Newspapers Are Fun

As a youngster I couldn't wait to get ahold of a copy of the local classifieds. I was not only interested in what I was daydreaming of buying (horses and puppies, usually), but also fascinated with the way the ads were written and with the amazing variety of people and places therein. I could learn that someone in a town I never heard of way up in the northern corner of the state raised carrier pigeons, or that someone just slightly east of here was breaking and selling horses. I could learn that the local yokels were fixing up old cars for a demolition derby, or that someone was seeking original editions of books by L. Frank Baum. The paper was a window into what was around me long before the internet existed. Like the famed seeing stones from a popular series of books, it would show me little clips and bits of info that I could use to piece together images of places when I didn't have the time or funds to explore them.

I've found the same paper still exists online, and I read it just about every week (just for old time's sake since I no longer live there). It saves me from getting newsprint on my fingers, and I still get to find out what's happening in faraway places. Online papers are a great way to keep a good thing going, but I have found several people I know that still read the traditional kind. I'm fine with that. I like to see someone drink a cup of coffee and spend the morning with a paper in a cafe. It's a relaxed picture, one I hope lives long into the future.

Still, the online newspapers offer several advantages, such as instant placement of classified ads. Some even add instant news updates or edits. Online readers get these immediately instead of having to wait a week for the next printing.

One disadvantage I have found, however, is that the online papers are getting pickier about their ads. They offer to print them for free or for a low rate, but in exchange they will tell you what you can and can't advertise. Some say no puppies. Some say no websites. I had my poetry website's ad rejected by four different papers. To the credit of one, however, they boldly printed it and generated traffic to a very good site (in my humble opinion, for if I didn't think it were good I would be obliged to change it).

One other advantage about several big city newspapers is that many large companies choose to issue valid coupons in them. Newspaper coupons are easy to clip and to use, and they save more money that the cost of the paper if they happen to be for things you were already going to buy. They are a good investment.

All in all, I think we should keep the printed pages and the new way and let them both exist in harmony. They both have their pros and cons, and we can glean the best from each.