2. When you read a hard copy of a newspaper you are more likely to read information that does not pertain to your natural line of interest or bias - making you a well-rounded person. Reading online means you click on what you like, rather than holding the pages of a newspaper in your hands and reading a wide variety of stories.
3. If you care about having good, accurate and trustworthy news - pay for it. As readers continue to absorb news online without paying for it, newspapers are forced to make staff cuts and the quality of reporting goes downhill. Nothing is truly free, and as fewer people pay for their news, quality will continue to suffer. Investigative journalism will fall by the wayside and we will not get solid information. Instead you'll just be getting super fast blips of news without the meat that makes it complete.
4. Am I the only one who loves cutting things out of newspapers? Grandma Shank's newspaper scrapbooks are awesome. If you're not a nerd like me, at least have some sentimentality.
5. Reading the Sunday newspaper with people around you is cozy and wonderful. It's way better than a room full of people on their laptops or phones. Be present.
6. Staring at a screen too long is bad for your eyes and posture.
7. Subscribing to a local or national newspaper is great for the economy. Printing newspapers keeps a lot of people employed who will all lose their jobs if newspapers continue to spiral into oblivion - suppliers, printing companies, deliverers, and so on.
8. You know how some people are boring to talk to? If you don't know anyone like that, there is a chance you are the boring one. Or maybe all you ever talk about is yourself and how busy or stressed out you are (newsflash: everyone is, get over yourself) and while there may not be a solution for annoying-ness, boring-ness can be fixed by READING. Automatic conversation ammunition.
9. Local newspapers clue you in to not only local news, but local culture and activities.
10. Going paperless isn't necessarily "greener." Newspapers are easy to recycle, plus this study in the New York Times found that "the most ecologically virtuous way to read a book starts by walking to your local library." Go figure.
11. If you're saying: calm down, there will always be people buying newspapers, I can keep reading online and someone will subscribe to the old-fashioned paper, I'm betting you're a twenty-something like me. Do you know anyone around our age who subscribes to a daily newspaper? Who reads a hard copy newspaper on a regular basis? If you have lots of friends our age who do, let me know, because I'd like to be friends with them. But if not, please consider the distinct possibility that in about 30 years there could be no more newspapers.
I am fully aware that everyone has different media needs and preferences, and I realize that I am very biased in my own. I also realize I'm writing this for you to read online. My love of newspapers is steeped in sentiments, and to someone who did not grow up reading a newspaper, my arguments may not carry much clout. Observing my family read fostered my own desire to learn. I like to know what's going on and newspapers are a reliable way to take in the news. If you're not aware of what's going on, how do you pinpoint where to take action?
"Journalism is an act of faith in the future." [Ann Curry]
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