Newspaper Subscriptions Continue To Decline; Do You Still Get A Newspaper?

My local paper “The Long Beach Press Telegram” has gone from being the butt of jokes to a real sad story. The building in downtown has been converted to lofts and the paper is being published in Torrance, The daily Breeze.” They might as well rename it “Morning Breeze” the name of the “perfume” that is sold in novelty shops( for those that don’t know it’s eau du farts.) I have long since discontinued the LA times as it’s cost cutting has made it a mere shell of itself and it’s subsequent ownership by the major paper in Chicago hasn’t helped. That company is going through bankruptcy. The news these days is no news. When I lived in Orange County my paper was “The Register” (which we used to laugh at because it was famously lame.) that paper is on the rocks as well. We have three media empires going towards two. And then it will be one, and who’s going to guard the hen house. We were so on the monopoly kick with the phone company. What became of it and who cared in the first place. But when it comes to a media conglomerate it seems that someone is placed to be asleep at the wheel.

We still get a print newspaper on Sunday since the local stores in this area do not like or will not take coupons printed on a computer, too many forgeries. In Syracuse, NY the policy is the coupons need to be from on magazine print or newsprint, not copier paper as home ones are. The “weakly,” or should I say “daily,” paper is next to useless since the local television stations all cover the same stories and sometimes better.

For the last year, we only get the Sunday edition of our local paper. They even contacted us to offer the Thursday through Saturday editions for only 8 cents a week, yet we still declined.

Still get the local paper to keep up on local events, town announcements and the like. I will occasionally buy the Wall Street Journal, NY Times or Boston Globe if time permits. Mostly well written sections.

Hell, yes, I still subscribe to my print paper! (The Denver Post) Three reasons:

1. There’s way more local news in the paper than any electronic source.
2. Most of that news is has significantly more depth.
3. It’s portable – I read it every day on my lunch hour (and no complaints if I spill part of my burrito on it!)

I would love to be able to still take the local newspaper. I like the paper edition far more than the online editions.

I don’t take the paper anymore because I became sick of the blood and guts (fear mongering) emphasis that newspapers, and news in general, is taking. ( I also don’t watch news broadcasts on tv for the same reason)

Yes, bad things do happen in the community I live in. As they do all over the world.
But, I don’t need to have each tiny incident shoved in my face.
Good stuff happens too. And not every person I meet is trying to hurt me.

I hope that newspapers and tv news eventually cease to exist. At least in their current gloomy format..

We get the local paper when they offer a 7 days for the price of Sundays deal. I like to read the Sunday paper at the table, and it’s fun to do the crosswords. Plus sometimes the newspaper comes in handy for stuff.

Let’s hope the Microsoft deal helps. I’m going to start searching with Bing more often to support those efforts.

I’m one of those dinosaurs for whom the ritual of ‘paper and coffee’ in the morning is so deeply ingrained that the thought of doing without is unsettling. It just is. Like my father, and his father before him, I read the news that happened over night and what Congress didn’t do while drinking too much strong, black coffee while eating my breakfast. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Besides, who in their right mind is going carry a laptop with them to the bathroom every morning?

Even though we live in a small rural town that is 20 miles from the nearest downtown, we have always subscribed to the city daily. There’s just something comfortable and familiar about the smell and the feel of newsprint with the morning coffee. Sure I use the internet, but that’s for the national and international news and sports that supplement the local paper. We also subscribed to the local weeklies until they went out of business. Fortunately we still have neighborhood and shoppers’ weeklies to keep up on the very local news and info. Physical forms of communication must be supported and appreciated for the niche that they serve so well.

We get 3 newspapers, the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald, and the Lisle Sun. First 2 we pay for.