I have always been addicted to the news. When I was in the eight grade, I was often called on to give the class a morning report on the day's news. These days I have more newspapers to read. Sometimes the choice of what to read is overwhelming.
I always stop by the Washington Post, the NY Times and occasionally visit the Guardian among others including a few Canadian ones. It is often useful in trying to keep your perspective to see how other countries view us. We lived in Canada long enough to realize the value of that. The people most likely to be unable to see others who are different through anything other than scornful eyes are often those who have never uprooted themselves and faced being different themselves.
I recently ran across this in an article in the Economist online.
But to normal, sensible people, I must come across as a hopelessly addicted news junkie. Who, other than journalists paid to do this kind of thing, has the time to read all those papers...
My wife has been saying that for years. When I traveled a lot, my first challenge in a new city was to find a newspaper. Today many large city newspapers without a national audience are under tremendous pressure. Their readership is declining, and they're having to do everything possible to cut costs. However, while the same thing is is happening in small town America, it is not as fast. There has been some consolidation over the years, when I started visiting North Carolina's, I was impressed by the numerous newspapers. Each had it own local flavor. In a world of rapidly changing communications, I think it is fantastic that the printed word on newsprint still has great value. I was saddened when the Tideland News in Swansboro went down to a staff of one and mostly got absorbed by the Anne Coulter loving Carteret News-Times.
As bad as that is, I can still focus on some great news memories. The southern gentleman, RJ Berrier, in the picture to the left spent fifty years as a newsman in Mount Airy, North Carolina. To him a newspaper was a way if not the best way to record local history even if some of our legislators and higher up think we should not read anything with which they disagree or puts their stupidity on display.
I think RJ was right then and today. The world he wrote about before his death in 2000 has not changed so much that we should give up on keeping a record of our local history in print.
If you have been around technology very long, you know that software comes and goes, files become incompatible, and yet the paper record somehow survives and with bits and pieces of our culture that might never make it to a CD-ROM or DVD. The small town newspaper turns out to be an invaluable look at us as a people.
One the things that is sometimes missing (though they are improving) in on line versions of newspapers are great pictures. Something about the limited space in a print version or maybe even the feelings of permanence attached to what you were doing, led to the selection of memorable prints for those papers that we help in our hands.
Sometimes you get a picture that almost captures the essence of a person. The lady in the above picture is my mother who died at the age of 93 in 2004. I have no idea which relative took that picture but it is precious to me because it captures some of her spirit. My mother, whom I always considered the true grand lady of Pine Street, where she spent much of her life always read her morning newspaper while drinking her coffee. It was the way she started her day along with listening to the obituaries on the local radio. Often the first thing she would read is something that RJ had written. Occasionally he was brave enough to write about her but not often.
As I wrote in "Love and Respect for Print," RJ believed that newsmen have a sacred duty to make sure that all names were spelled correctly. It was only right since many people only made the news a few times in their whole life. While that might have changed somewhat, in our tough times it might be good to not be newsworthy.
Today it is easy to drown in a sea of digital images which often disappear when your phone dies. Yet if the images have no story they will eventually meet the fate of all pictures without names. I hope my posts provide context for some images that are important to me and my family. Yet the challenge is making sure that the images and text survive the inevitable disappearance of both Typepad and me. It's likely the only real way to be sure that they make it for the next generation is to print them which is why I have written a few books. As some of the thoughts in these posts make it into the thoughts I put into print, they will become my own personal newspaper and record of our lives. At least when i write my own history, I rarely have trouble agreeing with the editor unless it is my wife checking for commas and correct spelling.
RJ would be pleased.
I am a huge fan of the iPhoto coffee table books, and try to make one about every major trip I take, or significant events otherwise (weddings, college, Army). The challenge is really pre-2001, before digital cameras became mainstream. Obviously the scanning is time consuming, but worthwhile once you get the hang of it. The bindings and paper appear to be extremely durable. Obviously, we'll see how long they last after years of being passed around and looked at, but isn't that the point?
Speaking of points, you delve into one of my favorite topics, news and print. A voracious consumer, for dailies, I take the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal. NY Times on Sunday, and Vienna Times on Wed. Periodicals include Time, the Economist, BusinessWeek, and Vanity Fair. What I like about print is that it allows you to escape the limitations of screen, as well as the 8.5 X 11 constraints. I love the full page graphics that show multiple variables in multiple colors that can convey so much meaning. If you haven't been to a Tufte seminar, his books are spectacular.
Visual Explanations
Envisioning Information
Visual Display of Quantitative Information
However, the online news outlets are catching up, and they are invaluable when you don't have access to the print version, or they have an impressive multimedia display. The WSJ & BusinessWeek have some excellent feature sets with both Flash and video, which obviously print can't recreate. I believe these are complementary features which I like for both print and online.
I have a relative who has failing eyesight, and each year I give her the NY Times Large Type edition, which is a weekly. She loves it, since she can't read the local paper since the type is too difficult for her to read.
I don't believe the old adage is true anymore about the only time someone should appear in print is at birth, marriage, and death.
Posted by: Stephen | November 11, 2006 at 08:38 AM