. You can't fight the big trends, whether good or bad. Newspapers, especially small town locals, are dying.

I'm 63, and at one time subscribed to a local, a regional, and a national newspaper. When I was on the road more, I would always buy the local paper first thing on getting to a new town. I no longer subscribe to a single print publication - newspaper or periodical. I get almost all of my news online. Here and there a little NPR radio, and lately my schedule is such that I can catch the CBS evening news on TV.

It is local news that's being hurt by current trends. Our local newspaper (a county with a population of a little over 100,000) was independent and owned by two local families when I was a kid. It has since been owned by a succession of chains, the latest being Gannett, which is USA Today. It is a pathetic shell of its old self, printed 40 miles away at another paper's plant, and trucked in like a load of drywall. The veteran staff has all been canned, the last one, no kidding, yesterday. They get by with young reporters who are really just glorified stringers. Local news that used to be its heart and soul - city council, school board, crime blotter, municipal politics, charities and non-profits, local kids in college and the service - is almost gone. Instead we get insipid features and wire stuff on the front page. Forget about anything investigative that requires time and sustained effort.

The regional paper has gone to three days a week in print. It's still pretty good, probably because it's in the state capital. But when they run obits once a week, you'd think that the whole region is dropping dead at once. I read their still free online edition daily.

For national news, I have an online subscription to the Washington Post, $9.99 a month, which is very reasonable. Ironically, the WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos, who, through Amazon, is responsible for the squeeze on brick and mortar businesses and in turn on local papers' ad revenue.

For world news, I rely on a variety of online sources: BBC (free) and Guardian ($5.83/mo., but it's free if you prefer) primarily.

I also irregularly read a bunch of free online sites: UPI, AP, Reuters, Vice, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, etc.

It's local news that has been hurt the most by the emergence of digital. National and international news is as good as ever, and actually easier to get at in the digital age. EDIT: And it's way easier than ever to find a wide range of opinion and editorial views, if you want to avoid the echo chamber.

As far as periodicals, there are tons of good ones online, all along the left-right spectrum if you like politics: New Republic, American Conservative, Reason, The Intercept, Mother Jones, Vice, and tons more. If you really like one, you can subscribe and support it. Or not.
 
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