The headline on an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, “In Praise of the News on Paper,” recently caught my eye; probably because I am a news wonk.
The author of the piece, Barton Swain, who is the opinion editor of the Weekly Standard, writes about his decision to again subscribe to “the paper.” “I had trouble with online news reading, and thought maybe it was time for a regressive revolt,” he said.
(Courtesy clipartlord.com)
I read it with interest because I have subscribed to the daily, and sometimes weekly, newspapers in seven of the eight cities we have lived. There was no home delivery of any paper in one city, forcing me to drive into town each day to purchase a paper. I even subscribed to the New York Times though I didn’t live there. And, when I was stationed overseas with the U.S. Air Force, I purchased the Stars & Stripes every day. Of course, I edited a number of papers along the way.
When I have inquired of an acquaintance if he or she had read a particular article in the paper, I frequently hear – ‘I don’t subscribe to it.’ I occasionally clip out an article I think would be of interest to someone. My wife jokingly refers to this as “Eldon’s clipping service.”
I can’t number the times I have threatened to cancel my subscription to a paper because of its liberal views, but it was important for me to know the thinking of the opposition. When I have had trouble with a delivery, I was all over the problem like it was a life or death situation.
I take issue with Swain’s comment that “spending an hour reading the paper you’re as caught up on national and world affairs as any person can claim to be.” That’s certainly true of the Wall Street Journal, but not my metropolitan daily, the Arizona Republic.
“The newspaper brings a kind of epistemological definition to the everyday work of being literate. You can hold the day’s knowledge with two ink-stained hands,” concludes Swain.
I still read online news from various sources to gather news for this blog, and I am grateful that so many of you take the time to read my observations and opinions online. But I still have a thing for the daily newspaper.
