Newspapers

I love newspapers. I grew up reading the newspaper daily. I think I was in about 3rd grade when my teacher, Mrs. McCloskey, made it manditory that we read the newspaper every day and do a report on an article every Monday. I would read the paper from cover to cover, even some of the ads (even the naughty ones about burlesque but that's a thought for another time).

In the Detroit area we were especially fortunate because we had three papers that eventually evolved into two in the 60's. I vaguely remember The Detroit Times but The Free Press and The Detroit News were the ones that impacted me the most. Heck I delivered both papers when I was in Junior High School. The Freep in the morning before school and The News after school. I was one of the few guys in my class that always had a little money!

It's a shame to watch what is happening to the newspaper industry today. With the advancement of technology less and less people sit down and read newsprint. Most just jump on-line and read it there. The problem with that is not the quality of the information you get as much as the information you don't get.

Yes, the internet gives you all the big stories and you can focus on those that interest you, but what about what you miss? When you had to leaf through the paper page by page many stories of local interest caught your eye. When you glanced at a by-line you felt compelled to read it more. You knew about the road conditions in the next county, the car thief in the next town, the local high schools football score. You also read about the human condition, about successes and failures, about how the headlines translated to the local community.

You got to clip coupons, read the "colored funnies" on weekends, tv guide and have something left to train the dog with. Newspapers, ya gotta love 'em!

Frequently you will see me referrence, link or copy a newspaper story here to this blog. I do it because I believe the professionals say it better than anyone else. I do it because I read it and, regardless of whether or not I agree with the author, it made me think. And isn't that what blogging is all about?