Newspapers...

We have seen where the
newspapers are in trouble.
That subscriptions are down,
probably at their lowest.

Different areas probably say
that theirs is higher than their
competitor. If they can crunch
the numbers, they might show
more.. by giving away x amount
at stores to get people to buy, or
even the numbers they give to the
schools.

No matter...they are all in trouble.
Our local, a month or so ago was selling
subscriptions at $1 a week. And yes,
I bit the bait hook. As now I get the
paper and I did pay up for a year.. For
$52.

I had given up both papers, the local
and the bigger area paper for financial
reason. I gave it a try to see if I could
do without by canceling both for the
summer. And if I missed them badly
enough, I would reup come fall.

The honest answer was... I barely missed
them. I could go on line and get the Obits
from their sites. Or I could go to the funeral
home's site and get that information. I could
go to any one of the televisions sites and get
the national news. As we had gave up television
for 2 months before we bought for $5..an antenna.

Believe it or not, you can get by with 2 channels,
which is what our antenna gets us for free. We get
ABC and Fox. We do not miss the 125 channels
we got from Satellite dish, nor the 98 from cable.
So saving us over $45 a month.

Back to the newspaper. So why did I even agree
to the $1 a week for the local, which has news at
least a day old, if not 2 to 4 and police reports that
are a week old? The answer is social and the classified
ads. Which is kind of ironic as the classified ads,
help pay for the paper, making it cheaper for us.
Oh yea, the letters to the editor page. Especially
when Larry F. writes.

So what do I like about the paper? Before I gave up
the two papers, I would spend at least an hour on
one of them and 10 minutes on the other. So you
would figure I would miss them badly. But what I
like about the paper, is that IF they give the total
details to a story. Being the paper comes out in
the early morning, you know most of what is in
there happen yesterday afternoon or before. Maybe,
a late entry before the presses go to work, if it is
important enough.

So if you watched the latest news on the television
you know about what happen the latest. But the
television can only do about 2 minutes on any
given story. Unless it is as huge as the San
Diego fires, or Katrina hurricane damage. Then
you are soaked with information. But the paper
in the past, as given us all the details of the story
you have heard on television. They have more
space for it. And with the huge ads in the paper
today, (it takes up most of the paper) they could
afford to use up the pages for news. If you doubt
that the ads have taken over, then do what I do
every Sunday.

I lay out in two piles ...one for the news,and
entertainment like USA or Parade, and the other
pile has ads...... and for me.. sports. Could care
less, about sports 99.9% of the time. Also in that
pile is business and classified ads. After you make
your pile.. look at which one is the tallest. It is the
ads part. With our local paper, it amounts to the
first 2 to 3 pages of the front part, and the USA.
Rest of it is national, or regional that I have already
seen on television, and the county below us, who
owns our paper.

How many people feel the same way as I do? I
don't know. But must be some, as the subscription
have decline. Is it television? Is it the computer that
gives information? After all you can access your
area, your old home town, or even the town
where the story is from, with just a click of the
mouse.

So if the area, or local paper can not give me
the information that is going on in my area, or
give me the full facts of a story... then it is useless
to me. I want the true facts of a story. Not some
reporter (be it paper or televisions) view of the
story. I can judge for myself, how I feel about it.
I'm just like Dragnet... want the fact, only the facts.

And to see the social part, did my friends child
do well in a activity? Did one of my friends or
someone I know, parent reach a golden age?
They use to have who was in the hospital, but
I guess that went to the wayside of confidentiality
also who had a baby. Both information is where
I could send a card.

But local news as it is happening. It is gone.
Papers are the next day. Television, unless
you live in the big cities, is none and void.
And the radio is prerecorded, so no local
news of the here and now gender.

I feel bad for the papers. They are needed
by those who don't have computers. Or
don't understand them. They are needed
for the person on the go. I know I grab my
paper out of the box as we are pulling
out of the driveway, and read it as my
husband drives. They are read at break
time at different companies. So news
papers are needed. Just hope it is enough
to keep the salaries of the reporters, and
editors.

Which makes wonder...as the decline
of subscriptions, will Corporate give up,
and little papers like the River Journal
pick it up and print daily instead of weekly?
Or is weekly enough to keep up with the
social part of the paper?

But we still need the investigative part
with all the detail FACTS, not just headlines, and
a few words.