Sharing the News
Tango MangioWhat is it about newspapers that makes me so happy?
I learned of their significance at an early age. When my father was reading one, we kids were not to disturb him. Every night after work and supper, he sat on his easy chair, arms outstretched, holding the newspaper like a tent before him. Every now and then we’d hear the rustle of a page turning, perhaps a chuckle over the comic strips, and on rare occasions when my mother happened to be in the room (she never seemed to have time to sit down) we’d hear him read to her. He’d always start with "Anne, listen to this..." And then he’d launch into whatever news item had caught his fancy.
I belonged to newspaper club in high school and later served a college internship on the staff of the same paper that my father read. They hired me after graduation and since then I’ve worked as a writer for several papers. For one summer I served as an advisor to a college newspaper staff.
After leaving the journalism world for a more lucrative position in public relations, the first part of every workday involved, you guessed it, reading the newspapers. The department secretary knew to put the morning edition on my desk as soon as it arrived. With a large coffee in hand, I’d scour the pages to learn about the competition and get story ideas to pitch to reporters.
Somewhere along the career path I strayed away from this simple daily love, both reading papers and writing for them. I got busy taking care of my family and the newspapers would pile up in the driveway until, unread and yellowed from the sunlight, they’d be deposited directly into the recycling bin. When the Internet became available, I’d catch the news online if time allowed. But whenever vacation rolled around, I gravitated back to the simple pleasures afforded by newspapers.
There’s something about holding the newsprint in your hands, much like the way my father did. I remember the smell of freshly printed editions from my newsroom days and the way the ink rubbed off on my fingertips. Also like my dad, I remember reading the paper aloud to my husband in the early days of our marriage. “Listen to this…” I’d begin.
Whenever I travel, vacation or otherwise, I still make a point of picking up that destination’s local newspaper and studying it. The letters to the editor tell you far more about the town’s flavor than all of the news articles. A truly good vacation to me is when there’s enough peace and quiet to finish an entire crossword puzzle.
While my own travel is unremarkable, my husband’s work requires numerous trips. He is a bit reserved when it comes to showing affection, but when he comes home after traveling, he always brings me a newspaper from wherever he's been. When he unpacks his bags, he lays the paper on my side of the bed. We never exhange a word about this ritual, but it means more than I can say. This one small act speaks volumes to me. It says that he has thought of me during his busy travels. That he knows me so well. And that he remembers what has been important in my life. For me, that's the really good news, and I'm grateful.
Reader Comments (4)
I really enjoyed your post. I have been ambivalent to newspapers ever since I decided to get my news online almost two years now. I thought it would be no different, but I was one of those people, like you and your dad, who loved reading the newspaper at the end of day. The cross word puzzles soothed me like a gin and tonic for a man back in the 50's. I use to spend two hours a night reading and sharing stories with whomever wanted to listen or just talking to myself. I too enjoyed the ink on my fingers, getting to know the columnists, learning the tides and weather for the week, checking on the plays and sporting events I would never see, and rechecking it to make sure I didn't miss anything.
It never bothered me that I received my news hours after I knew about it. The paper even convinced me it was environmentally friendly because they recycled it and they used their own newspaper farms. Then something changed. The writers of my local paper left. The paper was sold a couple of times. The price went up for a local paper and they still couldn't get it to me before I left for work (though I wouldn't have time to read it until night anyway).I didn't like the shallowness of the new writers and the direction of entertainment it started with pictures and concentration with national and hollywood figures. I read the Inquier because it was good writing, with a very local ear, and a distrust of anything national or even state. The stories began to be regurgitated with war (and I do not think I can blame the press) and worst of all, the whole paper seem to be associated press. As if it happened over night, I lost my identity with my paper.
And so I didn't renew. It was a hard decision with a lot of guilt, especially since I love words and reading. The online papers allow me to get the news I want, but I am disconnected with my area, not knowing many things of the locale I used to know when I read the paper. I interact with the same paper, its online edition, by commenting and reading the comments, which I really enjoy. But I do not have the breath of knowledge of the people and scene I once had. The day I cancelled the paper, was the day I finally let my city go.
Just the other day, my daughter asked me what I was doing on the computer. "I'm checking the news." I was checking, not reading. I was scanning and not relaxing. The day of the paper and chair is gone. I read novels at night now. There is no end and I go to bed by time instead of at the end of the sports' section. My daughter will have an adulthood with very few papers if any. She will probably read them online, but I do not think she will read the local news, but some kind of teen blog, then 20's blog and so forth. She will not miss them, but she will never know their true value. I guess it is kind of like the radio for my grandparents.
I like what the news or "new paper" has become for me, but I can lament for what the newspaper meant to a place and a person living in a place. I did not kill the paper, but I do believe we all lost something when the paper will finally stop being printed. I have already lost that for something new. Somehow I do not think the exchange was equal.
Thanks a lot for the lunch (edition).
Very descriptive. I enjoyed reading your post. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to refrain from going into a tirade about how ALL media in our country, including print media such as newspapers, is currently controlled by no less than six multinational corporations... but seriously, read Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent." It details the monopolistic consolidation of all media behind the trademarked aegises of various multinational corporations who are involved in everything from the arms industry to nuclear power.
PEACE!
Whoops... I wrote "no less than", I meant "no more than" six multinational corporation. The number has probably decreased since the last printing of Chomsky's book
Agreed, Shaman...the newspaper my father read no longer exists...in terms of the fourth estate and purist journalism....it is still available, but like most other independent papers, has been bought out by a chain.... Skepticism is healthy. Thanks for your comments! I will check out the source you recommended.