But I am not going to pay it. In fact, I decided not to renew it months ago. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the ritual of sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the paper. Tangible news. Well tangible newsprint anyway. It’s a comfortable ritual and it used to be the very first thing I did in the morning. But in recent years, its become the second. These days, the first thing I do is, well, read the news…on the internet. Okay I confess, email first, then news.
Sure, reading news articles on the internet takes a little getting used to. But just like the printed newspaper, most articles are not very long. I used to print out long articles from the internet and read them on paper. And, I still do that occasionally – a recent New York Times Magazine cover story comes to mind. But over time, I have come to read longer and longer articles online.
Now, we all know newspapers are in trouble. Their problems are real: An outdated business model, diminished advertising, and falling subscriber base. But, I have long resented paying for the newspaper. For me, it is a quality issue. They just do not do a very good job. Simple as that. And objective journalism is an oxymoron. The only people in the world who do not recognize this fact seem to be the so-called journalists themselves. But I paid anyway. I wanted to know what the heck was going on, and regardless of what I thought about their competence or fairness, they were able to inform me who won the election yesterday.
But I no longer need them for that. Consequently, I no longer feel compelled to give money to the undeserving.