Friday, July 1, 2011

100 Words About: Newspapers

At my day job, we get three newspapers: the Wisconsin State Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the Wall Street Journal. Every day on my breaks I pour through the Wall Street Journal, looking for news about publishing and technology, as well as reading the book review. Not to mention all the neat articles I find just by skimming the titles--articles I never would've found otherwise, but which I'm glad to have read.

You know what else I love about the newspaper? I get all sorts of interesting news about what's going on in the world, but I don't have to listen to or watch or read anything about some comedian I've never heard of from a show I've never seen who said something stupid, or what reality TV star is currently having a meltdown, or which movie celebrity is adopting a kid from some foreign country. You know why? 'Cause that crap's not news, that's why. The only reason that crap gets play nowadays is because the 24-hour news cycle needs stories, and they know they can get the soap-opera crowd to tune in if they have celebrities and human interest stories.

I'll be very sad if newspapers ever really do go away, because even if they are slanted, they're slanted a heck of a lot less than television. And I'd hate to have to rely solely on BBC for honest-to-God news.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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